Challenges for Monitoring and Verification of Drill Cuttings Reinjection Performance

Abou-Sayed, Ahmed; Guo, Quanxin; Wang, Gary; McLennan, John; Karim, Zaki

doi:10.2523/78186-ms

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…Multiple fractures from slurry injection have been observed both in laboratory-simulated slurry injection tests and field trials (Abou-Sayed et al 2002;Abou-Sayed et al 2003;Guo et al 2000;Keck 2002;Willson et al 1999;Guo and Abou-Sayed 2003). These factors were considered in the present analyses.…”

Section: Modeling and Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monitoring and reporting often are required as part of permitting requirements . Monitoring options include single-well diagnostic methods, multiple well methods, and unconventional monitoring methods (Abou-Sayed et al 2002;Warpinski et al 1999;Wright et al 1999;Paige et al 1992). An annual Performance Report is required by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) as part of the GNI permitting requirements.…”

Section: Monitoring and Well Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Integration of these tests and operational data yielded a more complete picture of underground fracture systems created from the injection operations. New well-testing analysis methods have been developed to detect multiple fracture open and closing events from step-rate tests and pressure-falloff tests (Abou-Sayed et al 2002). For example, conventional pressure vs. rate plots from step-rate tests sometimes may not be able to discriminate between reopening with linear flow and with radial flow dominating.…”

Section: Monitoring and Well Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was especially true for GNI operations when many fractures were created during intermittent injections. The multirate pressure-transient analysis based on the Odeh-Jones method (Odeh and Jones 1965) was found to provide a better estimate of fracture propagation pressure changes during injection history (Abou-Sayed et al 2002). When the step-rate test data is analyzed based on the mul-tirate pressure-transient method, it often becomes easier to distinguish between matrix flow (when all the fractures are closed) and fractured flow (when a fracture is created or becomes open), and thus to detect multiple fracture opening events.…”

Section: Monitoring and Well Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With any E&P waste slurry injection operations, release of disposed waste into the environment must be avoided and waste containment assured. Assurance of waste containment and operation integrity requires careful engineering, operational data collection and evaluation, and a welldesigned well testing and monitoring program (Abou-Sayed and Guo 2001;Abou-Sayed et al 2002;Abou-Sayed et al 2003;Guo et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Feeling the Pulse of Drill Cuttings Injection Wells—A Case Study of Simulation, Monitoring, and Verification in Alaska

2007

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In April 1998, a program for continuous deep disposal of drill cuttings and open pit materials was initiated on the North Slope of Alaska. This ongoing injection project is commonly referred to as GNI, or "Grind and Inject." Accumulated drilling cuttings and mud slurry are injected into a receptive Cretaceous soft sandstone in three wells: GNI-1, GNI-2, and GNI-3. Typical operations involve injecting slurry into one of the three wells continuously for a number of days and then switching injection to another well. The average injection rate is approximately 30,000 B/D. As of 30 September 2002, project injection has included 12.7×10 6 bbl of water, 30.9×10 6 bbl of slurry containing 2.0×10 6 tons or 2.2×10 6 cubic yards of excavated frozen reserve pit material and drilling solids, and 1.31×10 6 bbl of fluid from ongoing drilling operations.Knowledge of the fate of the drilling and open-pit materials during injection is paramount to assure the safe containment of the disposed materials without harm to the environment. Numerical modeling, well testing (including step-rate and pressure-falloff testing), and logging surveys were performed periodically to assess the operational integrity of the disposal wells and to ensure the safe containment of the disposed waste slurry. The high-volume capacity of these injectors highlighted the mechanisms for slurry being accepted by multiple and branched fractures-part of the slurry went to previous fractures during subsequent batch injections. This paper will detail how to integrate numerical simulations, well testing/monitoring, and operational data to estimate storage capacity and construct a clear representation of what was happening underground during this GNI operation. The work has implications on other large drilling-waste injection projects worldwide.

