J Petrol Explor Prod Technol (2015) 5:81–89

DOI 10.1007/s13202-014-0111-4

ORIGINAL PAPER - PRODUCTION ENGINEERING

A rigorous method to calculate the rising speed of gas kick

Kegang Ling • Jun He • Jun Ge • Peng Pei •

Zheng Shen

Received: 16 February 2013 / Accepted: 24 February 2014 / Published online: 17 March 2014
Ó The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract The rising speed of gas kick is an important Keywords Gas kick  Well control  Kick migration
parameter in well control operation. The position of the gas speed
kick dictates the pressure at the casing shoe, which is
usually the weakest point in the openhole section, and the
wellhead pressure, which is one of the key factors affecting Nomenclature
the blowout preventer and choke folder. In this research, Acone base = Area of base of cone of gas column
we derived a rigorous model to estimate the rising speed of Acone surface = Characteristic area of the cone of gas
gas kick. Starting from the force analysis and mass con- column
servation, we developed equations to calculate the forces Agas column base = Area of base of gas column
exerting on the gas kick. With the mass of the gas kick, the Agas column flank = Surface area of flank of gas column
rising speed of the gas kick is calculated. The effect of a = Acceleration
wellbore temperature profile on the rising of the gas kick is D1 = Drillpipe diameter
taken into account in the derivation. Before the develop- D2 = Wellbore diameter
ment of this model, the estimation of gas kick position is Ek = Kinetic energy per unit volume
commonly based on experience. In many cases, the expe- F1 = Fluid force behind the gas column
rience alone is not good enough for well control. The F2 = Fluid force in front of the gas column
proposed model provides a new approach with solid the- FD1 = Drag force on the flank of the gas
oretical base to characterize the rising of gas kick in the column
hole. It makes the procedure of the well control simple and FD2 = Drag force on the cone surface of gas
makes drilling engineers feel more comfortable to control column
the well. The new model can be combined with engineers FD2-Vert = Vertical drag force resulting from
experience to predict the downhole situation, shut-in casing drag force on the cone surface of gas
pressure, and mud rate as a functions of position of gas column
kick. Any deviation from the forecast indicates accidents or FG = Gravitational force
downhole problems. Therefore, the proposed model is a Fnet = Net force
valuable tool to diagnose the problems in well control. f = Friction factor
fi = Gas-mud interfacial friction factor
g = Gravitational acceleration
hgas base = Location of base of gas column
hgas center = Location of center of gas column
K. Ling (&)  J. He  J. Ge  P. Pei hwell = Well depth
University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, TX, USA K = Consistency index of mud
e-mail: [email protected]
Lbottomhole-gas base = Distance between bottomehole and
Z. Shen base of gas column
Texas A&M University, College Station, ND, USA Lgas cone = Height of cone part of gas kick

