WO2012096945A2 - Method for cleaning drill cuttings - Google Patents
Method for cleaning drill cuttings Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2012096945A2 WO2012096945A2 PCT/US2012/020757 US2012020757W WO2012096945A2 WO 2012096945 A2 WO2012096945 A2 WO 2012096945A2 US 2012020757 W US2012020757 W US 2012020757W WO 2012096945 A2 WO2012096945 A2 WO 2012096945A2
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- cuttings
- stabilizing agent
- surfactant
- treating
- water
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH DRILLING; MINING
- E21B—EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
- E21B21/00—Methods or apparatus for flushing boreholes, e.g. by use of exhaust air from motor
- E21B21/06—Arrangements for treating drilling fluids outside the borehole
- E21B21/063—Arrangements for treating drilling fluids outside the borehole by separating components
- E21B21/065—Separating solids from drilling fluids
- E21B21/066—Separating solids from drilling fluids with further treatment of the solids, e.g. for disposal
Definitions
- TITLE METHOD FOR CLEANING DRILL CUTTINGS
- This disclosure is directed to a method of cleaning naturally- occurring materials such as drill cuttings.
- Non aqueous drilling fluids including oil-based drilling fluids, synthetic drilling fluids, form a general class of materials that may minimally comprise oil soluble additives, e.g., emulsifiers, and a mixture of particulate solids in a hydrocarbon fluid.
- oil soluble additives e.g., emulsifiers
- a mixture of particulate solids in a hydrocarbon fluid are circulated through and around the drill bit to lubricate and cool the bit, provide suspension to help support the weight of the drill pipe and casing, cover the wellbore surface with a filter cake to prevent caving in and weight to balance against undesirable fluid flow from the formation, and to carry drill cuttings to the surface.
- the drill cuttings are separated from the used drilling fluid.
- the cuttings should be cleaned of contaminants, such as the oil-based drilling mud.
- the present disclosure addresses the cleaning of drill cuttings, as well as other naturally occurring substances.
- the present disclosure provides a method for treating cuttings from a subsurface formation.
- the method may include treating the cuttings with at least one surfactant and at least one stabilizing agent.
- the method may include contacting the cuttings with the stabilizing agent(s) before contacting the cuttings with the surfactant(s).
- the present disclosure also provides a method for treating drill cuttings that includes returning the drill cuttings to a substantially water-wet condition by using at least one stabilizing agent to remove at least a portion of a hydrocarbon from the drill cuttings.
- the method(s) may include applying the surfactant(s) after the stabilizing agent(s) is/are substantially homogenized with the cuttings.
- water may be added with the surfactant(s).
- the stabilizing agent substantially prevents interaction between water and a swellable component of the cuttings.
- the stabilizing agent(s) may be selected from one or more of an alcohol (e.g: n-butanol), a solvent, a mutual solvent, and a glycol.
- the surfactant(s) may be selected from one or more of non-ionic, anionic, cationic, and amphoteric, zwitterionic and extended surfactants.
- the method may include mechanically removing at least a portion of the hydrocarbons from the cuttings after treating the cuttings. Also, the method may include further treating the drill cuttings with a water softening agent.
- Fig. 1 illustrates a flow chart showing one illustrative treatment method of the present disclosure
- Fig. 2 shows test results for a selected surfactant formulation applied to base oils to reduce interfacial tension
- FIG. 3 shows test results for a selected treatment with stabilizing agent applied to drill cuttings to reduce the retention of oil on cuttings.
- the present disclosure relates to methods and devices for processing drill cuttings entrained in oil-based drilling mud.
- oil- based muds convert water-wet naturally-occurring rock and earth into oil-wet cuttings.
- Embodiments of the present disclosure treat oil-wet cuttings with one or more agents to return a substantial percentage of such cuttings to a water-wet condition.
- a method for removing oil from drilling cuttings may include a first treatment of an alcohol, glycol, solvent or mutual solvent and a second treatment with a treatment fluid having at least one surfactant.
- the method may also include using a water softener.
- the combination of pre-treatment and treatment fluids may remove a high percentage of the oily material from the drilling cuttings and water-wet the solids.
