DRILLING PRACTICE

'

This section contains six (6) papers on drillinipractice, as follows:

"The Flow Properties of Drilling Muds"
By R W. Beck,
' Stanolind Oil and Gas Company, Tulsa, Okla.
(Removed, as of May 1, 1946, to Creole Petroleum Company, Maracaibo,
Venezuela)

and
W. -F. Nuss and T. H. Dunn,
Stanolind Oil and Gas Company, Tulsa, Okla.
(Presented a t Southwestern District Meeting, Fort Worth, Texas,
March 1947)
"Factors Influencing the Selection of Mud Fluid for Completion of Wells"
By H. E. Radford,
Shell Oil Company, Inc , Ventura, Calif.
(Presented a t Pacific Coast District Meeting, Los Angeles, Calif, May
1947)
"Deep Contract Drilling in Oklahoma"
By Jack H. Abernathy,
Big Chief Drilling Company, Oklahoma City, Okla
(Presented a t Mid Continent District Meeting, Amarillo, Texas, May
1947)
"Economic Trends in Contract Drilling'"
By J. E. Warren,
Carl B King Drilling Company, Midland, Texas
(Presented a t Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting, Chicago, Ill., November 1947)
"New Developnients in Diamond Coring"
By R. W. Stuart,
Stanolind Oil and Gas Company, Fort Worth, Texas
(Removed,as of April 1947, to Hallhurton 011 Well Cementmg Company,
Duncan, Okla , removed, as of December 1947, to Diamoad Oil Well
Drllllng Company, Midland, Texas)
(Presented a t Southwestern District Meeting, Forth Worth, Texas,
March 1947)
"Hard-Rock Drilling in the Permian Basin"
By David Johnston,
Humble Oil and Refining Company, Midland, Texas
(Presented a t Southwestern District Meeting, Forth Worth, Texas,
March 1947)

THE FLOW PROPERTIES OF DRILLING MUDS

R. W. BECK,*W. F. N U S S ,AND
~ T. H. DUNNt

ABSTRACT
The known equatlons for the flow of plastic flu~ds
are appl~edspecifically to drilhng-mud problems, and
the applicab~lityof these equations for various size pipe
1s ver~fiedesper~mentally. Laboratory and field ~nstru-

INTRODUCTION
I t IS generally known In the petroleum Industry that
drilhng muds have a more complex flow behavlor than
true flulds, yet ~t IS st111 common practlce to express
the flow propertles of muds In terms of a slngle vlscoslty value.
The necessity for complete data on flow properties
of drllhng flulds has been recognlzed, but lack of a
convenient method of determlnlng such propertles has
hltherto prevented development of mud-flow data for
routlne application to drllllng problems Knowledge
of the flow characterlsbcs of drilllng flulds 1s of advantage In almost all phases of drilhng operations.
Some of the more Important appllcat~onsrelate to loss
of mud lnto drllled formations, and selection and deslgn
of muds and mud-circulating systems In order to obtam optimum rates of clrculatlon to remove blt cuttlngs
and Increase drllllng rates.
The flow propertles of true flulds are accurately defined, In the reglons of vlscous and turbulent flow, by
Polseullle's law and by the Fanning equatlon, respectlvely These two equatlons require a knowledge only
of the vlscoslty and denslty, which are easlly deterlnlnable characterlstlcs of a true fluld I t IS unfortunate
that most drilling muds are not true flmds, but are
Instead plastlc rnaterlals whlch obey the laws of plastic
flow
Although the difference between plastic flow and the
flow of true flulds was recognlzed a t an early date, a
satisfactory quantitative expression for plastic flow
was not developed untll about 1920, when E. C. Blngham '"published hls book, Fluzdzty and Plastzczty. Bingham's equatlon was found to be applicable and useful
to lndustrles deallng wlth ceramics, paints, sewage disposal, and soil physlcs. Evans and Reid of the Burma
011 Company, L t d , comprehended the Importance of
mud-flow propertles in the applications of the B~ngham
equatlon to certain drilling-mud problems Also Gregory: Ambrose,' Looms,' Pigott," ' and a number of
other ~nvestlgatorsrecognized the anomalous character

* Stanolincl 011 nnd G a s C o , Tulsa, Okln , r e n ~ o r e d ,n s of

ALay 1. 1946, to Creole Petrpleu;n Co , AIaraca~bo. Venezuela
t S t a n o h n d 011 a n d G a s Co Tulsa. Okln
$ Presented, by Alr N r ~ s s ,n t t h e slJrlng m r e t ~ n gof t h e F?:outhwestern D ~ s t r ~ c D
t , ~ v ~ s ~ofo nF'roAuct~on, F o r t Wortll, l e s a s .
Mnr 28. 1947. presidlup.
Fnncher, Unlverslty of
- . George H
Terns. K u s t ~ n ,T e i a s
a F ~ g r ~ r crefer
s
t o R E F E R E N C E S on p 21

ments developed for determ~nat~on

of drilhng-mud flow
character~sticsare described, and the calibration of these
lnstrunlents by comparison with results of pipe-flow tests
IS ~ncluded.

of drilhng mud, but, unfortunately, llttle advantage has

been taken of such available ~nformation m solving
drllllng problems Wllhelm, Wroughton? and Loeffel
in 1939 studled the varlat~onof cement-slurry viscosity
wlth rate of shear, and Caldwell and Babb1tt8 In 1941
published a paper relating to the flow of sludges and
other suspensions In plpe, glvlng equations whlch were
verlfied experimentally
Notwthstanding the slgnlficant amount of past work
conducted on plastlc flow, there appeared to be a n
s
appllunfortunate gap between theory and ~ t general
catlon to drllllng problems lnvolvlng the flow of dr~lling
mud. The lnvestlgatlon described herem was undertaken for the purpose of developing a slmple method
of determining the flow characterlstlcs of drllllng flulds
and applying the lnforlnation to .drilling problems
Theory of Plast~cFlow

