Browsing by Subject "Terminal Velocity"
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Item Determining the Terminal Velocity and the Particle Size of Epoxy Based Fluids in the Wellbore(2012-10-19) Turkmenoglu, HasanThis thesis was inspired by the project funded by Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement (BSEE) to study the use of epoxy (or any cement alternative) to plug offshore wells damaged by hurricanes. The project focuses on non-cement materials to plug wells that are either destroyed or damaged to an extent where vertical intervention from the original wellhead is no longer possible. The proposed solution to this problem was to drill an offset well and intersect the original borehole at the very top and spot epoxy (or any suitable non-cement plugging material) in the original well. The spotted epoxy then would fall by gravitational force all the way down to the packer and then settle on top of the packer to plug the annulus of the damaged well permanently. This thesis mainly concentrates on the factors affecting the fall rates and how to correlate them in order to derive an applicable test that can be conducted on the field or lab to calculate the terminal velocity of the known epoxy composition. Determining the settling velocity of the epoxy is crucial due to the fact that epoxy should not set prematurely for a better seal and isolation. The terminal velocity and the recovery for epoxy based plugging fluids were tested by using an experimental setup that was developed for this purpose. The results were also validated by using an alternative experiment setup designed for this purpose. Factors affecting the terminal velocity and recovery of epoxy were studied in this research since the settling velocity of the epoxy is crucial because epoxy should not set prematurely for a better seal and isolation. The study was conducted by using an experiment setup that was specially developed for terminal velocity and recovery calculations for plugging fluids. Results obtained from the experiment setup were successfully correlated to epoxy's composition for estimating the terminal velocity of the mixture.Item Vertically Loaded Anchor: Drag Coefficient, Fall Velocity, and Penetration Depth using Laboratory Measurements(2011-08-08) Cenac, WilliamThe offshore oilfield industry is continuously developing unique and break-through technologies and systems to extract hydrocarbons from ever increasing ocean depths. Due to the extreme depths being explored presently, large anchors are being utilized to secure temporary and permanent facilities over their respective drilling/production site. A vertically loaded, torpedo-style, deepwater mooring anchor developed by Delmar Systems, Inc. is one of these anchors. The OMNI-Max anchor is an efficient, cost-effective alternative for use as a mooring system anchor intended for floating facilities. The OMNI-Max is designed to free-fall towards the ocean bottom and uses its kinetic energy for self-embedment into the soil, providing a mooring system anchor point. Values such as drag coefficient and terminal velocity are vital in predicting embedment depth to obtain the mooring capacity required by the floating facility. Two scaled models of the Mark I OMNI-Max anchor were subjected to a series of tests in the Haynes Coastal Engineering Laboratory at Texas A & M University to evaluate the overall drag coefficient and penetration depth. The 1/24 scale model was tested by measuring the amount of penetration into an artificial mud mixture. The 1/15 scale model was attached to a tow carriage and towed through a water-filled tank to measure the drag forces and evaluate the drag coefficient. The anchor terminal velocity was measured using underwater cameras to track the free fall of the model anchor through 15 ft of water inside the tow tank. The 1/24 scale model penetrated the mud an average of 22 inches from the leading tip of the anchor to the mud surface, approximately 1.5 anchor lengths. The penetration depth increased as impact velocity increased, while the penetration depth decreased as the fins were retracted. The 1/15 scale anchor was towed at 6 different velocities producing a varied total drag coefficient between 0.70 and 1.12 for Reynolds number flows between 3.08E 05 and 1.17E 06. The drag coefficient increased as the fins were retracted and when the mooring rope was attached. The 1/15 scale anchor was allowed to free-fall in the tow tank and obtained an average terminal velocity of and 14.6 feet per second. The drag coefficients ranged from 0.46 to 0.83, which increased as the fins were retracted. When using the results to estimate prototype sized anchor drag coefficient, the average value was estimated to be 0.75.