Abstract
The prevention and remediation of lost circulation during well construction employs engineered solutions that require a menu of services and tools to support the planning and application stages. Specialty software is used during the planning stage leading to the application of unique products and systems during the delivery stage. A feasibility study by technology specialists may include a wide range of tools during the planning stage to support data acquisition, modeling and design of the application stage. Planning services include hydraulics and fracture characterization modeling to assess expected Equivalent Circulating Densities (ECD) and their effect on potential lost circulation intervals. The fracture characterization modeling for borehole stress treatments uses a module that calculates both the expected fracture width and the particle size distribution required to plug the induced fracture and prevent propagation. The effect of these additions on the rheology of a non-aqueous drilling fluid can then be determined by the use of a new predictive rheology model. Application services may include real-time data acquisition to support delivery of specialized lost circulation materials and systems in either a preventive (pretreatment and/or borehole stress treatments to strengthen the wellbore) or corrective mode (mitigating lost circulation and, where possible, providing additional wellbore strength).