The d~fferentlatlonbetween plastlc rnaterlals and true

flulds was expressed In 1859 by Clerk Maxwell In his
Tkeonj of Heat lo
"If the form of the body IS found to be permanently
altered when the stress exceeds a certaln value, the
body 1s said to be plastlc, and the state of the body when
the alteratlon IS just golng to take place IS called the
llmit or perfect elastlclty. If the stress, when it 1s malntamed constant, causes a straln or displacement In the
body whlch increases continually wlth tlme, the substance is sald to be vlscous
"When thls continuous alteratlon of 'form is only
produced by stress exceeding a certaln value, the substance 1s called a (plastic) solld, however soft ~t may
be. When tho very smallest stress, ~f continued long
enough, wlll cause a constantly lncresslng change of
torm, the body ,yust be regarded a s a liqu~d,however
hard it may be
A graphlc illustration of the differences between
plastlc flow and true fluld 1s shown 111 F l g 1, whlch
represents flow In a cyllndr~calplpe. F o r a true fluld
the pressure dlfferentlal during streamline flow IS proportlonal to the velocity, resulting In a stralght line
passlng through the ongln, the slope of whlch IS a direct
~ u n c b o nof the vlscoslty Under condltlons of plastlc
flow the pressure dlfferentlal less a constant 1s proportlonal to the velocity, the constant berng a direct function of the inltlal shearlng stress, or yleld value, of the
plastlc material. The slope of the plastlc curve 1s proportlonal to the reciprocal 6f the moblllty a s Blngham

defines it, or to the coefficient of ngidity of the material

a s defined by Caldwell and Babbitt The vlscosity of
the plastlc f l u ~ da t a n y glven veloclty 1s proportional to
the slope of a line from a p o ~ n ton the plastic-flow
curve corresponding to the given veloclty through the
origln Thus it can be seen t h a t t h e vlscosity wlll be a n
inverse functlon of the velocity.
I n drlll plpe o r annulus, t h e shearlng force on t h e
material 1s greatest a t the plpe wall, and decreases wlth
distance from the wall A t low velocltles; the shearm g force at some pomt inside t h e tube may become insufficient to overconle the yield value of t h e plastic
The nlaterial mslde this radius will then flow a s a solid
plug, causing the downward trend a s the plastic-flow
curve approaches zero velocity
A t h ~ g h e rvelocities the flow of plastlc material becomes turbulent, a s does t h e flow of a t r u e fluld The
veloclty a t which this occurs 1s known a s the critical
veloclty and, above the critical velocity, drilling lnuds behave 111 the same manner a s t r u e hqulds-1 e , the pressure dlfferentlal is a functlon of a hlgher power of t h e
velocity
The symbols and definit~onsused herein a r e a s follows

Dz= outside diameter of drlll pipe, feet

f = F a n n ~ n gfriction factor
g = acceleration of giavity, 32 2 f t per sec per sec
L = pipe or tubing length, feet
m = hydraulic radlus of the annulus, feet
n = rlgldity of the mud, pounds per 'second per foot.
P = pressure drop, pounds per square foot

AP = pressure drop, pounds per square ~ n c h .

R = plpe or tubing radius, feet
Re = Reynolds number
p = fluid density, pouilds per cubic foot
t p = shearing stress, pounds per scluare foot
t y = yleld value, pounds per square foot
--u = viscosity, pounds per second per foot
volume r a t e of flow, cubic feet per second

"t -

V = mean flow veloclty, feet per second

V. = critical veloclty, feet per second.

La~nlnarFlow of Plart~cillatenals

Blnghain showed t h a t the conlplete l a m ~ n a flow

r
curve
of p l a s t ~ cmaterials in plpe could be expressed a s follows

A = shearing stress ( a t the pipe wall), poundals

per square foot.
value, o r shearing stress necessary to
overcome t h e lnternal frlctlon, poundals per
square foot
D plpe or tublng dlameter, feet
Dl = outside diameter of annulus, feet
a

= yield

TRUE LIQUID FLOW

I n thls equation, the shearing forces, A and a, a r e in

absolute unlts To convert to more useful g r a v l t a t ~ o n a l
unlts, let
t

A
--,

,-g

tp=shearlng stress [pounds per square foot]. (2)

, t,= yield value [pounds per scluare foot]

(3)

Then

The mean flow veloclty is

I t can be shown t h a t
DP
t, =
(6)
Where P 1s the pressure gradient, In pounds per square
foot, L 1s the pipe length, and D the pipe dlameter
Substituting thls value of t, In equatlon (5) :

Flow
Y ~ e l dValue
X

'%

VeIocrty

Pressure Vs. Velocity Relat~onsh~p

In True Liquld Flow
and In Plastic Flow.

FIG. 1

The last term IS necessary t o obtaln accurate values

only when V 1s small, f o r larger values ~t m a y be
omitted with negllglble error The equabon then
becomes

Expressing P In the more common u ~ n t sof pounds per

square inch

<. ?ff!!
(10)
27D
9gD'
The yield value ( t , ) and i l g i d ~ t y(n.) of a mud can be
DAP a s the
determ~nedfroin plpe-flow data by plotting -~p =

4L

8V a s the absclssa The yield value is

ordinate, and gD
then equal to 2 of the Intercept of the straight-llne portion of the curve on t h e t, asls, and the rlgldlty is equal
to the slope of the straight-line portion of the curve
If the yleld value and n g i d ~ t ya r e known, t h e complete plastlc-flow curve for a n y slze plpe can be obtained
with equatlon (7), aild the approximate curve can be
obtalned with equations (8), (9), o r (10)

vibration, drill-stem r o t a t ~ o n etc

, , therefore, turbulence
will usually occur a t the lowest c r l t ~ c a veloclty
l
Under
these circumstances equation (12) wlll probably give
results a s s a t ~ s f a c t o r ya s those obtained by the mole
elaborate equatlon (15)

