SETTLING VELOCITY OF VARIOUSLY SHAPED PARTICLES IN DRILLING AND FRACTURING FLUIDS.

The settling velocities of a variety of shaped particles to simulate drilled cuttings were measured in both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. The results showed that the particle drag coefficient is a function of the particle Reynolds number and, in the case of power-law-model fluids, of the flow behavior index. A new generalized model has been developed for predicting the settling velocities of particles of various shapes in both Newtonian and power-law fluids over a range of flow regimes.