Is it possible to suck air out of drilling hole completely?

[ahmed11]

and after sucking air out we seal off the hole in order to eliminate any change in influx and pressure downhole?
and if possible, what would be the procedure?

 

[BvU]

Hello Ahmed,

Is this about holes in wood, plastic, metal ? Or about holes in the Earth ?
You cannot assume everybody who wants to help knows everything about your context - or posesses telepathic capabilities !

 

[Chestermiller]

How does the air stay down there in the first place. Wouldn't it rise up through the borehole?

Chet

 

[CWatters]

The word completely in the title suggests removing 100% of the air leaving a vacuum. Hard vacuums are difficult to produce. What are you trying to achieve?

 

[Chestermiller]

The word completely in the title suggests removing 100% of the air leaving a vacuum. Hard vacuums are difficult to produce. What are you trying to achieve?

He's talking about boreholes for wells drilled into the ground, which are typically filled with water up to the water table. He seems to be asking if air can be removed (a second phase) from below the water level. Most wells for oil and gas production have a pipe running down the center of the borehole that is cemented in place to the surrounding geological formation (except at the very bottom few meters). Where this air would be located and how it got there would be the puzzle to me.

Chet

 

[ahmed11]

i mean when if i drill with a small machine underground and seal off the hole after machine is set underground and all air is sucked out, will that eliminate the change in pressure. the machine will be underground and no air will be to enter the hole from the surface so that will cancel the change in influx and resulting in a kick, right?(my theory is that pressure of any kind is present when air is, i think)
i'm just thinking out loud here so would really appreciate your help.
thanks..

 

[Chestermiller]

i mean when if i drill with a small machine underground and seal off the hole after machine is set underground and all air is sucked out, will that eliminate the change in pressure. the machine will be underground and no air will be to enter the hole from the surface so that will cancel the change in influx and resulting in a kick, right?(my theory is that pressure of any kind is present when air is, i think)
i'm just thinking out loud here so would really appreciate your help.
thanks..

I stand corrected.

 

[ahmed11]

so do you think my theory is correct?
i don't know if it was stated before or not, i tried looking online but couldn't find anything

 

[Chestermiller]

so do you think my theory is correct?
i don't know if it was stated before or not, i tried looking online but couldn't find anything

I'm really not able to even come close to understanding what you are asking.

 

[ahmed11]

I'm really not able to even come close to understanding what you are asking.

in usual drilling operations, drilling fluid is pumped into balance the formation pressure in order not to get a kick( change in influx rate from formation fluid and gases) and blowing. so instead of using drilling fluid which is more dense than the formation pressure we could suck air out of the hole when a small machine( a single machine like a small car for example) is set downhole and then seal off the hole. like drilling through an air free rock in outer space, if the rock isn't injected with air( drilling pipe) no matter the fluids in it, it won't change the ratio of pressure already present.
am i making any sense here?

 

[Chestermiller]

in usual drilling operations, drilling fluid is pumped into balance the formation pressure in order not to get a kick( change in influx rate from formation fluid and gases) and blowing. so instead of using drilling fluid which is more dense than the formation pressure we could suck air out of the hole when a small machine( a single machine like a small car for example) is set downhole and then seal off the hole. like drilling through an air free rock in outer space, if the rock isn't injected with air( drilling pipe) no matter the fluids in it, it won't change the ratio of pressure already present.
am i making any sense here?

No. And I have some experience with drilling mud and formation fluids.

 

[CWatters]

in usual drilling operations, drilling fluid is pumped into balance the formation pressure in order not to get a kick( change in influx rate from formation fluid and gases) and blowing. so instead of using drilling fluid which is more dense than the formation pressure we could suck air out of the hole when a small machine...

Unlike Chester I've no experience of drilling oil wells. However..

I can see how using a dense drilling fluid might help stop oil or gas being pushed up the drill hole. That makes sense.

I can see how using air instead of drilling fluid would be less effective. Air is less dense than drilling fluid so the pressure created at the bottom of the well by the air would be less than that created by drilling fluid. So it would be less able to counter the pressure in the oil/gas.

How would using something even less dense than air (like a vacuum) be better?

am i making any sense here?

Not to me.

 

[nasu]

He may think that if there is no air there is no pressure. Based on this quote:
"(my theory is that pressure of any kind is present when air is, i think)".

 

[ahmed11]

He may think that if there is no air there is no pressure. Based on this quote:
"(my theory is that pressure of any kind is present when air is, i think)".

yes that's exactly what i mean. i know that air is less dense than the drilling fluid but if there is no air inside the hole from the beginning then oil and gas will be less dense therefore it won't blow up to the surface
right?

 

[Bystander]

Wrong. Formation pressure is formation pressure.

 

[ahmed11]

Wrong. Formation pressure is formation pressure.

can u explain why would it be wrong?
just for clarifying, when i suck air outside of the drilling string connected to the reservoir the formation fluids will be less dense so the pressure will decrease and it won't result in a kick

 

[Chestermiller]

What makes you have this strange idea that the formation fluids will be less dense? Formation fluids are virtually incompressible.

 

[davenn]

yes that's exactly what i mean. i know that air is less dense than the drilling fluid but if there is no air inside the hole from the beginning then oil and gas will be less dense therefore it won't blow up to the surface
right?

regardless of if there is air or something else placed in the drill hole ... the oil and gas underground is under intense pressure and the presence or absence of anything else in the hole isn't going to change that

What makes you have this strange idea that the formation fluids will be less dense? Formation fluids are virtually incompressible.

indeedDave

 

[CWatters]

yes that's exactly what i mean. i know that air is less dense than the drilling fluid but if there is no air inside the hole from the beginning then oil and gas will be less dense therefore it won't blow up to the surface
right?

Removing the air won't make the oil or less dense. Even if it did make it less dense it wouldn't reduce the pressure. Its the pressure that causes the oil to be pushed to the surface.

 

[Chestermiller]

This thread is sucking the air out of all of us!

 

[brotherStefan]

It seems to me that at these depths, if the hole could somehow be completely voided, would not the surrounding pressure collapse the hole?

 

[Chestermiller]

It seems to me that at these depths, if the hole could somehow be completely voided, would not the surrounding pressure collapse the hole?

The hole is not completely void. It is filled with formation fluid up to the water table. If you tried to pump the water out of the hole, it would just flow out of the surrounding porous rock and fill up the hole again.