Turbulerrt Flow of Plastrc Materials

The flow of drilling inuds above the critlcal velocity
is turbulent or hydrauhc, and resembles t h a t of t r u e
flulds Caldwell and Babbitto stated t h a t the f a m l i a r
friction-factor vs Reynolds-number c h a r t nlay be used
with the Fannlng ecluat~on,viz , ecluation (14), f o r turbulent flow of sludges and such similar suspensions,
prov~dedthe viscos~tyof the dispersion mediunl 1s used
I11 the espeninents described later In this paper it
was found t h a t computatioils f o r d r ~ l l i n ginuds., based on
this method, resulted 111 pressure drops lower t l ~ a i lobserved values Inasmuch a s the correct f r l c t ~ o nfactor
vs Rey?olcls-number relationship had been established
with water in t h e writers' experiment f o r 2-in -ID pipe,
it was possible to compute t h e effective turbulent viscosity f o r the muds used in these tests These viscosities
vaned from 2 5 to 12 centipoises, instead of being equal
to the v~scosity of water, also, Plgott a h a s shown
turbulent vlscoslties of 3 and 5 centipo~ses,respect~vely,
f o r 2 common muds However, it developed t h a t a reasonably good correlation could be drawn between the
turbulent viscosity and the r ~ g & t y , a s shown in F l g 2even though the d a t a points exhuhlbit a somewhat scattered pattern
The Reynolds number, a s ordinarily expressed f o r
llydraulic fluids, IS
~

The apparent viscosity of a mud flowing 111 a n y size

of plpe a t a n y veloc~tybelow the critical veloclty call
be obtained by ecluatlng Poiseuille's equation

wlth equation (9), thus obtaining a n expression f o r

the apparent viscosity (71) in terms of yleld value and
rlgid~ty

It has been expenmentally determined by several investigators t h a t the critical velocity f o r inuds normally
occurs a t a Reynolds number of 2,000 to 3,000 The
c n t ~ c a lvelocity may be located by s u b s t i t u t ~ n gt h e
f o r e g o ~ n gvalue for zc, setting the new form of Reynolds
number equal to 2,000 and to 3,000, aild solving

'

Ve 1,00011+1,000
PD

n2+

~~

D2t,pg
a9000 (where Reynolds number = 2,000)

D2t,pg
n2+ 1,50On+1,500
V, =
49500 (where Reynolds n u n ~ b e r= 3,000)
PD
F o r drilling muds, however, t h e data from F i g 2 sugA more accurate calculation of t h e critical veloclty
under u n ~ f o r mflow conditions nlay be made by use of
gest t h a t thls should be altered to the following emthe Fannlng equat~on
plrical relationsh~p

with ecluatloll ( 9 ) The resultlng

quadratic with respect to V,

v, =

8n+8

Is

n2+ f D2t,pg

fDp
(I5)
Inasmuch a s the F a n m n g f r l c t ~ o nfactoi, f , is dependent
011 the velocity, the solut~onof this equation must be
made by t r ~ a and
l
error
I n actual practlce the flow coiidltions of drilllng mud
a l e not unlform, due to the use of rkciprocatlng pumps,

f o r calculatioils of crltical velocity-pressure r e l a t ~ o n s

and deteiininat~onof the Fani~iilgfriction factor Good
results were obtalned by uslng this relationship ~n t h e
Fanning equation f o r calculations of turbulent-flow
pressure difFei-entials F l g 3 shows the fnction factor
"S
Re~nolds-llulnber relatlonshll) for flow In several
types of PlPe and In annull Curves 1 and 11 were taken
directly froni Walker, Lewis, McAdams, and Gllliland
Curves 111 and 1V were est~inatedfrom Pigott's data
All of the equat~ons given here a r e applicable t o

annular flow, provlded the value Int,, In whlch

hydrauhc radlus, 1s used ~n place of D

TIL 1s t h e

Apparatus for Measuring Mud-Flow Constants

Conslderatlon of the advantages and disadvantages

of varlous Instruments for determmn~ngthe necessary
mud-flow constants for use in plastlc-flow equat~ons
leads ~ m m e d ~ a t e ltoy d ~ s c a r d ~ nactual
g
pipe-flow methods P~pe-flowtests requlre relatively large-scale apparatus and large mud samples They a r e time-consuinlng and requlre more than one operator Capillary
tube methods were cons~dered,~liasmucha s the method
1s fundamental, and has been well developed, both in
the field of true llqulds and for plast~c-flowmeasurements Unfortunately, thls method is not ent~relys u ~ t -

RIGIDITY, n

Correlation between Turbulent Vlscos~tyand Rigidity

as Determined in the Author's Esperin~entfor 2-In.ID Tublng.
FIG. 2

Lowest values for drawn brass orgbss tub~ng

II

For clean ~nhrnalflush tubular goods

IU
IP

For full hole dr~llplpe or annul1 In cased hole

For annul1 In uncased hole

Friction Factor Vs Reynolds-Number Chart for Calculation of Turbulent-Flow Pressure Drops.

