Development of an automated drilling fluid selection tool using integral geometric parameters for effective drilling operations

Modern-day climate and environmental factors are largely responsible for the different geometric characteristics exhibited by formation zones/petroleum reservoirs which makes them highly selective with respect to their adaptation to drilling fluids. However, recent advances in drilling technology, such as, the development of an appropriate drilling fluid automation system carried out in this study, have shown prospects for tremendous improvements in well performance with a subsequent reduction in well dormancy/shutdown. Based on the mud density calculations from the simulation and field measurements, it is evident that the novel drilling fluid selector system has a characteristic algorithm that is suitable for predicting the performance of drilling fluids within limits of accuracy as high as 95–99% for wellbore sizes/diameters and depth, in the range of 8–16” and 0–15,760 ft which is a good step towards attaining a fully automated drilling operation.