Developing Helical Grooved Drill Pipe for Increased Drive and Mud Pump Efficiency

Abstract

Grooved drilled pipe is a type of drill pipe design, which can be a solution to some of major problems faced by drilling industry and increase overall efficiency of drilling as well. The problem in reference is differential drill pipe sticking. Simply put, grooved pipe is a type of drill pipe with spiral grooves on outer side (as used for experiments and calculations in this paper). This paper gives a comparative analysis between conventional and grooved drill pipes. Analysis is made on basis of theoretical formulas and working model using control scenarios to prove efficiency of grooved pipe over conventional drill pipe. Physical scale model was carefully fabricated to simulate conditions of a wellbore (in the best possible way for a scale model), carefully considering all the aspects of a conventional well. Theoretical formulas are also used to further support advantages of grooved pipe. Fabrication of model and experiment performed is meticulously explained in the paper. Almost everything comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. I have also listed a number of possible shortcomings of this idea. Even though results of experiment were better than anticipated andefficiency of grooved pipe over conventional pipe is quite significant, even for a scale model, the practicality of this project depends on whether advantages will outweigh disadvantages or not, in a real scenario. Further this paper aims to have an idea about future development studies and upcoming possibilities.