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Section: Modeling and Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Monitoring and Well Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Monitoring and Well Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Monitoring and Well Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Feeling the Pulse of Drill Cuttings Injection Wells—A Case Study of Simulation, Monitoring, and Verification in Alaska

2007

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Cuttings Injection and Monitoring Operations: Cashiriari Gas Field, Peru III

Pierce¹,

Dunlap²,

Pineda

et al. 2010

SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference

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Performance and environmental assurance of cuttings injection programs require monitoring and periodic analysis of injection response. Such programs provide operational oversight and the ability to respond to changes in performance, providing for optimization of operating parameters to minimize potential negative impacts. Cuttings injection was implemented on a remote pad in the Cashiriari Field, located in a nature preserve in Camisea, Peru. CI was recognized as a technically and environmentally acceptable alternative for waste management in a location with extreme environmental sensitivity. Higher than anticipated injection pressures, indicative of regional and local stress regimes, required adjustments in operating parameters and expectations. Performance was contingent on successful inhibition of reactive clays in and around the target zones. Continuous monitoring of closure pressure and other trends associated with batch injection has made performance predictions possible. Monitoring operations have allowed for performance improvement and/or minimization of potential problems. The operation injected over 212,000 bbls of cuttings on the first pad and continues to be successful on the second pad through careful management of batch attributes and adaptation to operating realities. Assurance derived from such programs provides long term operational viability and social acceptance of cuttings injection as a safe means of waste management.

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A New Technique to Predict In-Situ Stress Increment due to Slurry Injection into Sandstone Formations: Case Study from a Biosolids Injector in Los Angeles, California, USA

Kholy

Almetwally

Mohamed

et al. 2018

SPE Western Regional Meeting

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Underground injection of slurry in batches or cycles with shut-in periods allows fracture closure and pressure dissipation which in turn prevents pressure accumulation and injection pressure increase from batch to batch. The "G-function" technique is a well-known method for analyzing the pressure fall off data and has been used in monitoring the evolution of formation stress and to identify the fracture closure point after each injection batch. However, in many cases the accumulation of solids on the fracture faces slows down the leak off which can delay the fracture closure up to several days. Well shut-in for such a long time between the batches is impractical. The objective of this work is to develop a new predictive method to monitor the stress increment evolution when well shut-in time between injection batches is not sufficient to allow the fracture to close. The new technique predicts the fracture closure pressure based on the knowledge of the instantaneous shut-in pressure (ISIP) and the injection formation petrophysical and mechanical properties including: porosity, permeability, overburden stress, formation pore pressure, Young's modulus, and Poisson's ratio. The injection pressure data from actual biosolids injection operations in Los Angeles, California has been used to validate the new predictive technique. The G-function analysis method was used to identify the fracture closure pressure in the early well life before solids accumulation on the fracture faces slowed the leak off rate. In later injection batches, solids accumulation did not allow fracture closure to occur during the well shut-in. Hence, the new technique was successfully used to build the stress increment profile of the injection formation. During the early well life, the match between the predicted fracture closure pressure values and those obtained from the G-function analysis was excellent, with an absolute error of less than 1%. In later injection batches, the predicted stress increment profile shows a clear trend consistent with the mechanisms of slurry inj ection and stress shadow analysis. Furthermore, the work shows that the inj ection operational parameters such as injection flow rate, injected volume per batch, and the volumetric solids concentration have strong impact on the predicted maximum disposal capacity which is reached when the injection zone in-situ stress equalizes the upper barrier stress. In addition, the results show that the formation disposal capacity increases when the injection flow rate and the injected volume per batch increase. The new technique helps in predicting the stress increment over time even when the well shut-in duration is shorter than the fracture closure time. As a result, safe injection operations can be conducted by assuring that stress increments are within allowable limits without extending the shut-in period after each injection. Another advantage of the technique is that it assists in optimization of the injection parameters to achieve the maximum possible injection capacity of the formation/well.

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Challenges for Monitoring and Verification of Drill Cuttings Reinjection Performance

Cited by 8 publications

References 16 publications

Feeling the Pulse of Drill Cuttings Injection Wells—A Case Study of Simulation, Monitoring, and Verification in Alaska

Feeling the Pulse of Drill Cuttings Injection Wells—A Case Study of Simulation, Monitoring, and Verification in Alaska

Cuttings Injection and Monitoring Operations: Cashiriari Gas Field, Peru III

A New Technique to Predict In-Situ Stress Increment due to Slurry Injection into Sandstone Formations: Case Study from a Biosolids Injector in Los Angeles, California, USA

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