Effects of p-ρ-T behavior of muds on static pressures during deep well drilling

In this study, published p-ρ-T data of twelve muds are compared using three models already proposed. The empirical model suggested by Kutasov is found to represent the measured data more accurately than the other models for a majority of the muds. With the help of the empirical model, an explicit equation is derived analytically to predict static pressures at different depths. Based on the analysis, an equivalent static density (ESD) variable is defined that incorporates the mud p-ρ-T behavior, pressure and temperature of the mud at surface, thermal gradient, and depth of the well. It is suggested that ESD should be used in place of normally used mud weight term in all phases of deep well drilling. The analysis is applied to a high-temperature, 25,000-ft deep example well. It is observed that static pressure or ESD at the bottom of the well decreases during tripping and the extent of decrease is dependent on the type of mud. For the example well, it is estimated that a maximum reduction in ESD of about 0.62 lbm/gal occurs in the case of 18-lbm/gal water-based-mud, and a minimum reduction of about 0.2 lbm/gal occurs in the case of a 11-lbm/gal diesel-oil-based mud.