FIG. 3

able for use with drilling muds because of the coarseness

of a large part of the suspended phase of the mud.
Falllng-ball viscos~nleters were obv~ously unsuited to
drlll~ngmuds, because the opac~tyof the mud prevents
vlsual observation of the rate of fall of the spheres
A third method, w h ~ c hshowed the most prormse, Involved the use of a rotational vlscos~meter
A number of 'rotational viscosiineters a r e avallable
commerclally, however, none of these 1s colnpletely
sulted for drilling-mud determinations Instruments
of the McMichael type, in whlch the outs~decup rotates,
must operate a t low speeds to prevent the centrifugal
force from throwlng out the fluid These slow speeds
do not allow measurements in the complete flow
range " The Stormer type 1s capable of operation over
satisfactory speed ranges, but its baffled cup produces
heterogeneous flow cond~tionsw h ~ c ha r e not well suited
to mud-flow deter~ninatlons Also, the short running
time of the Storiner does not allow the p l a s t ~ csubstance
to attaln equ~llbriumflow condit~oiisprior to completion of the test
A lnodlfied Stormer vlscos~lneterwhich uses a speclal
unbaffled cup, descnbed by Caldwell and Babb~tt: is
more nearly satlsfactory , however, it also suffers from
the last named d~sadvantage W~lhelmand Wroughton '
descr~beda motor-dnven concentric-cylinder vlscoslmeter, w h ~ c hwas not avallable commerclally, and w h ~ c h
was of somewhat colnplicated d e s ~ g n
Inasmuch a s none of the commercial v~scosimeters
was found satlsfactory for the study of plastic flow of
muds, ~t was necessary to develop a n instrunlent s u ~ t able for thls work The rotational vlscosimeter developed for drilling-mud flow studies is shown In Fig 4 * It
consists of a covered cyllndrlcal cup, A, a rotor, B, a
drill-press mechanlsm for holding and turnlng the
rotor, C, and a mechanlsm, D, w h c h supports the cup
and measures the torque ~mpartedto ~t by balancing
the torque against the weight of a reeled cham, E. I n
order to reduce frict~on,the w e ~ g h tof the cup 1s supported by a cylindrical float in a nlercury bath
To milumlze end effects, the cup and rotor were made
long 111 relat~onto dlalneter The rate of rotation of
the rotor 1s controlled through a range of 0 to 836 rpm,
by means of a Graham vanable-speed t r a n s m s s ~ o n .
Tests a r e made by r e a d ~ n gthe length of cham necessary
to balance the instrument a t several revolutions-perminute values
T h ~ v~scosimeter
s
gave good results In numerous tests,
and was found to be satisfactory for mud testing

To verify the accuracy of the rotational viscoslmeter

in measurlllg mud-flow properties, the vlscosimetric
flow constants for a number of d n l l ~ n gflu~dswere coinpared wlth the flow constants obtalned In plpe-flow systems which used two sizes of plpe These systems a r e
shown in Flg. 5 and 6
Patent a p p l ~ e dfor by R W Beck

Seven different muds were prepared and tested on the

large- and sinall-scale pipe-flow setups, and on the rotational viscosiineter These muds were especially prepared to have a relatively wide range of yleld values and
rigiclities, their composition is given in Table 1. Calibratioil of the rotational viscosinleter was accomplished
by plotting the curves of the intercept and the slope of
the torque-revolutions-per-n1111ut.e curves for the viscosiineter against the mud-yield values and rigidities,
respectively, a s determined in the small pipe-flow apparatus Fig 7 shows flow constants as determined in
the sinall pipe-flow apparatus. Flg 8 shows flow curves
which were obtalned from the viscosiineter for the same
muds The latter are sin~pleplots of the revolutioi~sper
mlnute of the rotor against the length of the chain
necessary to balance the instruillent F l g 9 and 10
show the calibration of the vlscosimeter

Pressure
Gauges \

The Rotat~onalVlscoslmeter Usecl for Drlll~ngMuds.

FIG. 4

S M A L L SCALE PIPE

FLOW

Mud Flow Measur~ngTank

Mud Input L ~ n e

Schematic D~agran~
of 2-111-ID Plpe-Flow Test.
FIG. 6

APPARATUS

20'of

,,

Mud Return L ~ n e

375 1 D

Plpe Between

.. By-pass Valve

A
"0

Choke Valve
C ~ t yWater Pressure
to Flush Manometer
L~nes
Three Mercury Manometers
In Ser~es- Can be used Indlv~duallyor Collect~vely to Measure
0 to I00 p s l

C8D

av/s

Schematic D~agran~
of 3!-ln.-ID Pipe-Flow Test.

Plot of Flow Data In 20 Ft of %-In. Pipe for Determination of Mud-Flow Constants.

FIG. 5

FIG. 7

DRILLINGPRACTICE

14
TABLE 1
Mud C o m p o s ~ t ~ o ~ l
Mud No 1
6 5 per cent bentonite slurry
denslty = 8 66 lb per gal.
Mud

No 2
4 5 per cent bentonite slurry
density = 8 58 lb per gal

Mud No 3
4 5 per cent belltoil~teslurry, weighted with barium
sulfate
cleiisity = 10 93 Ib per gal
Mud No 4
4 5 per cent bentonite slurry, weighted \vith barium
sulfate
dens~ty= 12 39 Ib per gal
Mud No 5
4 5 per cent bentonite slurry, weighted with barium
sulfate and treated wlth 0 25 Ib of sodium-acid
pyrophosphate per barrel
density = 12 30 lb per gal

Fig 11 shows the flow curves, a s deternllned experinientally in the large-scale plpe apparatus A coinparison w t h curves from small plpe and viscosinleter data
indicates that the constants for each mud, a s deterinined
by the three methods, a r e 111 substantial agreement. The
fact t h a t the dlanleter of the larger plpe is 5 4 tlnles
that of the smaller is good evidence that the Bingham
yield value and rlgldity are indepeiident of pipe
diameter
Fig 12 and 13 show the calculated and observed pressure drop vs velocity curves for 2 of the 7 il~uds111 the
2-111 tubing The other five inuds showed comparable
correlatioiis between computed and observed pressnredrop velocity curves The average deviation of viscoslineter values for the same pipe was 3 per cent I t can
be seen readily from these data t h a t the accuracy obtamable with the rotational vlscosiineter approaches the
accuracy of the pipe-flow apparatus Using the flow
constants for each of the seven inuds as determined

.2.

g2
J

Mud NO G
25 3 per cent El Paso clay slurry
density = 1 0 0 lb per gal

>
a
D
J
Y

E I

Mud No 7
26 3 per cent El Paso clay slurry
density = 9 GG lb per gal
0
0

10

I5
20
VISCOMETER

25
30
35
INTERCEPT, cm

40

45

50

Correlat~oli of R o t a t ~ o ~ ~V~scos~meter
al
Curbe 111tercept
and Y~eldValue, Based on P~pe-FlowData.

