Estimation of the Formation Temperature from the Inlet and Outlet Mud Temperatures While Drilling Geothermal Formations

Abstract

Formation temperature is an important parameter in geothermal drilling since it affects drilling fluid, drilling operations and drilling equipment, through mud temperatures. In this study formation temperatures of the five geothermal wells in Germencik - Ömerbeyli field were estimated by using mud inlet and outlet temperatures obtained during drilling. GTEMP wellbore thermal simulation model was used to estimate the formation and bit temperatures of five wells. With the formation and bit temperature estimations of GTEMP and mud inlet and mud outlet temperature data from field; temperature-depth graphs were obtained for two cases where cooling tower effect on mud temperatures was neglected and taken into account. When cooling tower effects were considered the results were in accord with those obtained using Horner plot approach. The lowest and highest deviations were 1.5% and 24.5% respectively.