Torque and

Drag
 Torque and Drag
• Torque is the force required to turn
the drill string

• Drag is the increase in string weight

when pulling out of the hole or the
reduction in string weight while
tripping in the hole
 Torque and Drag – Why?
• Rig selection
– Hoisting & Circulating systems horsepower
• Evaluation of mechanical integrity
– Tension/torsion failure
– Sinusoidal/helical buckling
• Avoiding hole problems
– Poor hole cleaning  pipe sticking
– Bit failure
– Hole spiraling
 Torque and Drag

Drilling torque increasing with depth

 Torque and Drag
Poor hole cleaning

Increased torque when drilling Increased drag when tripping out

 Torque and Drag
• Vertical wells
– Hook load  Kb x total weight in air – WOB
– Tripping-out HL ≅ Tripping-in HL
– Torque M = Mbit + Mviscous mud + Mfriction

• Directional and Horizontal wells

– Drag forces due to friction dominant

– Tripping-out HL > Tripping-in HL

– Torque M = Mbit + Mviscous mud + Mfriction
 Rotating Weight
Hook Load Down
Hook Load Up
Tripping in
Tripping out

Weight Indicator
 Torque and Drag

• The magnitude of the torque and

drag is determined by the force with
which the pipe contacts the hole
wall and the friction coefficient
between the wall and pipe
 Friction review - Stationary
• Horizontal surface N

• No motion
• No applied force

S Fy = 0
N=W
W
N= Normal force = lateral load = contact force = reaction force
 Friction review - Sliding Motion
Horizontal surface N

• Velocity, V > 0
• V = constant N F
• Force along surface

N=W
W
F=N=W
 Frictionless, Inclined, Straight Wellbore:

Consider a section of pipe

in the wellbore.

In the absence of FRICTION the

forces acting on the pipe are
buoyed weight, axial tension
and the reaction force, N,
normal to the wellbore.
 Frictionless, Inclined, Straight Wellbore:

F  0 along wellbore : T  W cos I (1)

F  0  ar to wellbore : N  W sin I (2)

These equations are used for ROTATING pipe.

Effect of Friction, Inclined, Straight
Wellbore:
 Effect of Friction, Inclined, Straight
Wellbore:
Frictional Force,

Ff = N = W sin I

where,
a) W is the buoyed weight
b) 0 <  < 1 ( is the coeff. of friction)

usually 0.15 <  < 0.4 in the wellbore

 Effect of Friction, Inclined, Straight
Wellbore:

Lowering: Friction opposes motion, so

T  W cos I  F f  W cos I  W sin I

Raising: Friction still opposes motion, so

T  W cos I  F f  W cos I  W sin I

 Example 1

What is the maximum hole angle (inclination

angle) that can be logged without the aid of
drillpipe, coiled tubing or other tubulars?
(assume  = 0.4)
 Solution 1

• The maximum hole angle (inclination angle)

that can be logged without the aid of
drillpipe is called the critical inclination

• The critical inclination is were the drag

equals the weight component along the
axis of the hole
 Solution 1

From the following equation (lowering),

T  W cos I  F f  W cos I  W sin I

It is clear that the pipe must be pushed if ΔT is
negative. At the critical inclination we have,

0  W cos I  W sin I
0  W cos I  0.4W sin I
 Solution 1 (cont’d)

 cot I  0.4 or tan I  2.5

I  68.2 

Critical Inclination = arccot ()

 Horizontal - Torque
N = Normal force from
surface acting upward

T T = Torque applied

d/2 Ff = μN = Force resisting

forward movement due to
friction
W = Downward force
due to gravity

Net Force Perpendicular to Surface = N - W = 0

Net Torque = T - N * d/2 = 0 (if constant velocity)
 Horizontal - Torque
A more accurate T = Torque applied
equation for torque in a
horizontal wellbore may N T
be obtained by taking Ff = μN
into account that a d/2 f
rotating pipe will ride up P
the side of the wellbore
to some angle f. W

Taking moments about the point P:

Torque T = W * (d/2) sin f [in-lbf]

where f = arctan 
 Example 2
Consider a well with a long horizontal section. An
8,000-ft long string of 7” OD csg. is in the hole.
Buoyed weight of pipe = 30 lbs/ft.  = 0.3

(a) What force will it take to move this pipe

along the horizontal section of the wellbore?

