Injecting oilfield waste into suitable receiving formations is an effective and environmentally acceptable method to dispose of drilling and production waste including cuttings, drilling fluids, produced water, emulsions and other produced waste. Traditionally, solid waste is degraded to less than 300 microns and suspended as water-based slurry containing 20% solid matter. Rheological properties are controlled so that the slurry can be injected, typically using triplex pumps, under high pressure (1000 to 5000 psi) through a casing annulus or tubular into hydraulic fractures. At locations, where injection pressures are within limits and the disposal well and domain may cope, or be benefitted with higher rates of injection, increases in the rate of disposal is beneficial to operations due to the increased efficiency allowing faster ROP's or faster evacuation of waste storage devices.This paper discusses the suitability and application of multistage centrifugal pumps for drilling waste injection and provides some data obtained during real time waste injection operations using multistage centrifugal pumps in parallel installation with traditionally used triplex pumps. Wear data in conjunction with engineering economic evaluation will be discussed. Slurry viscosity and particle size data will be presented to show the effect of pump shear on slurry properties and the implications for waste injection.A multistage centrifugal pump proved capable of pumping waste slurry continuously at relatively high rates for a limited trial period of time. A multistage centrifugal pump provides a continuous flow without the pulsation normally associated with using a reciprocating plunger-style pump and the need to have such pulsation dampened. Laboratory testing and realtime subsurface injection data at an offshore installation indicates that multistage horizontal centrifugal pumps may offer some benefits compared to traditional reciprocating triplex plunger pumps. Some operations requiring relatively high flow rates with flow media containing solids may benefit from implementation of this style pump providing the net power requirement and equivalent downhole pressure requirement are within the pump design range, and there is available footprint at the location.Oilfield waste can be disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner under zero-discharge conditions with the performance of the pump ensuring operational reliability and injection assurance. Operations on a global scale may benefit from this new application for multistage pumps. Decreased downtime together with slurry stability and controlled injection assures operational performance and cost effectiveness, enabling oilfield waste to be disposed in a safe, controlled and environmentally responsible manner.
Summary Oil-based drilling fluids can become contaminated with significant quantities of water as a result of low efficiency well-bore displacements to water or brine and from operations such as rig and pit cleaning. The presence of excess emulsifiers and oil-wet solids in typical oil-based drilling fluids allows large quantities of water to be emulsified. These oil-continuous emulsions are often termed slop muds. This paper presents a process for separating and recycling slop muds in a continuous process. Analytical data on the effects of water contamination on oil-based mud, the resultant slop-mud structure, the influence of shear, and quantification of the critical factors controlling phase-separation and chemical dose will be presented. In addition, treatment of the slop-mud on a continuous basis will be demonstrated both on the laboratory and full-scale defining the important process parameters, such as mixing energy, phase recovery rate, recovered drilling fluid properties, and treated water properties. Development of an understanding of the slop-mud stream enabled a novel continuous treatment system to be built that provides efficient and fast phase-separation with recovery of the valuable drilling fluid phase, with significant advantages over current batch-type systems. The process requires in-line injection and mixing of surfactant into the slop mud, then continuous separation of the waste into water and drilling fluid using a gravity separator. The drilling fluid remains as a water-in-oil emulsion containing solids and other chemical additives, which can be reconditioned to acceptable properties for reuse. The water recovery rates are typically 70 to 90 vol% of the total water present in the slop mud. This recovered water is treated using centrifugation, filtration or other water-treatment techniques to meet or exceed discharge consent limits of 15 mg/L total petroleum hydrocarbon. Water collected in the rig deck-drain system that may also be contaminated with oil or oil-based mud can also be treated in the same manner as the recovered slop water. Because the process allows continuous treatment of the slop-mud stream, the resultant equipment has significant benefits over the current batch-type systems, including higher throughput and decreased footprint.
fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractOil-based drilling fluids can become contaminated with significant quantities of water as a result of low efficiency well bore displacements to water or brine and from operations such as rig and pit cleaning. The presence of excess emulsifiers and oil-wet solids in typical oil-based drilling fluids allows large quantities of water to be emulsified. These oil-continuous emulsions are often termed slop muds.This paper presents analytical data on the effects of water contamination on oil-based mud, the resultant slop-mud structure, the influence of shear, and quantification of the critical factors controlling phase-separation and chemical dose. Data will be presented showing the principles of continuous slop-mud treatment both on the laboratory and fullscale defining the important process parameters such as mixing energy, phase recovery rate, recovered drilling fluid properties, and treated water properties.Development of an understanding of the slop mud stream enabled a novel continuous treatment system to be built which provides efficient and fast phase-separation with recovery of the valuable drilling fluid phase, with significant advantages over current batch-type systems. The process requires in-line injection and mixing of surfactant into the slop mud, then continuous separation of the waste into water and drilling fluid using a gravity separator. The drilling fluid remains as a water-in-oil emulsion containing solids and other chemical additives, which can be reconditioned to acceptable properties for re-use. The water recovery rates are typically 70 to 90 vol% of the total water present in the slop mud. This recovered water is treated using centrifugation, filtration or other watertreatment techniques to meet or exceed discharge consent limits of 15 mg/L total petroleum hydrocarbon. Water collected in the rig deck-drain system which may also be contaminated with oil or oil-based mud can also be treated in the same manner as the recovered slop water.Because the process allows continuous treatment of the slop mud stream, the resultant equipment has significant benefits over the current batch-type systems including higher throughput and decreased footprint.
Tar sands are a combination of sand, clay, water and bitumen. In-situ techniques using steam and/or solvents are used to reduce the bitumen viscosity such that it can be recovered and refined into petroleum products. Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an increasingly common technique which involves drilling two horizontal wells into the tar sand deposits. Steam and hot water are injected into the upper well to reduce the viscosity of the bitumen, which will drain into the lower well where it can be pumped to the surface. The waste generated from drilling these wells is extracted from the drilling fluid by shakers and includes sand contaminated with bitumen and drilling fluid. Treatment of this waste stream is challenging and typically these sands are stored at the rig site or transported for disposal at centralized sites. This paper presents novel technology for treatment of the tar sands drilling waste generated from SAGD and other tar sands drilling operations. The continuous treatment process is based on hot water addition, mixing and separation techniques to reduce the viscosity and specific gravity of the bitumen to separate it from the sand. Treatment of cuttings with light to heavy bitumen contamination and varying quantities of fine sand and clay particles has shown this treatment method to be a simple and effective means of producing clean sand and recovering the bitumen component. The energy used to heat the circulating water is recycled to minimize waste and maximize energy efficiency. The cleaned sand can be blended with natural soil and safely disposed in the environment. The recovered bitumen can be used as feedstock for further processing and refining.With the total recoverable tar sand reserves in Canada and Venezuela estimated at 300 billion barrels, the market demand for this technology is potentially immense. Effective treatment of the tar sands cuttings will convert the waste into a valuable revenue stream in an environmentally responsible manner.
fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractOil-based drilling fluids can become contaminated with significant quantities of water as a result of low efficiency well bore displacements to water or brine and from operations such as rig and pit cleaning. The presence of excess emulsifiers and oil-wet solids in typical oil-based drilling fluids allows large quantities of water to be emulsified. These oil-continuous emulsions are often termed slop muds.This paper presents analytical data on the effects of water contamination on oil-based mud, the resultant slop-mud structure, the influence of shear, and quantification of the critical factors controlling phase-separation and chemical dose. Data will be presented showing the principles of continuous slop-mud treatment both on the laboratory and fullscale defining the important process parameters such as mixing energy, phase recovery rate, recovered drilling fluid properties, and treated water properties.Development of an understanding of the slop mud stream enabled a novel continuous treatment system to be built which provides efficient and fast phase-separation with recovery of the valuable drilling fluid phase, with significant advantages over current batch-type systems. The process requires in-line injection and mixing of surfactant into the slop mud, then continuous separation of the waste into water and drilling fluid using a gravity separator. The drilling fluid remains as a water-in-oil emulsion containing solids and other chemical additives, which can be reconditioned to acceptable properties for re-use. The water recovery rates are typically 70 to 90 vol% of the total water present in the slop mud. This recovered water is treated using centrifugation, filtration or other watertreatment techniques to meet or exceed discharge consent limits of 15 mg/L total petroleum hydrocarbon. Water collected in the rig deck-drain system which may also be contaminated with oil or oil-based mud can also be treated in the same manner as the recovered slop water.Because the process allows continuous treatment of the slop mud stream, the resultant equipment has significant benefits over the current batch-type systems including higher throughput and decreased footprint.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.