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Lgas cylinder = Height of cylinder part of gas kick experience alone is not good enough for well control. A
Lgas kick = Height of gas kick model with theoretical base to predict the gas kick rising
Lmigrated = Gas migrated distance speed is highly desired.
Lwellhead-gas top = Distance between wellhead and top Many studies have been focused on gas–liquid two-phase
of gas column flow in wellbore. Some researchers developed model to
M = Molecular weight of gas analyze two-phase flow in annuli during drilling. LeBlanc
mg = Mass of gas column and Lewis (1968) built a mathematical model to calculate
n = Flow-behavior index of mud the backpressure during circulating gas kick out of well. In
p1 = Pressure behind the gas column their model, the frictional pressure drop was ignored.
p2 = Pressure in front of the gas column Hoberock and Stanbery (1981a, b) combined different
pcasing = Casing pressure models to analyzed pressure distribution in wells during gas
pf = Frictional pressure drop kicks assuming constant temperature along the annulus.
pp = Pore pressure Santos and Bourgoyne (1989) estimated pressure profile in
pSIDP = Shut-in drillpipe pressure wellbore for two-phase flow basing on flow regime. Van
pgas = Average pressure of gas column Slyke and Huang (1990) used a dynamic wellbore model to
R = Universal gas constant predict gas kick behavior in oil-based drilling mud. The
T = Temperature at location mass of free gas changes with the temperature and pressure
TBH = Bottomhole temperature because the solution gas in oil-base mud varies along the
ug = Gas velocity wellbore. Johnson and White (1991) conducted experiment
um = Mud velocity to examine gas migration rate in drilling mud in a 49-ft
Vgas cone = Volume of cone part of gas kick long, 7.8-in ID inclinable flow loop. Skalle et al. (1991)
Vgas cylinder = Volume of cylinder part of gas kick studied gas rising velocity and its effect on bottomhole
Vgas kick = volume of gas kick at any location pressure (BHP) in a vertical well using experiment. Three
Vgas kick,BH = Volume of gas kick at bottomhole empirical two-phase flow correlations were used to analyze
VM,out = Volume of mud flow out the hole the experimental data. Frank and Rolv (1991) ran full-scale
VM,in = Volume of mud flow into the hole kick experiments and studied the effect of different
z = gas deviation factor parameters on gas-rise velocity. Johnson and Steven (1993)
zBH = Gas deviation factor at bottomhole investigated the gas migration velocities during gas kicks in
qg = Gas density deviated wells using the same facilities used by Johnson and
qg,BH = Gas density at botomhole White in 1991. Martins Lage et al. (1994) tested the gas kick
qm = Mud density migration in closed and open wells. Tarvin et al. (1994)
h = Angle between FD2 and vertical analyzed data from test-well experiment and found that gas
direction rises through drilling mud faster than the migration rates
h300 = The 300-rpm dial reading in mud generally accepted in the drilling industry. Ashley et al.
viscometer (1995) reviewed different gas migration velocity at differ-
h600 = The 600-rpm dial reading in mud ent gas concentration. Choe (2001) developed a two-phase
viscometer flow model to calculate pressure in annulus using flow
lg = Gas viscosity regime. Nunes et al. (2002) used Beggs and Brill method to
sgm = Shear stress between gas and mud analyze gas kicks in deepwater well drilling. Yu et al.
Dt1 = 1st time step (2009) developed a mechanistic model for gas–liquid flow
in upward vertical annuli. Flow regimes are applied in their
model. Chirinos et al. (2011) proposed a simplified method
to estimate peak casing pressure during managed pressure
Introduction drilling well control.

The rising speed of gas kick is an important parameter in

well control operation. The position of the gas kick dictates Methods to detect a kick
the pressure at the casing shoe, which is usually the
weakest point in the openhole section, and the wellhead It is crucial to detect a kick as the early beginning. Early
pressure, which is one of the key factors affecting the detection can minimize the kick size and reduce the risk of
blowout preventer and choke folder. In many gas kick well blowout when controlling the well. Kick-detection equip-
control operations, the estimations of gas kick position are ment should be installed. The followings are important kick
commonly based on experience. In many cases, the indications:

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1. An abrupt increase in penetration rate or drilling break 5. Circulate kill mud until it flows out of the choke
2. An increase in pump rate and a decrease in pump 6. Reduce pump speed while closing the choke
pressure 7. Shut down the pump
3. An increase in the mud return flow rate 8. Check casing pressure and drillpipe pressure to make
4. Pit gains due to the increase in the mud return flow rate sure both pressures are zero psi
5. An increase in drillstring weight 9. If both pressures are zero psi, complete well control.
6. Gas cutting or salinity changes in the drilling fluid
7. Mud flows when pumps are off.
Gas kick rising speed in well control

