Abstract
During drilling and completion, working fluid filtration will result in the complex downhole situation and formation damage, and filter cake buildup plays an important role in borehole security, rapid drilling and reservoir protection. Based on the analysis of filter cake buildup mechanism, this paper gives the mathematical model to predict the thickness of filter cake and the filtration rate of working fluid. Finite difference method is used for the numerical resolution of model, which realizes the numerical simulation of the process of filter cake buildup. At the same time, the model is used for analyzing the effect of differential pressure between borehole and reservoir, solid content of working fluid, permeability of filter cake and annular fluid velocity on the filter cake thickness and filtration rate. Study result shows that the filter cake thickness increases with the increase of differential pressure between borehole and reservoir, solid grain content of working fluid and permeability of filter cake. The filter cake thickness decreases with the increase of annular fluid velocity. Under the same conditions, the filtration rate of working fluid reduces with the increase of the filter cake thickness.