DFG™ Software with DrillAhead® Hydraulics Module
Baroid’s DFG™ drilling fluids graphics software provides users with accurate wellbore pressure and ECD management using its field proven hydraulics and cuttings transport simulations. This tool can allow the user to simulate proposed drilling conditions, allowing optimization of not only the fluid properties but also the drilling parameters. Accurate modeling allows the user to look ahead of the bit, avoid future problems and reduce NPT.
Output from drilling simulations focuses on annular cuttings concentrations, including average cuttings concentration as well as localized cuttings distribution in the annulus, and equivalent circulating density (ECD). Documented variance between DFG software-predicted and actual ECD, as measured by PWD tools, is consistently less than 1%. The DFG software accurately models compressibility and thermal expansion effects on fluid density using its proprietary modeling methods and equations of state. These effects include the reduction in temperature while the mud returns to surface through a long deepwater riser that causes an increase in density, viscosity and rheological properties. DFG software modeling is critical to operations where very narrow margins between pore pressure (PP) and fracture gradient (FG) exist.