60

FIG. 9

fn

50

z
I-

03

3 40
1-

I-

'

2 30

02

20

a
I?

01

10
0'

100

200

300

400

500

REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE

600

700

Plot of R o t a t ~ o ~ ~Viscosimeter
al
Data for Detern~inatio~i
of Mud-Flow Co~lstants.
FIG. 8

o
VISCOMETER SLOPE

Correlation of R o t a t ~ o ~ ~V~rcosil~leter
al
Curve and
R ~ g i d ~ tas
y Determined from Pipe-Flow Data.
FIG. 10

Plot of Flow Data

In

500 Ft of 2-In. T I I ~ I I ~ ~

FIG. 11

Pressure-Veloc~tyRelat~onshlp as Determined in P~pe-Flow Tests and as Calculated fro111 V~scosuneterDHta for

Mud No. 2.

FIG. 12

VELOCITY, FT PER SEC.

Pressure-Veloc~ty Relationship as Determined in P~pe-FlowTests and as Calculated from Vlscos~meterData for
Mud No. 3.

FIG. 13

from t h e small pipe a n d t h e viscosimeter, t h e computed

flow curves shown on these g r a p h s were obtained a s
follows :
1. T h e critical velocity f o r each of t h e muds i n 2-in.
pipe w a s computed f r o m equation (12).
2. The pressure drops f o r each of t h e muds at 3 differe n t velocities below t h e critical were computed
f r o m equation ( 9 ) .
3. F o r each mud t h e Reynolds number w a s calculated
at 2 velocities above t h e critical by means of equation ( l G ) , a n d the corresponding friction factor
w a s determined f r o m curve 111 of the frictionfactor-Reynolds-number c h a r t shown in Fig. 2.
T h e pressure drops a t t h e 2 velocities above t h e
critical were then calculated by equation (14).
4. T h e flow curve f o r w a t e r in t h e 2-in. tubing w a s
placcd on each g r a p h f o r orientation purposes.

The volume r a t e of flow a n d the average head of

water f o r each interval a r e then determined. The volume r a t e of flow f o r each interval, in milliliters per second, is then plotted a s t h e abscissa against t h e average
head, in inches of w a t e r f o r the interval, a s t h e ordinate.
T h e resulting curve is a typical flow curve, which m a y
exhibit either turbulent or plug-type flow, a s well a s
laminar flow. Typical curves taken with t h e funnel
viscosimeter a r e shown in Fig. 15. The laminar-flow

T h e calculated curves a r e based 011 d a t a f r o m t h e

rotational viscosirneter a n d pipe-flow tests through 20 f t
of 2-in.-ID pipe. T h e observed curves were plotted from
pipe-flow tests through 500 f t of 2-in.-ID tubing. Most
of these curves agree very closely, showing clearly t h a t
the pipe-flow constants used in BinghamJs equation of
~ ~ l a s t flow
i c a r e independent of pipe diameter. 41so .the
agreement between observed a n d computed flow d a t a in
the turbulent r a n g e indicates t h a t t h e Reynolds number
f o r drilling muds, a s calculated i n equation ( l G ) , is essentially correct.
Simplified Ficld Instrument
Upon completion of this portion of t h e investigation,
the rotational viscosimeter w a s used in a nearby field t o
determine a n d control t h e flow properties of muds on
some 20 wells. Although good results were obtained i n
this survey, i t w a s evident t h a t use of t h e rotational
viscosimeter a s a field instrument would lead t o difficulties in packing a n d shipping, a n d in finding trained
personnel a t t h e well t o operate t h e instrument. A
number of different types of simpler a p p a r a t u s f o r t h e
determination of yield value a n d rigidity were designed
a n d tested f o r reliability a n d ease of operation under
field conditions. T h e instrument which proved best
under such conditions consisted of a funnel-type viscosimeter with a brass efflux tube of 0.185-in. inside
diameter by 6-in. length, extending horizontally f r o m
the base of t h e funnel. Inasmuch as i t i s necessary t o
determine t h e volume r a t e of flow vs. t h e head, t h e body
of the funnel is made of lucite plastic so t h a t t h e falling
mud meniscus m a y be observed. T h e brass tube is
mounted horizontally at t h e base of the funnel to elimin a t e excessive fluid head. T h e side of each funnel is
marked off in 1-in. intervals; a n d the volume, in milliliters, a s well a s t h e mean hydrostatic head of each head
interval, is determined. This funnel viscosimeter i s
shown in Fig. 14.
I n t h e operation of t h e funnel t h e efflux tube i s
plugged with a cork, a n d the funnel is filled t o above
t h e top interval mark. T h e cork is then removed, a n d
the time a t which t h e mud meniscus passes t h e first
a n d each successive head mark i s recorded.

The Drilling-Mud Funnel Viscosimeter.

FIG. 5.4

O0

I
I
I
I0
15
VOCUME RATE OF FLOW, CCk PER SEC.

20

Typical Flow Curves Obtained from the Mud Funlie1

Viscosimeter for Various muds.
FIG. 15

Ih. HEAD AXIS INTERCEPT

Corrclatiort nf Fu1l1tc.1-Viscnsimetor Curve Ir~tcrceptand

Mud-Yield Valuc.

Correlatiol~of Ft~~inc-l-Vi*c.osi~i~(.~t.r
Cnr+r Slope artd Mud
Rigidity.