(b) What torque will it take to rotate this pipe?

 Solution 2 - Force
(a) What force will it take to move this pipe along the
horizontal section of the wellbore?
N
F=? F = N

W
N = W = 30 lb/ft * 8,000 ft = 240,000 lb
F = N = 0.3 * 240,000 lb = 72,000 lb
Force to move pipe, F = 72,000 lbf
 Solution 2 - Torque
(b) What torque will it take to rotate this pipe?

T o
f = arctan 0.3 = 16.70
7/2 f
P
T = 240,000 * 7/24 * 0.2873
240,000
T = 20,111 ft-lbf
 Torque and Drag Model
1. The drill string is broken into segments
starting at the bit where the tension is
known
2. The normal force is calculated and the
tension at the top of the segment is
calculated based on drag and pipe weight
3. The tension at the top of the segment
becomes the tension at the bottom of the
next segment
 Torque and Drag Model (cont’d)
4. The process is repeated until the
calculations reach the surface, which is
the hook load
5. Tripping in the hole, the drag acts in the
opposite direction
6. Torque can be calculated in a very similar
manner. The bit torque is entered and the
torque is summed up the hole the same
as the drag
 Example 3 – Straight Wellbore
A well with a measured depth of 10,000 ft. may be
approximated as being perfectly vertical to the kick-off
point at 2,000 ft. A string of 7” OD csg. is in the hole;
total length is 10,000 ft. The 8,000-ft segment is
inclined at 60 deg. Buoyed weight of pipe = 30 lbs/ft.
 = 0.3
 Example 3 (cont’d)
Determine the following:

(a) Hook load when rotating off bottom

(b) Hook load when RIH
(c) Hook load when POH
(d) Torque when rotating off bottom

[ ignore effects of dogleg at 2,000 ft.]

 Solution 3
(a) Hook load when rotating off bottom:
 Solution 3 - Rotating

When rotating off bottom,

the sliding friction coefficient
is assumed to be zero.
HL  HL 2000  HL8000
0.5

lb lb 
 30 * 2000 ft  30 * 8000 ft * cos 60 
ft ft
 60,000 lbf  120,000 lbf

HL  180,000 lbf
 Solution 3 - Lowering

(b) Hook load when RIH:

The hook load is decreased by friction in the
wellbore.
Ff  N
In the vertical portion,

N  30 * 2000 * sin o0  0
o

Thus,
F2000  0
 Solution 3 - Lowering (cont’d)
In the inclined section,
N = 30 * 8,000 * sin 60 = 207,846 lbf
Thus, W

F8000 = N = 0.3 * 207,846 = 62,352 lbf

HL = We,2000 + We,8000 - F2000 - F8000
= 60,000 + 120,000 - 0 - 62,354

HL = 117,646 lbf while RIH

 Solution 3 - Raising

(c) Hook Load when POH:

HL = We,2000 + We,8000 + F2000 + F8000

= 60,000 + 120,000 + 0 + 62,354

HL = 242,354 lbf while POH

 Solution to Example 3 - Summary
ROT
RIH
2,000
POH
MD
ft

10,000
0 60,000 120,000 180,000 240,000
Axial Tension, lbf
 Solution to Problem 3 - Summary
Axial Tension, to the nearest 1,000 lbf

Location MD, ft RIH ROT POH

Surface 0 118,000 180,000 242,000

Bend 2,000 58,000 120,000 182,000

Bottom 10,000 0 0 0
 Solution to Example 3 - rotating
(d) Torque when rotating off bottom:

Taking moments about tangent

point in the inclined section,

T = W sin I sin f (d/2)