Well control procedures to circulate out gas kick According to the procedure of driller’s method, the old
and kill the well mud is pumped into the drillpipe to circulate the kick out of
the hole, which occurs in the first circulation. Therefore,
When there is a kick, two methods are usually applied to the mud in drillpipe and annulus has same properties. To
circulate the kick out of the wellbore and keep the well analyze the gas kick rising speed during the circulation,
under control. They are driller’s method and wait and following assumptions are made:
weight method. A thoroughly understanding of procedures
1. A volume of gas kick, Vg,BH, entered into the
of these two well control methods helps the development of
bottomhole when the well is shut in
governing equation for gas kick rising speed calculation.
2. The compressibility of mud is neglected comparing
The basic principle of both methods is to keep BHP con-
with gas compressibility
stant at the formation pressure. The driller’s method differs
3. Gas kick rises from the bottomhole to surface as a
from wait and weight method in the circulation number.
single column
Driller’s method needs two circulations to circulate the
4. There are two mud annuli between gas column and
kick out of hole and kill the well. Following steps are used
walls of wellbore and drillpipe due to the wettability
in driller’s method:
effect. The thicknesses of these two annuli are very
1. Shut in the well and get casing pressure and drillpipe small comparing with the radius of the gas column
pressure 5. The temperature of gas column follows the tempera-
2. Calculate the kill mud weight ture gradient in mud
3. Start up the pump by holding casing pressure 6. Water base mud with negligible gas solubility
constant 7. Drilling mud follows power-law model.
4. Pump old mud and circulate the kick out of hole
while keeping drillpipe pressure constant For a volume of gas kick, Vg,BH, enters into the bot-
5. After circulating kick out of hole, pump kill mud; tomhole, the volume of the gas kick equals the difference
start up the pump by holding casing pressure constant between the mud flow out of hole and into the hole.
6. Hold casing pressure constant and pump kill mud Vgas kick;BH ¼ VM;out  VM;in ð1Þ
until kill mud flow to the bit
where Vgas kick,BH = volume of gas kick at bottomhole,
7. Switch to constant drillpipe pressure and circulate
VM,out = volume of mud flow out the hole, VM,out = vol-
kill mud until it flows out of the choke
8. Shut down pumps by holding casing pressure constant ume of mud flow out the hole, VM,in = volume of mud flow
9. Check casing pressure and drillpipe pressure to make into the hole.
sure both pressures are zero psi Since the time period between well shut in and starting
10. If both pressures are zero psi, complete well control. pumping old mud to circulate the kick is very short, we can
assume the migration of gas begin as the pump is started
The procedure of wait and weight method is as follows: up. Now we analyze the rising speed of gas column at the
1. Shut in the well and get casing pressure and drillpipe beginning of first circulation. As old mud is pumped into
pressure the drillpipe, the gas kick migrates upward inside the
2. Calculate the kill mud weight and mix the kill mud annulus like a piston as shown in Fig. 1. At the time the gas
3. Start up the pump by holding casing pressure constant kick begins to move upward, the height of gas kick is the
4. Pump kill mud and circulate the kick out of hole while sum of heights of cone part and cylinder part, which is
keeping BHP constant, manipulate the choke to make expressed as
sure drillpipe pressure, and follow the pressure reduc-
tion schedule Lgas kick ¼ Lgas cone þ Lgas cylinder ð2Þ

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two dimensions, horizontal and vertical directions. For the

F2 F2
purpose of this study, horizontal forces are not considered.
FD2 FD2 According to the U-tube theory, the pressure inside the
Lgas cone=(D2-D1)/4 drillpipe should be balanced by pressure in the annulus.
When the old mud is pumped into the drillpipe, the gas
D1 column will move upward along the annulus. The gas
Lgas cylinder
column is subjected to five forces, the gravitational force,
the drag force on the cone surface of gas column, the drag
FG FG
force on the flank of the gas column, the fluid forces in
front of and behind the gas column. Because the forces in
FD1 FD1 FD1 FD1 the vertical direction control the upward movement of gas
F1 F1 kick, they are analyzed here. The net force in vertical
D2
direction is calculated by

Fig. 1 Distribution of gas kick in the annuli

Fnet ¼ F1  F2  FD1  FD2Vert  FG
or
where Lgas kick = height of gas kick, Lgas cone = height of Z90o
cone part of gas kick, Lgas cylinder = height of cylinder part Fnet ¼ F1  F2  FD1  FD2 cos h dh  FG ð5Þ
of gas kick. 0o
Due to the effect of gas–mud interfacial tension, the
where Fnet = net force, FG = gravitational force,
height of cone should equal D2 D 4 assuming the annuli
1