FIG. 16
portion can be recognized a s the straight portion of the
curve which has a lowcr slo1)e than either plug or
turbulent-flow regions.
Thc funnel viscosimeter h a s been calibl-atcd a s a
relative, r a t h e r than a n absolute, viscosimeter because
of the difficulty of correcting f o r the end effects of the
short flow channel, and because of thc minor prcssure
drops which take place in the funnel itself. A correlation between the intercept of the laminar-flow p a r t of
the flow curvc on t h e head axis and the yield value of
the mud, a s determined on t h e rotational viscosimctcr,
is shown i n Fig. IG. Correlation of the slope of the
laminar-flow portion of the curve and the rigidity, a s
determined on the rotational viscosimeter, is show~nin
Fig. 17.
Several of these funnels have been used successfully
in the field, but a s yet no extensive application of the
instrument h a s been attempted. The mud-flow funnel
i s not so accurate a s the rotational viscosimeter, and
also requires considerable amounts of mud, precluding
i t s use a s a laboratory instrument.

tween the formational and overburden pressures. An

obvious solution to such a problem ~vouldbe to inotiify
the niud propelties so a s to deci.easc the pressure drop
due to annular flow. This can usually be accomplished
by lowering the yicld value of the mud. By the proper
application of mud-flow d a t a it should be possible to
devise progralns f o r mud properties, hole size, and drill
pipe which will minimize lost circulation problems i n
areas known to be troublesome.
Typical calculations of static and circulating bottoinhole pressure a r e shown. Dimensions of pipe and holc,
and pumping rate, a r e a s follows:

Practical Applications o f Mud-Flow Data

The value of h n ~f o r the annulus is calulated by

equation (17) :

A s previously mentioned, a knowledge of the flow

properties of drilling fluids can be applied to advantage
in many drilling problems; e.g., i n some Gulf Coast
wells the fluid pressure in the formations i s only slightly

Diameter of hole. . . . . . . . . . . . ..ll in. or 0.317 f t .

Outside diameter of drill pipe.. .4L in. or 0.375 f t .
Circulating r a t e . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450 gal per min.
Well depth. ................. .5,000 ft.
The mud characteristics a r e a s follows:

......

Density
.10.0 lb per gal o r 75 lb per cu ft.
Yield value t,. .0.40 lb per sq f t .
Rigidity n . . .0.01 lb per sec per ft.

..

4m = (0.917) - (0.375) = 0.542 ft.

The critical velocity is calculated by equation (12) :

- ---

(0.542)? (0.40) ( 7 m )
3,000 - . = 10.5 f t per sec.
(0.542) (75)
less than the overburden pressure and, a s a consequence,
The actual annual velocity a t 450 gal per min is found
the wells will sometimes lose mud t o the formation
to be:
while mud is circulating, and be in danger of blowing
out when circulation is stopped. This may be explained
by the f a c t t h a t the pressure drop, due to flow of mud
Therefore, t h e flow i s laminar; and the pressure drop
i n the well annulus, approximates t h e difference bedue to flow is calculated by means of equation (10) :

v, =

1,000 (0.01) +1,000

----

(0.01)2+

lated by ineans of equatlon (14) The pressure drop

in drill holes and kelly 1s accounted for by adding 120 f t
to t h e length of drill pipe.
The Reynolds number is calculated by equatloil (16)

The pressure due to fluid head 1s

(5,000) (O 434)
= 2,605
8 33
and the total circulat~ngbottom-hole pressure 1s
2,605+140

Re = ( 3 2) (0 24) (10 5) (79 4) (0 07) = 9,150

= 2,745 psi.

A pressure dlfferentlal of 140 psi between flowing and

static bottom-hole pressure could easlly be sufficient to
cause serlous trouble.

Froin curve 111, Fig 3, the fr~ctionfactor, f , is found

to be 00092, and the pressure drop from equation
(14) IS
(4) (0 0092) (7,000) (10 5)2(794) =
(2) (32) (0 24) (144)

Overall Pressure Drop

In connection with a n actual field trial of an oil-base
mud, ~t was deslred to compute the overall pressure
drop in the drllbng well.

Typical coinputations follow

Tests made a t the well with the mud-flow funnel indicate that the oil-base mud had a yield value, t,, of
0 0885 lb per sq f t and ripdity, n, of 0 07 lb per sec per
f t The density of the mud was 10 6 lb per gal, or 79 4 lb
per cu ft. Dimensions of the mud pump, hole, and drill
plpe are a s follows
.63 ~n or 0 562 f t
Diameter of liner
. 2 i in or 0 208 f t
Diameter of piston rod
1 8 in or 1 5 f t
Length of stroke
Diameter of hole.
. 6 4 in or 0 533 f t
33 In or 0 292 ft.
Outside diameter of drill pipe
Inside dlanleter of drill pipe
2g in or 0 2 4 f t
Well depth
6,880 f t
Cross-sectional area of annulus . 0 156 sq f t
Cross-sectional area of drill-pipe
lilside diameter .
.O 045 sq f t
Hydraulic radlus, m, of annulus . 0 0603 sq f t
4 . ~ 8 annulus
,
0 241 sq f t

....

The volume of mud pumped per cycle of pumps is thus.

( 1 5)

$ [ ( 0 562)'+

psl

The pressure drop in the annulus is calculated by means

of equat~on( l o ) , uslng 4nt in place of D

The total computed pressure drop is 1,019+266 = 1,285

psi Thls conlpares well w t h the observed mud pressure of 1,250 psl
The observed and computed mud pressures oil this
well for three other pump speeds are as shown a t top of
P 21
Sllnllar tests were made for drilling wells in several
widely scattered fields Total overall pressure drops in
the drllhng well, as colnputed from flow properties determlned wlth the vlscoslmeter, agreed well w ~ t hmeasured pressure drops Inasmuch a s total pressure drops
agree, there is added assurance that pressure drops
wlthin var~ousparts of the circulating systein can be
computed with equal accuracy
At a southern Louisiana well no data were taken
a s to dlmenslons of drlll collars, which generally have
a smaller internal d~ameterand, hence, higher pressure
loss than the same length of pipe This factor accounts
for the low conlputed pressures a t that well
A summary of the field tests is given in Table 2.
B

