For a particle on a wall or cuttings bed in a multiphase flow in confined geometries a condition for onset and lift-off is very important. In this case, a fundamental problem of hydrodynamic forces and torque acting on a particle moving near and on the wall in a viscous fluid needs to be solved. In this paper, systematical simulation of a flow was performed around a perfect rolling or sliding spherical particle near the wall. A shear flow of Newtonian and Herschel-Bulkley fluids was investigated. The simulation was conducted for Reynolds numbers up to 200 and the dimensionless positive particle velocity Vp < 1.4. The relative particle velocity was made dimensionless by dividing it by the incoming flow velocity in front of the particle. The simulation was performed using the open-source CFD package OpenFOAM. The simulation results for Newtonian fluid agree with data presented in the literature. For the particle’s low translational velocity the drag force coefficient in the non-Newtonian fluid is lower than in Newtonian fluid, but for increasing translational velocity the drag force coefficient increases. The lift force coefficient behavior is non-monotonic versus rheology parameters. Lift and drag force show a sudden drop for very small translational velocities. Our simulation shows that in the case of large Bingham numbers the particle’s lift force can be negative for steady perfect particle rolling. Thus, friction between particle and surface prevents particle’s take-off in some cases. Knowing the dependence of the lift force on Reynolds number and rheological parameters allows one to determine incipient motion and take-off conditions for a spherical particle.

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The paper presents the results of modeling the steady-state flow of drilling fluid with cuttings in an annulus for the flow regimes typical for horizontal drilling. The studied parameters include effects like fluid rheology, drillstring rotation and eccentricity on flow regime, pressure drop and cuttings bed. It has been demonstrated that increasing the drilling fluid’s effective viscosity increases the pressure drop, but it decreases the cuttings bed area, while drillstring rotation significantly changes the flow structure, improving cuttings transport and reducing the pressure drop. The considered flow structure can change abruptly due to changed drill string positioning and rheological fluid properties. Such structural changes are followed by abrupt changes in the pressure drop and cuttings bed area.

Abstract. Parametrical study of perfect steady rolling and steady state freely motion of spherical particle on the wall in shear flow of nonNewtonian fluid was carried out. In the case of perfect rolling the jumps of forces acting on a sphere in the moment of changing particle velocity from zero to positive were observed. Non-Newtonian properties of fluid lead to decreasing of drag force coefficient for low particle's velocity and to opposite effect for high velocity relative to Newtonian fluid. There is no such significant effect for a lift force coefficient. Steady state particle's velocity (Fd(Vpss)=0) increases for non-Newtonian fluid for both considered types of motion. Steady state particle's velocity and lift force coefficient are lower for the case of freely particle motion. Steady state rotational velocity decreases for non-Newtonian fluid.

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