FD2 = drag force on the cone surface of gas column,

between gas column and walls of wellbore and drillpipe are
FD2Vert = vertical drag force resulting from drag force on
small and can be neglected. Therefore, the volume of gas
the cone surface of gas column, FD1 = drag force on the
kick can be expressed as
flank of the gas column, F2 = fluid force in front of the gas
Vgas kick ¼ Vgas cone þ Vgas cylinder column, F1 = fluid force behind the gas column,
  h = angle between FD2 and vertical direction.
D1 D2  D1 p ðD2  D1 Þ2
¼ 2p þ The fluid force behind the gas column is
2 4 2 16
D22  D21 D22  D21
þp Lgas cylinder F1 ¼ p1 Agas column base ¼ p p1 ð6Þ
4 4
 2 2
 
2 D2  D1 D2 þ D1 D2  D21 where p1 = pressure below the gas column,
¼p þp 2 Lgas cylinder
4 16 4 Agas column base = area of base of gas column.
ð3Þ According to the basic principle in the driller’s and
engineer’s methods, BHP is kept constant during the cir-
where Vgas kick = volume of gas kick at any location,
culation, which means BHP always equals pore pressure.
Vgas cone = volume of cone part of gas kick, Vgas cylinder =
Therefore, the pressure below the gas column can be
volume of cylinder part of gas kick, D1 = drillpipe
expressed in terms of pore pressure, frictional pressure
diameter, D2 = wellbore diameter.
drop, and pressure change due to potential energy change,
Therefore, the height of gas cylinder can be estimated
which is
from gas kick volume, which is
 2 2   p1 ¼ pp  qm gLbottomholegas base  pf ð7Þ
D D þD1
Vgas kick  p2 2 4 1 D216
Lgas cylinder ¼ where pp = pore pressure, qm = mud density, g = gravi-
D2 D2
p 2 4 1  tational acceleration, Lbottomholegas base = distance between
Vgas kick D2 þ D1 bottomhole and base of gas column, pf = frictional pres-
¼ D2 D2  p ð4Þ
p 24 1 16 sure drop between bottomhole and base of gas column.
Pore pressure can be estimated from the shut-in drillpipe
As the gas column moves upward, the gas expands. pressure and static hydraulic pressure due to drill mud,
According to Eq. (4), the shape of gas cone remains which is
constant while the height of gas cylinder becomes longer
pp ¼ pSIDP þ qm ghwell ð8Þ
due to gas expansion.
To estimate the rising velocity of gas kick, force ana- where pSIDP = shut-in drillpipe pressure, hwell = well
lysis is required. Forces on gas column can be analyzed in depth.

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The frictional pressure drop depends on the flow regime. dpf

pf ¼ Lbottomholegas base
When the Reynolds number is less than 2,100, the flow is dh
laminar; otherwise, it is turbulent flow. The Reynolds f qm u2m
¼ Lbottomholegas base ð13Þ
number is calculated through (Bourgoyne et al. 1986) 21:1ðD2  D1 Þ

