Next Article in Journal
Impact of Spray Drying on the Properties of Grape Pomace Extract Powder
Next Article in Special Issue
Experimental Study on the Transport Behavior of Micron-Sized Sand Particles in a Wellbore
Previous Article in Journal
Interpreting Digital Transformation from a Psychological Perspective: A Case Study of the Oil and Gas Industry
Previous Article in Special Issue
Study on Numerical Simulation of Formation Deformation Laws Induced by Offshore Shallow Gas Blowout
 
 
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Evaluation of Thermal Insulation of Vacuum-Insulated Casing to Prevent Uncontrollable Melting of Ice and Borehole Instability in Permafrost

1
School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
2
School of Energy Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Processes 2024, 12(7), 1389; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12071389
Submission received: 12 April 2024 / Revised: 26 June 2024 / Accepted: 1 July 2024 / Published: 3 July 2024

Abstract

During oil and gas development in permafrost, hot fluids within the wellbore can cause ice melting around wellbore and a decrease in sediment strength, as well as wellbore instability. In the present work, the experimental system for evaluating the insulation effectiveness was established, and the applicability of this experimental system and methodology was verified. It was found that the difference between the experimentally obtained and actual thermal conductivity of the ordinary casings are all within 1.0 W/(m·°C). Meanwhile, the evaluation of insulation effect found that the decrease in fluid temperature, ambient temperature, and vacuum degree can improve its insulation performance. Finally, the numerical simulation was conducted on ice melting and borehole stability during the drilling operation in permafrost. The investigation results demonstrate that the use of vacuum-insulated casings significantly reduces the total heat transferred during the simulation by 86.72% compared to the ordinary casing. The utilization of vacuum-insulated casing reduces the range of ice melting around wellbore to only 16%, which occurs when using ordinary casing. The use of the vacuum-insulated casing resulted in a reduction in the final borehole enlargement rate from 52.1% to 4.2%, and wellbore instability was effectively suppressed.
Keywords: permafrost; vacuum-insulated casing; oil and gas production; thermal conductivity; wellbore stability; ice melting permafrost; vacuum-insulated casing; oil and gas production; thermal conductivity; wellbore stability; ice melting

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Zhou, X.; Su, Y.; Cheng, Y.; Li, Q. Evaluation of Thermal Insulation of Vacuum-Insulated Casing to Prevent Uncontrollable Melting of Ice and Borehole Instability in Permafrost. Processes 2024, 12, 1389. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12071389

AMA Style

Zhou X, Su Y, Cheng Y, Li Q. Evaluation of Thermal Insulation of Vacuum-Insulated Casing to Prevent Uncontrollable Melting of Ice and Borehole Instability in Permafrost. Processes. 2024; 12(7):1389. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12071389

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhou, Xiaohui, Yinao Su, Yuanfang Cheng, and Qingchao Li. 2024. "Evaluation of Thermal Insulation of Vacuum-Insulated Casing to Prevent Uncontrollable Melting of Ice and Borehole Instability in Permafrost" Processes 12, no. 7: 1389. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12071389

APA Style

Zhou, X., Su, Y., Cheng, Y., & Li, Q. (2024). Evaluation of Thermal Insulation of Vacuum-Insulated Casing to Prevent Uncontrollable Melting of Ice and Borehole Instability in Permafrost. Processes, 12(7), 1389. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12071389

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop