Development of a dynamic-kill simulator for ultradeep water

Over the last decades exploration for hydrocarbons has been rapidly moving into unconventional reservoirs such as ultradeep water. Because no guidelines and procedures for blowout containment in ultradeep water are currently available, a project has been undertaken to develop them. Developing and validating the procedures requires a dynamic-kill simulator, but no available dynamic-kill simulator can perform all the simulations necessary. Therefore, the project chose to develop its own simulator that can model dynamic kills for surface, subsurface, and underground blowouts for modern drilling techniques. This dissertation describes the development of that simulator.;Some of the main features and advantages of this dynamic kill simulator include (1) A user-friendly interface. (2) Choice between stand-alone or Web application. (3) Surface, subsurface and underground blowout capability. (4) Simple dual-gradient drilling. (5) Both Newtonian and non-Newtonian kill fluids. (6) Oil and gas reservoirs. (7) Rigid temperature models. (8) Fluid properties adjusted for pressure and temperature effects. (9) Sonic flow considerations. (10) Three multiphase models accounting for slip between phases.;The simulator is validated using simple analytical solutions and production data. In all cases the simulator gives reasonable and meaningful results.;The simulator is also used to study the effect on blowout intervention as drilling is moved into deeper and deeper water. Results show that as water depth increases, the intervention requirements become more demanding. Because of the high flowrates and horsepower needed, a blowout in ultradeep water will likely require more than one relief well for successful blowout intervention.