Estimation of Caving volumetric-flow using the ultrasonic Doppler method

Estimating the volumetric flow of cuttings and cavings that are extracted and transported by the drilling mud into the flow line while drilling a well is of major interest to for drillers so that they can understand the drilling conditions and maintain the wellbore stability. In this paper, a new method to estimate the volumetric flow of cavings via the Doppler effect is proposed. The proposed method is a non-invasive method that uses two piezo-electric acoustic sensors located on the flow line, one acting as an emitter and the other acting as a receiver. The system device estimates cavings and cuttings by measuring the mud and solids flow on a real-time basis. Results obtained at a laboratory experimental level reflected a maximum volumetric-flow error of 10.5% for small-sized cavings and 34,7% for large-sized cavings. According to those results, the method may be suitable for estimating cavingvolumetric-flow with acoustical techniques at the flow line while drilling and it might be used as a real-time operation method to evaluate wellbore stability.