Research on detection method of drilling fluid viscosity based on ultrasonic waves

Area of Science:

• Petroleum Engineering
• Materials Science
• Acoustics

Background:

• Drilling fluid viscosity is critical for efficient and safe drilling operations, impacting drill cuttings transport and wellbore stability.
• Conventional viscosity measurements are offline, hindering real-time monitoring and adjustment crucial for optimizing drilling parameters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a non-contact, real-time method for measuring drilling fluid viscosity using ultrasonic waves.
• To establish a predictive model for drilling fluid viscosity based on ultrasonic signal characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of ultrasonic wave fluctuation and attenuation in drilling fluids to correlate with viscosity.
• Construction of an experimental setup to measure ultrasonic echo signals under varying conditions (viscosity, temperature, pipe diameter).
• Development of a prediction model using support vector regression optimized by the sparrow search algorithm.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that viscosity influences ultrasonic wave propagation and attenuation in drilling fluids.
• Collected ultrasonic echo signals under diverse experimental conditions.
• Achieved effective prediction of drilling fluid viscosity using the developed model.

Conclusions:

• Ultrasonic wave analysis offers a viable non-contact, real-time approach for drilling fluid viscosity detection.
• The established prediction model effectively estimates drilling fluid viscosity, supporting adaptive drilling operations.
• This method enhances the potential for real-time control and optimization of drilling fluid properties.