Method and system for selecting lost circulation materials for boring a well

Abstract

A method for selecting lost circulation materials (LCM) for boring a well involves determining, for a multitude of LCM blends, a multitude of overall scores based on characteristics associated with each of the multitude of LCM blends, and establishing a list of LCM blend candidates. Establishing the list of LCM blend candidates involves including a first of the multitude of LCM blends in a list of LCM blend candidates based on a first overall score associated with the first LCM blend, and excluding a second of the multitude of LCM blends from the list of LCM blend candidates, based on a second overall score associated with the second LCM blend. The first overall score is greater than the second overall score.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method for selecting lost circulation materials (LCM) for boring a well, the method comprising:
 determining, for a plurality of LCM blends, a plurality of overall scores based on characteristics associated with each of the plurality of LCM blends; and   establishing a list of LCM blend candidates comprising:
 including a first of the plurality of LCM blends in a list of LCM blend candidates based on a first overall score associated with the first LCM blend; and 
 excluding a second of the plurality of LCM blends from the list of LCM blend candidates, based on a second overall score associated with the second LCM blend, 
 wherein the first overall score is greater than the second overall score. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristics associated with each of the plurality of LCM blends comprise at least one selected from a group consisting of:
 a stress cage improvement associated with the LCM blend,   a fracture tip stress intensity factor improvement associated with the LCM blend, and   a financial cost.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , where establishing the list of LCM blend candidates comprises performing an optimization resulting in the first overall score. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the optimization comprises a Pareto front search. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising selecting one LCM blend from the plurality of LCM blends on the list. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the selection is performed based on a weighting of
 a stress cage improvement associated with the LCM blend vs.   a fracture tip stress intensity factor improvement associated with the LCM blend vs. a financial cost.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising applying the selected LCM blend for the boring of the well. 
     
     
         8 . A system for selecting lost circulation materials (LCM) for boring a well, the system comprising:
 a computer system executing an LCM blend optimization engine that:
 determines, for a plurality of LCM blends, a plurality of overall scores based on characteristics associated with each of the plurality of LCM blends; and 
 establishes a list of LCM blend candidates comprising:
 including a first of the plurality of LCM blends in a list of LCM blend candidates based on a first overall score associated with the first LCM blend; and 
 excluding a second of the plurality of LCM blends from the list of LCM blend candidates, based on a second overall score associated with the second LCM blend, 
 wherein the first overall score is greater than the second overall score. 
 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the LCM blend optimization engine further selects one LCM blend from the plurality of LCM blends on the list. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the selection is performed based on a weighting of
 a stress cage improvement associated with the LCM blend vs   a fracture tip stress intensity factor improvement associated with the LCM blend vs a financial cost.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a drilling system comprising a wellbore, wherein the one selected LCM blend is injected into a drilling mud circulation used for the wellbore.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the characteristics associated with each of the plurality of LCM blends comprise at least one selected from a group consisting of:
 a stress cage improvement associated with the LCM blend,   a fracture tip stress intensity factor improvement associated with the LCM blend, and   a financial cost.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , where establishing the list of LCM blend candidates comprises performing an optimization resulting in the first overall score. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the optimization comprises a Pareto front search. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions executed by one or more processors, the plurality of machine-readable instructions causing the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 determining, for a plurality of LCM blends, a plurality of overall scores based on characteristics associated with each of the plurality of LCM blends; and   establishing a list of LCM blend candidates comprising:
 including a first of the plurality of LCM blends in a list of LCM blend candidates based on a first overall score associated with the first LCM blend; and 
 excluding a second of the plurality of LCM blends from the list of LCM blend candidates, based on a second overall score associated with the second LCM blend, 
 wherein the first overall score is greater than the second overall score. 
   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the characteristics associated with each of the plurality of LCM blends comprise at least one selected from a group consisting of:
 a stress cage improvement associated with the LCM blend,   a fracture tip stress intensity factor improvement associated with the LCM blend, and   a financial cost.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , where establishing the list of LCM blend candidates comprises performing an optimization resulting in the first overall score. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the optimization comprises a Pareto front search. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising selecting one LCM blend from the plurality of LCM blends on the list. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the selection is performed based on a weighting of
 a stress cage improvement associated with the LCM blend vs   a fracture tip stress intensity factor improvement associated with the LCM blend vs a financial cost.