109000qm u2n
m 0:0208 ðD2  D1 Þ n where f = friction factor.
NRe ¼ ð9Þ
K 2 þ 1=n The friction factor can be read from Fig. 2.
The fluid force in front of the gas column is
where
D22  D21
510h300 F2 ¼ p2 Acone base ¼ p2 Agas column base ¼ p p2 ð14Þ
K¼ ð10Þ 4
511n
h600 where p2 = pressure in front of the gas column,
n ¼ 3:32 log ð11Þ Acone base = area of base of cone of gas column, which
h300
equals area of base of gas column.
where K = consistency index of mud, n = flow-behavior The pressure in front of the gas column can be
index of mud, um = mud velocity, h300 = the 300-rpm dial expressed in terms of casing pressure, frictional pressure
reading in mud viscometer, h600 = the 600-rpm dial read- drop, and pressure change due to potential energy change,
ing in mud viscometer. which is
If the flow is laminar flow, the frictional pressure drop
can be calculated by (Bourgoyne et al. 1986) p2 ¼ pcasing þ qm gLwellheadgas top  pf ð15Þ
dpf where pcasing = casing pressure, Lwellheadgas top = distance
pf ¼ Lbottomholegas base
dh  n between wellhead and top of gas column.
Kunm 2þ1=n
0:0208 Casing pressure is readily available during circulation.
¼ Lbottomholegas base ð12Þ The calculation of frictional pressure drop is akin to the
144000ðD2  D1 Þ1þn
frictional pressure drop between bottomhole and base of
If the flow is turbulent flow, the frictional pressure drop gas column. In case of laminar flow, the frictional pressure
can be calculated by drop is

Fig. 2 Friction factor for

power-law fluid model, after
Bourgoyne et al. (1986)

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    D 
pf ¼
dpf
Lwellheadgas top D2  D1 p D2 D
4
1
2p 21 þ D2 D
4
1

dh FD2 ¼ 3p  2 lg ug
 n 2 4p D2 D1
Kunm 2þ1=n
0:0208 3
4

¼ L
1þn wellheadgas top
ð16Þ ¼ p2 ðD2 þ D1 Þlg ug : ð22Þ
144000ðD2  D1 Þ 4

If the flow is turbulent flow, the frictional pressure drop can Decomposing the drag force on the cone surface, we obtain
be calculated by vertical direction force, which is
Z90o
dpf f qm u2m FD2Vert ¼ FD2 cos hdh ¼ FD2 ½sinð90o Þ  sinð0o Þ
pf ¼ Lwellheadgas top ¼ Lwellheadgas top ð17Þ
dh 21:1ðD2  D1 Þ
0o
Again, Reynolds number is calculated from Eq. (9) and 3
¼ FD2 ¼ p2 ðD2 þ D1 Þlg ug : ð23Þ
friction factor is read from Fig. 2. 4
The drag force on the flank of the gas column can be Equation (23) is found to give acceptable accuracy for
derived according to the flow regime: laminar and turbu- Reynolds numbers below 0.1. For Reynolds numbers
lent flow conditions. When gas column moves upward greater than 0.1, the drag force needs to be estimated
along the annulus, the drag force on the flank of the gas using friction factor. The friction factor is defined by:
column is
FD2
f ¼ ð24Þ
FD1 ¼ Agas column flank sgm ¼ pðD1 þ D2 ÞLgas cylinder sgm Acone surface Ek
ð18Þ where Acone surface = characteristic area of the cone of gas
column, Ek = kinetic energy per unit volume.
where Agas column flank = surface area of flank of gas col-
Then, the drag force can be expressed as:
umn, sgm = shear stress between gas and mud.
Shear stress between gas and mud is calculated through FD2 ¼ fAcone surface Ek ð25Þ
(Taitel 1995) The characteristic area of the cone of gas column is given
by:
fi qg u2g    
sgm ¼ ð19Þ 1 D2  D1 D2 þ D1
2 Acone surface ¼ p 2p
4 4 4
where fi = gas–mud interfacial friction factor, ug = gas p2  2 2

