Directional Drilling and Well Flow Engineering (PET505)

The first main part of the course has focus on drilling and well technology. This part gives an overall introduction to the different phases of the lifecycle of a well with special focus on how a well is constructed. In addition, a more in depth study of how different well profiles are obtained by use of directional drilling is given. Here, one will address both application areas, directional drilling concepts, equipment, use of measurements for positioning and perform calculations.

The other main part of the course deals with multiphase flow of liquids, gas and particles in wells and pipelines. This has applications for both the drilling and production phase of wells.


Course description for study year 2024-2025. Please note that changes may occur.

Facts

Course code

PET505

Version

1

Credits (ECTS)

10

Semester tution start

Autumn

Number of semesters

1

Exam semester

Autumn

Language of instruction

English

Content

The content of the directional drilling part of the course is as follows:

Introduction to different phases of a wells life, construction of well, drilling equipment, drilling process, drilling problems, completion, and associated equipment in production well, application of directional drilling, directional drilling concepts, coordinate systems, drillstring equipment, drill bits, mud motor, rotary steerable systems, survey measurements, formation logging, geosteering, uncertainty in well positioning, calculations related to the orientation of mudmotor, calculations related to simple two-dimensional well profiles, methods for calculation of position including application in Excel.

The content of the flow engineering part of the course is:

Single and multiphase flow including rheology and fluid properties, flow patterns, fluid fractions, and pressure loss calculations in vertical and horizontal wells. Important application areas are hole cleaning, gas kick, gas-lift, and flow in production wells and pipelines. Matlab programs illustrate the use of theory in a numerical simulator for multiphase wellflow. A guided Lab work is anticipated. Measurement techniques and instrumentation by using different sensors, data acquisition, and analysis will be highlighted. In addition, LabDemo illustrating flow regimes will be conducted at the Multiphase Flow lab.

Learning outcome

Have insight into the different phases of the lifecycle of a well including drilling, completion, production, intervention, and plug and abandonment.

Have knowledge about directional drilling including application areas, directional drilling concepts, different coordinate systems, directional drilling equipment, necessary measurements for positioning, and uncertainty in wellbore positioning.

Be able to perform calculations for directional wells which address simple two-dimensional well profiles, use of mud motor for changing position, calculation of vertical section, and methods for calculating well position based on survey measurements.

Be able to perform hydraulic calculations both for single-phase and multiphase flow systems related to well operations considering hole cleaning, well kicks, gas lift operations, and production wells.

Be able to use digital tools like Excel and Matlab for data acquisition and analysis of problems, and numerical simulation of processes.

Increased knowledge of running experiments and instrumentation.

Required prerequisite knowledge

Must meet the requirement for admission to the master programme in Petroleum Engineering

Recommended prerequisites

Fluid mechanics, ordinary and partial differential equations.

Exam

Form of assessment Weight Duration Marks Aid
Written exam 1/1 4 Hours Letter grades Valid calculator

Written exam with pen and paper

Course teacher(s)

Head of Department:

Øystein Arild

Method of work

4 hours with lectures per week distributed evenly between directional drilling and the hydrodynamics single phase and multiphase well flow.

Incorporate 2 to 6 hours of guided lab work on the hydrodynamics part.

Overlapping courses

Course Reduction (SP)
Petroleum production and multiphase flow (MPE700_1) 5
Well Engineering (MPE680_1) 5
Well Engineering, Petroleum production and multiphase flow ( MPE680_1 MPE700_1 ) 10

Open for

Admission to Single Courses at the Faculty of Science and Technology
Petroleum Engineering - Master of Science Degree Programme Petroleum Engineering - Master of Science Degree Programme, Five Years
Exchange programme at Faculty of Science and Technology

Course assessment

There must be an early dialogue between the course supervisor, the student union representative and the students. The purpose is feedback from the students for changes and adjustments in the course for the current semester.In addition, a digital subject evaluation must be carried out at least every three years. Its purpose is to gather the students experiences with the course.

Literature

The syllabus can be found in Leganto