T = 30*8,000*sin(60)*sin(16.7)*(7/24)

where f = arctan 

T= 17,420 ft-lbf
W sin I
Torque and Drag - Effect of dogleg
• Pipe weight is not the only
source of drag
• When hole curvature is
considered, an additional
force is added to the
normal force
• That force is a function of
pipe tension and dogleg
severity
 Torque and Drag - Effect of dogleg

• Most of the torque and drag in a directional

well comes from pipe tension (or compression)
in a dogleg

• Horizontal and other high angle wells do have a

significant drag component from the pipe
weight
 Torque and Drag - Effect of dogleg
• The normal force is a
function of tension
T + T and dogleg severity

• See derivations for
the pipe force T as a
N function of hole
inclination angle  in
 a curved wellbore:
FDE, sections 8.5 and
T 8.6
 Torque and Drag - Mitigation

• Three ways to change the drag in a well

–Change the friction coefficient
–Change the directional profile
–Change the string weight or tension
 Mitigation – friction coefficient
• Reducing the friction coefficient can have the
most dramatic effect on torque and drag
– The friction coefficient can be affected by mud
type, mud additives, solids content and hole
cleaning practices
– Generally, oil base muds will have the lowest
friction coefficient
– Below are some ranges for friction coefficients from
Sperry Sun
Drilling Fluid μ in Casing μ in Formation

Oil based 0.16 to 0.20 0.17 to 0.25

Water based 0.25 to 0.35 0.25 to 0.40
Brine 0.30 to 0.40 0.30 to 0.40
 Mitigation – Mud Additives
• Mud companies offer “slide” additives, a lubricant to
decrease the coefficient of friction between the pipe
and the hole.
– Added either continuously or spotted as pills when a slide is
needed.
– If the additive is to be used in the production zone, additional
testing will likely be needed to ensure it is non-damaging.

• Small beads are sometimes used

to reduce friction. The intention
is to provide an interface
between the hole and the pipe.
– The beads will likely be removed by
the solids control equipment and
can either be recovered or disposed
 Mitigation – Well Path

• Changing the directional profile can

affect the torque and drag, but not
significantly

• Generally, lower dogleg severities will

yield slightly lower drag values
 Mitigation – Well Path
Pseudo Catenery
– Slow initial BUR (say 1°/100’), accelerating with depth
– Originally used by Statoil to reduce instability problems in surface hole
– Applicable for wells with:
• Deep TVD
• Casing wear problems
• Torque problems
• Drag problems running surface casing
• Shallow instability problems
– Issues
• Reduces torque, if torque is generated in the build section
• May or may not increase drag problems
– It is a common misconception that drag is improved
• Will increase angle and MD
 Mitigation – Well Path

B&H
Pseudo-Catenery
 Mitigation – Drilling Systems
• Use of rotary steerable
– Reduced dog-leg severity
– Rotation reduces the drag
– As reliability and tool availability increase and cost
decreases, the application of rotary steerable
tools to combat torque and drag will likely
increase

• Use of top drive

– pipe can be run in the hole even if it will not fall by
its own weight because rotation reduces the drag
 Mitigation – Drillstring design
• Reducing the pipe weight will reduce
the tension and therefore drag values
• Replace drill collars with HWDP and drill
pipe
• Drill pipe can be run in compression in a
directional well if required but should
not exceed the critical buckling load
 Mitigation – Drillstring design
• In horizontal wells, the drill pipe must be
pushed into the hole using the weight of
the pipe above the critical inclination
• Keep the pipe in the horizontal section as
light as possible
• HWDP is used in and above the curve
• Drill collars may or may not be required in
the vertical portion above the HWDP
• Typical drill string design for horizontal well

2000
Premium Drillpipe
4000

6000
Depth, ft

HWDP
MWD/LWD
8000

Higher Weight Non-mag Steerable Motor

10,000 Compressive
or Standard Service Pipe
12,000 Drillpipe

14,000
Bit
16,000
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Departure, ft
Last slide