velocity, qg = gas density. ¼ D  D1 ð26Þ
32 2
Gas–mud interfacial friction factor is calculated by
The kinetic energy per unit volume is given by:
fi ¼ CNn
Re ð20Þ qg u2g
Ek ¼ ð27Þ
where C = 16 and n = 1.0 for laminar flow, and 2
C = 0.046 and n = 0.2 for turbulent flow. If fi from The friction factor f can be calculated by Eq. (20). If fi from
Eq. (20) is larger than 0.014, fi = 0.014 should be used. Eq. (20) is larger than 0.014, fi = 0.014 should be used.
Reynolds number is calculated by The gravity force resulting from the gas column is
expressed as
qg ug ðD2  D1 Þ FG ¼ qg;BH gVgas kick;BH ð28Þ
NRe ¼ ð21Þ
lg
where
where lg = gas viscosity.
pp M
The drag force on the cone surface,FD2 , can be esti- qg;BH ¼ ð29Þ
zRTBH
mated by Ling’s (2010) method. In Fig. 1, the cone of gas
column experiences a drag force resulting from the viscous M = molecular weight of gas, R = universal gas constant,
mud flow around the cone surface. The magnitude of drag z = gas deviation factor, TBH = bottomhole temperature,
force depends on the flow regime, laminar, or turbulent qg;BH = gas density at bottomhole.
flow. For laminar flow, the drag force is calculated from The molecular weight can be calculated from gas-
Stokes law. Stokes law has shown that for creeping flow specific gravity. Gas-specific gravity can be calculated
(Castleman 1926), the drag force is related to the gas cone from shut-in drillpipe pressure, shut-in casing pressure,
velocity through the fluid by: mud density, and pit gain, or from offset well gas

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J Petrol Explor Prod Technol (2015) 5:81–89 87

property. Bottomhole temperature and temperature at any Calculation procedure

depth can be estimated using regional temperature gra-
dient. Gravity force of gas column is constant during the The calculation of gas column migrating up the annuli can
gas migration. be broken into the following steps:
Substituting Eqs. (6), (14), (18), (23), and (28) into (5),
1) Calculate the acceleration of gas column when it starts
we have
to migrate; at this moment, there is no drag force, so
D22  D21 D2  D21 Eqs. (33) and (34) reduce to
Fnet ¼ p p1  p 2 p2
4 4  
3 p
D22 D21
ð p1  p2 Þ
 pðD1 þ D2 ÞLgas cylinder sgm  p2 ðD2 þ D1 Þlg ug 4
4 a¼ g ð35Þ
 2  qg;BH Vgas kick;BH
D2  D21
 qg;BH gVgas kick;BH ¼ p ð p1  p2 Þ
4 2) Select a small 1st time step, Dt1, and calculate the

8 3 velocity of gas column at the end of 1st time step by
 pðD2 þ D1 Þug Lgas cylinder qg ug þ plg
NRe 4
ug ¼ aDt1 ð36Þ
 qg;BH gVgas kick;BH
ð30Þ 3) Calculate the migrated distance, Lmigrated, by

for laminar flow. 1

Substituting Eqs. (6), (14), (18), (25), and (28) into (5), Lmigrated ¼ aDt12 ð37Þ
2
we have
4) Calculate the location of base of gas column, hgas base,
D22
 D21  D22 D21 by
Fnet ¼ p p1  p p2
4 4
 pðD1 þ D2 ÞLgas cylinder sgm  fAcone surface Ek hgas base ¼ hwell  Lmigrated ð38Þ
 qg;BH gVgas kick;BH
 2  0:046 2
D  D21 N 0:2 qg ug Table 1 Input data for gas kick migration calculation
¼p 2 ðp1  p2 Þ  pðD2 þ D1 ÞLgas cylinder re
4 2 Molecular weight of gas 20 lb/lb-mole
2 2
p  qm ug Gas specific gravity 0.69 air = 1.0
f D2  D21  qg;BH gVgas kick;BH
32 2 2 Well depth at kick occur 9,975 ft
ð31Þ Wellbore diameter 8.5 in.
Drillpipe length 9,445 ft
for turbulent flow.
With the calculated net force, the acceleration of gas Drillpipe diameter (OD) 4.5 in.
column can be calculated through Drill collar length 530 ft
Drill collar diameter (OD) 6.25 in.
Fnet Fnet Shut-in drillpipe pressure 275 psi
a¼ ¼ ð32Þ
mg qg;BH Vgas kick;BH Shut-in casing pressure 448 psi
o
Bottomhole temperature 180 F
where a = acceleration, mg = mass of gas column. o
Temperature gradient 1.1 F/100 ft
Therefore, substituting Eqs. (30) and (31) into (32) gives
Pit gains or kick volume at bottomhole 13.6 bbl
the governing equations for accelerations of gas column
Mud density 11.7 lbm/gal
under laminar and turbulent flows, respectively.
 2 2 h i The 300-rpm dial reading in mud viscometer 29 lbf/100 ft2
D D
p 2 4 1 ðp1  p2 Þ  pðD2 þ D1 Þug Lgas cylinder N8Re qg ug þ 34 plg The 600-rpm dial reading in mud viscometer 46 lbf/100 ft2
a¼ g
qg;BH Vgas kick;BH Consistency index of mud 234 cp
ð33Þ Flow-behavior index of mud 0.67
Mud pressure gradient 0.608 psi/ft
and Mass of kick 1,304 lbm
  0:046
q u2  2  q u2
p
D22 D21 N 0:2 g g
ðp1  p2 Þ  pðD2 þ D1 ÞLgas cylinder re 2  f p2
D2  D21 m2 g Gravitational acceleration 31.174 ft/s2
4 32
a¼ g Bottomhole pressure 6,338 psi
qg;BH Vgas kick;BH
Kick density at bottomhole 17.08 lbm/ft3
ð34Þ

