The Development of Testing Simulators for Conductor Jets Running in Deepwater Drilling

Conductor jets running in deepwater drilling have different drilling parameters from that of land or shallow water drilling. In order to simulate the deepwater conductor jet running process, and provide experimental data for calculating operation parameter of conductor jetting running, a new simulating device for conductor jet running in deepwater drilling has been developed according to characteristics of deepwater conductor jet running, combined basic theory of soil mechanics with the form of running tool assembly. This device mainly consists of a soil box, pipe string, hoist, circulating loop, loading and measuring systems. It can simulate the whole process of conductor jet running. By changing the jet parameters and the geotechnical properties in the simulation test, the running speed of the conductor and bearing capacity, including the horizontal and vertical strain as well as the bearing capacity, can be measured, so as to study the relationship among jet parameters, the conductor running speed and bearing capacity during the course of conductor jet running for deepwater drilling under different geotechnical properties, develop a optimization design for conductor operation parameters, and provide a reference for the optimization design of conductor jets running in deepwater drilling of oil and gas well.