Finite Element Analysis of Flow Field in Drill Bit Design for Gas-Lift Drilling

The hole cleaning issue in gas-lift drilling has been a concern and has not been previously investigated due to the difficulties of experimental studies and analytical modeling. The objective of this study is to deliver an assessment of hole cleaning capacity of drilling fluid in reverse circulation conditions for different bit designs. We use the finite element method (FEM) to target this issue and address a critical question in gas-lift drilling. The result of the theoretical investigation indicates that clean bottom hole can be achieved in gas-lift drilling through optimization of drill bit design to balance fluid energy (cleaning power) between tooth blades. Three drill bit designs were investigated in this study. The flow power balance between blades can be achieved with a 3-orifice bit design and a 2-orifice bit design, but there exist flow stagnation zones between these orifices, which are not desirable for bit tooth and borehole cleaning. The 1-orifice bit design with four cutter blades can eliminate flow stagnation zone and improve flow field to achieve a much better flow power balance between blades and thus bit tooth and borehole cleaning. Therefore, drill bits with one orifice are desirable for reverse circulation gas-drilling. This paper presents a novel technique of using FEM to evaluate bit hydraulics for hole cleaning in reverse drilling conditions. Future laboratory tests are desirable to obtain real data for further validating the model result.