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5) Assuming a new gas volume, which is larger than gas inaccurate measurement of pit gains, variation of mud
volume at bottomhole; calculate the height of gas properties along the wellbore, inaccurate kick properties,
column, hgas kick through Eq. (3) and any deviation from the aforementioned assumptions.
6) Calculate the location of center of gas column Therefore, the model gives reasonable results.
hgas center, by A computer program is coded to calculate the rising of
gas kick. Thus, the calculation can be done within
acceptable time period after the well is shut in. Then, the
Lgas kick calculation can provide a forecast of gas kick location
hgas center ¼ hgas base  ð39Þ
2 versus circulating time for circulating kick out of hole
7) Calculate the average pressure of gas column, pgas operation. The real-time data during well control can be
compared with the predicted values. Any deviation from
8) Using real gas law, calculate the volume of gas kick at
new location, which is forecast could be an indication of downhole problem. The
proposed method can be combined with engineers experi-
ence to predict the downhole situation, shut-in casing
zBH TBH pgas pressure, and mud rate as functions of position of gas kick.
Vgas kick ¼ ð40Þ Therefore, the new model is a valuable tool in well control.
zTpp Vgas kick;BH
where T = temperature at location, zBH = gas deviation
factor at bottomhole, Dt1 = 1st time step, Lmigrated = gas Conclusions
migrated distance, hgas base = location of base of gas col-
umn, hgas center = location of center of gas column, Following conclusions can be drawn from this study:
pgas = average pressure of gas column. The governing equation to estimate the gas kick
migration velocity in the annuli has been developed.
9) If calculated gas volume is different from assumed
The procedure to calculate the migration of gas kick
volume in Step 5, repeat Steps 5 through 8 until a
from bottomhole to surface has been proposed.
converged volume is obtained
Differences between forecast values and real-time data
10) With the gas column location after 1st time step, we
in well control could be signs of downhole problems.
can calculate the acceleration of gas column using
Eq. (33) or (34) Acknowledgments This paper was firstly presented at the SPE
11) Select 2nd time step and calculate the velocity and Middle East Unconventional Gas Conference & Exhibition held in
migrated distance at the end of 2nd time step Muscat, Sultanate of Oman on January 28–30, 2013. The authors
thank Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in allowing us to publish
12) Repeat Steps 4 through 11 until base of gas column
this paper with Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production
migrates to the surface Technology. The authors are grateful to The Petroleum Engineering
Department in University of North Dakota. This research is supported
in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under award number
DE-FC26-08NT0005643.
Case study to illustrate the validation and application
of model Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, dis-
tribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
Field data from a gas kick detection and control in a well in author(s) and the source are credited.
Southeast Asia were used to verify the model. A kick was
detected when the well was drilled to a depth of 9,975 ft.
The well was shut in; the influx was contained and further
entry of formation fluid was prevented. The pit gains were References
13.6 bbl when the well was shut in. Shut-in casing and
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