Abstract:
One-cycle method (engineer’s method and wait and weight method) and the two-cycle method (driller’s method) have problems such as pressure propagation lag, inability to recycle the original drilling fluid in the well, and the need to wait for the preparation of well kill fluid. The circulation weighting method has problems such as an inability to control the pressure within the well and difficulty in determining the weighting amount. These methods are operationally difficult, unreliable, and prone to well killing failure. To ensure reliable, simple, and one-time successful well killing in blowout wells, the pressure balance relationship and control methods within the well were first studied, and in-depth research on the existing three conventional well killing methods was conducted. “Stable fluid volume”-based circulation well killing methods were proposed. The method of controlling the stable volume of circulation fluid can achieve real-time pressure balance within the well and one-time successful well killing. The study has formed three “stable fluid volume”-based circulation well killing methods for the initial stage of overflow, the formation of a concentrated gas section, and the empty annular space. It proposed control methods for eliminating the extremely high casing pressure in the overflow, methods for solving the casing pressure, gas density in the annular space, and other parameters using the pressure balance equation and gas state equation, and the casing pressure control-based well killing method. The research results show that the “stable fluid volume”-based circulation well killing methods can achieve balance pressure circulation well killing, opening up a new path for improving the scientific and operational level of well killing methods.