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Drilling Fluid Compressibility

This document discusses the compressibility of drilling fluids and their components. It defines compressibility as the change in volume of a material due to a change in pressure. The effective compressibility of a drilling fluid is calculated based on the volume fractions and compressibilities of its water, oil, and solid components. Average compressibility values are provided for these components in a drilling fluid. Finally, an example calculation is shown to determine the volume of drilling fluid needed to pressure test a casing string to 1,500 psi based on the annular volume and effective compressibility of the drilling fluid.

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LuisA.HarCór
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709 views1 page

Drilling Fluid Compressibility

This document discusses the compressibility of drilling fluids and their components. It defines compressibility as the change in volume of a material due to a change in pressure. The effective compressibility of a drilling fluid is calculated based on the volume fractions and compressibilities of its water, oil, and solid components. Average compressibility values are provided for these components in a drilling fluid. Finally, an example calculation is shown to determine the volume of drilling fluid needed to pressure test a casing string to 1,500 psi based on the annular volume and effective compressibility of the drilling fluid.

Uploaded by

LuisA.HarCór
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Drilling Fluid Compressibility

All materials, whether solids, liquids or gases, are compressible, i.e. the volume V of a given mass will be reduced
to V - dV when a force is exerted uniformly all over its surface. If the force per unit area of surface increases from
p to p + dp, the relationship between change of pressure and change of volume depends on the compressibility of
the material.

1
dp
; where c is the compressibility

=
cV
dV
For a drilling fluid composed of water, oil and solids having compressibilities cw, co and cs , respectively, the
effective compressibility, ce, is given by:

c e = cw f w + co f o + c s f s
Where fw, fo , and fs denote the volume fractions of water, oil, and solids.
Therefore:

1
dp

=
ceV
dV
Average Compressibility Values For Drilling Fluid Components
Compressibility (psi-1 )
3.0 x 106
5.0 x 10-6
0.2 x 10-6

Component
Water
Oil
Solids

Example: Casing Pressure Test


Calculate approximately how much mud will have to be pumped to pressure test a casing string to 1,500 psi. Mud
will be pumped through the annulus. The annular volume is 180 bbls and a float is present on the string. The
mud system is invert emulsion: 70% oil - 20% water - 10% solids.
The effective compressibility calculates to:

ce = (3-6 psi-1 ) 0.2 + (5-6 psi-1 ) 0.7 + (2-7 psi-1 ) 0.1 = 3.58 x 10-6 psi-1
Thus, the anticipated pressure increase for every barrel of mud pumped into the system (or every barrel the system
is compressed by):

dp
1
=
= 1,552 psi / bbl
dV
6
1
3.58 psi
180 bbl

The volume of mud required to pressure up the system to 1,500 psi therefore is:

1,500 psi
1,552 psi / bbl

M. Turri - 2003

= 0.97 bbl 1 bbl

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