Numerical Study of Agitation Performance in a Drilling Mud Mixing Tank to Non-Newtonian Rheological Properties
ABSTRACT Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics takes charge of an important role in the oil industries. Especially in the oil well drilling process, the drilling fluid such as mud keeps the drill bit cool and clean during drilling, with suspending drill cuttings and lubricating a drill bit. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of fluid mud rheological properties to predict different characteristics of non-Newtonian fluid in the mud mixing tank on offshore drilling platforms. In this paper, ANSYS fluent package was used for the simulation to solve the hydrodynamic force and to evaluate mud mixing time. Prediction of the power consumption and the pumping effectiveness has been presented with different operating fluid models as Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid. The comparison between Newtonain mud model and non-Newtonian mud model is confirmed by the CFD simulation method of drilling mud mixing tank. The results present useful information for the design of the drilling mud mixing tanks and provide some guidance on the use of CFD tool for such non-Newtonian fluid flow.