CONCLUSIONS
1 The flow characteristics of any drilling mud can
be defined In terms of two constants, viz , the yleld

(0 562)'- - (0 208)'] = 1384 cu f t per cycle,

and the velocities in the drill pipe and annulus a t

24 cycles per mlnute and 85 per cent pump efficiency
are
( 1 384) (24) (0 85)
(60) (O045)
= 10 5 f t per sec ~n drlll pipe
384) (24) (O 85)
3 02 f t per sec in annulus
(60) (0 156)
The critical veloclty ~n the drill pipe is calculated, uslng
equation (12) :

value and rlg~dity,whlch are independent of the dlinenslons of pipe through which the mud is flowing
2 I t has been verlfied experimentally that the two
coilstailts necessary to define flow propert~esof muds
can be deternllned with certain types of rotational or
funnel viscoslmeters
3 Knowledge of the hydrodynamic properties of
muds should prove a valuable tool in the solution of
numerous drllling problems.

(oo70)q

(0241)'(00885)(794)(32)
3,000
= 8 6 f t per sec
(0 241) (79 4)
The actual velocity in the drlll plpe is hlgher than the
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
critical, therefore, the flow is turbulent, whereas the
The authors express their appreclatlon to Stanolind
actual velocity in the annulus is lower than the criti011 and Gas Company for permission to prepare and
cal velocity, resulting in laminar flow in the annulus
The pressure drop in the drill plpe is, therefore, calcupresent this paper -

v = (1,000) (0 070) +1,000

Pulllp
Speed
(Cycles
Per
Minute)

Estimated
Pump
Efficiency

DrlllPipe
Velocity
(Feet
Per
Second)

Annular
Velocity
(Feet
Per
Second)

sP
Drill
Pipe
(PSI)

AP

Annulus
(PSI)

AP
Total
(PSI)

AP

Observed
(PSI)

Per
Cent
Deviation
f roin
Observed
(PSI)

16
20
24
28

TABLE 2
F~eldTest Results

Well

Marsh
Funnel \Vnter 1 ns=
Viscos~ty (I\filliliters
(Seconds) Per SO Min)

West Texas
A
108
80
75
80
93
86

44
44
48
57
40
36

Central Oklahoma
B
180
195

62
60

West Texas.
C
D
35
E
42 5

'

e (Pounds
Per Gallon)

Type Mud

Calculated
Pressure
(PSI)

Ohserved
Pressure
(PSI)

Error
(Per Cent)

0 0156
0 0192
0 0136
0 0182
0 0206
0 0181

91
90
91
92
93
91

C a u s t ~ treated
c
Caustlc treated
Caustic treated
Caustlc treated
Caustlc treated
Caustic treated

1,193
1,221
1,273
1,345
1,386
1,428

1,100
1,150
1,150
1,200
1,275
1,200

85
62
10 7
12 1
87
19 0

411
631

460
590

10 6
7

980 7
403 5
251 2
797 5

900
435
265
790

9
73
52
09

0 0136
0 0182
0 068

Southern Loulslana
I
58
50
44
48
45
55
51
40
53
46

0 0046
0 00475
0 0088

10 7
92
93

0 0054
0 0102
0 00316

10 5
8 95

10 0
99
90
10 2
10 0
10 1
10 1
10 1
10 2
10 2

Natural mud
Natural mud
High pH causticquebracho
Salt-water lmperlnex
Emulsion-gel oil
Emulsion-gel oil
Gel chemical
Gel chemical
Gel chemical
Gel cheinlcal
Gel chemical
Gel chemlcal
Gel chemical
Gel chenllcal
Gel cheinlcal
Gel cheinical

REFERENCES
R~nglinni. Plrrrtlrty atrtl Plastrcrt!~, 3IcC;mn-H111 Book
. NewE?;ans
Pork
ilnd
Rcld. "Drllllng Rind-Its A I n n ~ ~ f a c t u raen d

'I;:

Co

C_'

21'

( 1 993'1

Tratrs :1fin111g Of301 I n s t of I ~ r r l r o32, 1 I19361

3 nT R Gregory, " r u m p ~ n gClay Slurries through -I-In Pil)e,"
Meclr Etzg 49, bO0 (1037)
4 H A
An~llrosea n d A C ,>oo"~n~s' ' F l ~ ~ ~ r l nf
~ t Tllixotropic
~es
Gels Rentonlte Sospensions, PAyarcs 4, 965 (1933)
5 R
J S Pigott. " F l o ~ ! ~ot- Flu111 in Closed Conrlult." MecR
E ~ r g55, 407 (1933)
8 R J S p i g o t t . "AIufI F l o n in D r ~ l l ~ n g Drlllrrlg
,"
a n d Productrot8 Pmctrcc, 91-103 (1941)
Testing

of S ~ ~ s p e n s i o i itlirough
s
Pil)es," I1rc1 E

.,

i,I"
i o q'n l

g D 11 Caldwell a n d H E Bap!)~tt, "Flow of I f n d s , Sludges.

a n d Suspensions ~n Circular Pipe, I n d Elrg Clre111 33 [2] 24956 11941)
lqClerk RInswell, Theory of Heat, Clarendon Press, Oxford
,Iif.:nh '
11W I3 Walker, W K L e n l s . W
H RlcAdams. a n d E R
G ~ l l ~ l n n (Prlttcrnles
l.
of Cl~eniicalE n g ~ n e e r l n g ,3 r d edn , RfcGrawH ~ l lBook C o . New P o r k (19371
'2 P
S Roller a n d C ,,K Stoddnrd. " V ~ s c o s ~ tnnd
g
Rigidity of
S t r u c t u r a l Suspensions, J Phys Chcm 48 f61 410 (1044)
""L.11

