The Quarter began with installing the new drill pipe, hooking up the new hydraulic power unit, completing the pipe rotation system (Task 4 has been completed), and making the SWACO choke operational. Detailed design and procurement work is proceeding on a system to elevate the drill-string section. The prototype Foam Generator Cell has been completed by Temco and delivered. Work is currently underway to calibrate the system. Literature review and preliminary model development for cuttings transportation with polymer foam under EPET conditions are in progress. Preparations for preliminary cuttings transport experiments with polymer foam have been completed. Two nuclear densitometers were re-calibrated. Drill pipe rotation system was tested up to 250 RPM. Water flow tests were conducted while rotating the drill pipe up to 100 RPM. The accuracy of weight measurements for cuttings in the annulus was evaluated. Additional modifications of the cuttings collection system are being considered in order to obtain the desired accurate measurement of cuttings weight in the annular test section. Cutting transport experiments with aerated fluids are being conducted at EPET, and analyses of the collected data are in progress. The printed circuit board is functioning with acceptable noise level to measure cuttings concentration at static …

Experiments on the flow loop are continuing. Improvements to the software for data acquisition are being made as additional experience with three-phase flow is gained. Modifications are being made to the Cuttings Injection System in order to improve control and the precision of cuttings injection. The design details for a drill-pipe Rotation System have been completed. A US Patent was filed on October 28, 2002 for a new design for an instrument that can generate a variety of foams under elevated pressures and temperatures and then transfer the test foam to a viscometer for measurements of viscosity. Theoretical analyses of cuttings transport phenomena based on a layered model is under development. Calibrations of two nuclear densitometers have been completed. Baseline tests have been run to determine wall roughness in the 4 different tests sections (i.e. 2-in, 3-in, 4-in pipes and 5.76-in by 3.5-in annulus) of the flow loop. Tests have also been conducted with aerated fluids at EPET conditions. Preliminary experiments on the two candidate aqueous foam formulations were conducted which included rheological tests of the base fluid and foam stability reports. These were conducted after acceptance of the proposal on the Study of Cuttings Transport with Foam Under Elevated …

This Quarter has been divided between running experiments and the installation of the drill-pipe rotation system. In addition, valves and piping were relocated, and three viewports were installed. Detailed design work is proceeding on a system to elevate the drill-string section. Design of the first prototype version of a Foam Generator has been finalized, and fabrication is underway. This will be used to determine the relationship between surface roughness and ''slip'' of foams at solid boundaries. Additional cups and rotors are being machined with different surface roughness. Some experiments on cuttings transport with aerated fluids have been conducted at EPET. Theoretical modeling of cuttings transport with aerated fluids is proceeding. The development of theoretical models to predict frictional pressure losses of flowing foam is in progress. The new board design for instrumentation to measure cuttings concentration is now functioning with an acceptable noise level. The ultrasonic sensors are stable up to 190 F. Static tests with sand in an annulus indicate that the system is able to distinguish between different sand concentrations. Viscometer tests with foam, generated by the Dynamic Test Facility (DTF), are continuing.