COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS BASED INVESTIGATION ON MUDFLOW AROUND PDC BIT

Drilling operations have a significant effect in oil and gas exploration and production due to its economic reason. Less drilling time can directly lower the overall cost of exploration and production in oil and gas. This project focuses on the hydrodynamics study of a Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) drill bit design particularly on nozzle inclination and how it affects the bit hydraulics characteristics of the drilling fluid in the bore hole and around the PDC bit. Optimizing the hydraulics while drilling is well-known and acknowledged to have significant effect on the overall drilling performance, where good hydraulics provide essential job of removing of drill cuttings to avoid unnecessary mechanical energy loss due to re-work on the produced drill cuttings, cooling of the diamond cutters to prolong the bit life and reduce the potential of bit balling. These factors assist in achieving high ROPs which in turn reduces drilling time thus effectively lowering the cost of a drilling operation. Different types of drilling fluids are also considered in this study as it is also known to have an effect on the drilling hydraulics characteristics.