DISCUSSION

Huebotter
Lead Company,

Okla ) (written) * This Investlgatl~llappears to set forth reliable 'l1stl'unlents

and fOrnlulas which call be used to determine the
of flow In any part of a drllling
under any set of
clrculatlng condltlons The continuance of this lnvestigation should (levelo~a n ~nstrunlentsufficlentl~
sllnllle,
rugged, and reliable, having rules, charts, o r graphs
which will allow field engineers and techlllclans
'lulckly the
pattern of the
In a
under a given set of drilllllg con(litlOns There
will naturally follow suggestecl methods to change the
flow characteristics of the mud, o r the condltlons under
whlch the lnud 1s being handled, so a s to overcome such
difficultles a s loss of clrculatlon, poor cutting recovely,
caved
into the hole, high punll'
pressures, and reduced drilllng rate
John E Owen (Geophys~cal Research Corporation,
Tulsa, Okla ) (written) I n the work t h a t w a s presented
here, the total pressure drop in the d r ~ l lpipe and ~n
the annulus was used a s a basis for checking the calculated pressure drop In the annulus only Reading
t h e data m the paper showlng the correlat~onbetween
t h e calculated and t h e observed pressure drops, it w ~ l l
be noticed that, ~f a n apprec~ableerror is made 111 t h e
calculated value f o r the pressure drop in the annulus,
t h ~ serror wlll show u p a s a smaller per cent e r r o r in
~n the total pressure drop I n the esalnple given t h e deviation in per cent of t h e comi~utedtotal lwessure drop
froin the observed pressure drop Increased in one dlrect ~ o n suggesting
,
t h a t there inay be a b a s ~ cerror of some
kind In the calculatlons of Pressure drops either In t h e
drill pipe o r 111 the annulus, O r both T h a t these devlatlons a r e small may be t h e result of compensating effects
in the calculations The importance of t h e pressure
drop in the annulus may ~ u s t l f y ,and c e r t a l n l ~suggest, maklng direct measurements on the pressure drop
in the drilling annulus I n a test well a bottom-hole
pressure gage can be located a t the bottom of t h e
string of drlll pipe, flow tests may be made, and pressure drops in the annulus recorded Such a test, made
In a few cases, would either confirm the nlethod of
t h ~ spaper o r serve a s a b a s s f o r closer calculat~ons
I n the paper just presented, all calculatlons a r e made
a s though rotatlon of t h e drill plpe does not affect
plastlc flow It appears likely t h a t turbulent flow s t a r t s
a t a lower value of critical velocity than is deterinlned
by calculations in which the bounding walls a r e stat?onary, r e l a t ~ v eto each other By the use of a bottomhole pressure gage, this can readily be determined
Froln a sonleu~hat different angle thls paper h a s
f u r t h e r interest, f o r there is reported here some exper~inental woik establishing a correlation between
v ~ s c o s ~ t dya t a taken with a inodified Stormer vlsPresented Iby George R

Gmy, Enrod

tlonnl Lend Co , Houstun, Texas

Sales D ~ \ l s ~ o uNn,

cos~meterand a inodified Marsh-funnel I n some esperllnental work done several years ago and reported
111 4
',
Inst Minzrtg M e t Eng.grs Tech Pttb N o 1373,
t h e writer of these comments established a correlat~on
betxveen vlscoslty data taken with all unlnodlfied Storiner
vlscosllneter and a standard Marsh-funnel, a n d found
methods for calibrating both these instruments In such
use u,ould allow the deterlnlnatlon ,,f
a way that
absolute vlscosltles
of anlllng muds ~h~ writer feels
that the work that has beell reported
the paper
Just presented
with value, be
by callbratlng 111 a siinllar manner both the lnodlfied Storiner
the true llqulds of &fleepent
and the Marsh-funnel
weights and vlscosltles, In order tllat tlley, too, call
be used for absplute vlscoslty
d e t e r n l l l l a t ~ o l ~The
~ effect
of the weight of fluids used has usually not received
either the callbPatlon o r t h e use
suficlellt
of vlscosllneters, and t h e present work is no exception
It is, however, a valuable c o n t n b u t ~ o nt o t h e knowledge
of the characterlstics and properties of drilling muds
George E Cannon (Humble Oil and Refinlng ComHeretofore ~th a s been relapany, Houston, Texas)
tively slmllle to calculate the pressure loss in t h e drillthe other fixed portions of the clrculatpipe
systeln ~h~~ will be of much value In calculatil1g
the pressure loss in the annulus
There is one t l ~ l n gt h a t I notlced 111 t h e d ~ s c u s s ~ o n ,
collcernl,g several of the curves ( F 12
~ ~
13),
where you get Illto the turbulent flow range, at solne
of the drilling
a large
300 to 500 f t per nlln
the ~ ~ coast
l f the drllllng rate appears to be
proportlollalto the rate of
clrculatlon
The
llmltlng factor, then, occurs when you hit turbulent
flow, and
rather dlscouPaglng to see that solne
of the nluds are
to go onto the turbulent flow
range earller than alltlclpated jve have pumps available a t the present time to reach such ~ e l 0 c l t l e s I
that a
If the aut]lorwould care to
little

,,

Mr Nuss I do not belleve the c r ~ t i c a lvelocity was

~
qulte right In most of these lnuds s o m e t h ~ nbetween
180 and 400 f t per nlln IS the crltlcal velocity, f o r
vely t h ~ c kmuds the veloclty would be higher, but more
pressure loss would be r e q u ~ r e d .If t h e crltlcal veloclty
1s the Iinl~tingfactor, the only way to get around
t h a t is to use a thln mud, whlch would require less
pressure drop in turbulent flow We have found t h a t
most muds a r e pu~llpecl well above c r i t ~ c a l veloclty
inslde the drill s t n n g The mud characteristics, drillstring d~inens~ons,
ancl pump capaclty a r e the llinitlng
factors, rather t h a n t h e crltical velocity
Also, isn't it possible t h a t the fact t h a t drilling rates
seem proportional to lnud velocltles 1s due Inore to t h e
all-around better equlpme~$ on t h e rigs where better
pumps capable of higher mud velocltles are