- the method may include a first treatment 12 to stabilize the cuttings and a second treatment 14 to clean the cuttings of oil contaminants.
- the second treatment 14 may include one or more cleaning agents that substantially clean the cuttings of oil contaminants.
- substantially clean it is generally meant that at least a portion of the cuttings are in a water-wet condition.
- the stabilizing treatment 12 may include one or more agents formulated to stabilize the cuttings during the second treatment 14.
- the cuttings may be mixed with the added agent(s) at steps 16 and 18 in order to homogenize the cuttings. That is, the cuttings are mixed in a manner sufficient to allow the added agent(s) to disperse and interact with a substantial portion of the cuttings.
- the treated cuttings may be conveyed to a separator that mechanically removes the oil contaminants and / or other fluids 24 from drill cuttings to form the water-wet cuttings 22.
- a separator that mechanically removes the oil contaminants and / or other fluids 24 from drill cuttings to form the water-wet cuttings 22.
- a centrifugal-type separator may be used.
- a distillation-type separator may be used. Further details are provided in the discussion below.
- the stabilizing agent(s) used during the stabilizing treatment 12 may be selected to interact with the contaminant oil and / or cuttings to enhance the effectiveness of the surfactant.
- the stabilizing agent(s) may be selected to reduce the overall viscosity of the contaminant oil on the cuttings.
- the stabilizing agent(s) may be selected to decrease the hydrophobicity of the contaminant to be removed.
- the stabilizing agent(s) may be selected to inhibit or prevent water used during the second treatment 14 from unfavorably reacting with the materials in the drill cuttings.
- the agents may inhibit or prevent materials such as clay particles from swelling and occluding pores in rocks.
- a stabilizing agent may be used to isolate materials such as clay particles from interacting with water or other selected substances.
- water refers to any liquid wherein water is at least a component (e.g., brine, salt water, aqueous solutions, etc.).
- Suitable stabilizing agents include, but are not limited to, an alcohol, solvent, mutual solvent, glycols, polyglycols and polyglycerols.
- the second treatment 14 may use one or more cleaning agents formulated to remove unwanted materials (e.g., hydrocarbons) from the drill cuttings in order to render the drill cuttings water- wet.
- the removal does not need to be a complete removal of all oil contaminants from the cuttings. Rather, the removal may be of a portion of the oil contaminants on or in the cuttings. Also, the removal need not be of a specific hydrocarbon, but generally the removal of any substance considered a hydrocarbon or oil soluble compound such as NAF emulsifiers and wetting agents.
- the cleaning agent(s) may be a surface active agent or surfactant.
- the second treatment may also include agents such as water softeners.
- Suitable surfactants include, but are not limited to, anionic, nonionic, cationic, amphoteric, zwitterionic, extended surfactants and blends thereof. Still other suitable nonionic surfactants include, but are not necessarily limited to, alkyi polyglycosides, sorbitan esters, methyl glucoside esters, amine ethoxylates, diamine ethoxylates, polyglycerol esters, alkyi ethoxylates, alcohols that have been polypropoxylated and/or polyethoxylated or both.
- Suitable anionic surfactants selected from the group consisting of alkali metal alkyi sulfates, alkyi ether sulfonates, alkyi sulfonates, alkyi aryl sulfonates, linear and branched alkyi ether sulfates and sulfonates, alcohol polypropoxylated sulfates, alcohol polyethoxylated sulfates, alcohol polypropoxylated polyethoxylated sulfates, alkyi disulfonates, alkylaryl disulfonates, alkyi disulfates, alkyi sulfosuccinates, alkyi ether sulfates, linear and branched ether sulfates, alkali metal carboxylates, fatty acid carboxylates, and phosphate esters; suitable cationic surfactants include, but are not necessarily limited to, arginine methyl esters, alkanolamines and alkylene
- Suitable surfactants may also include surfactants containing a nonionic spacer-arm central extension and an ionic or nonionic polar group.
- Other suitable surfactants are dimeric or gemini surfactants and cleavable surfactants.
- Suitable zwitterionic surfactants include, but are not necessarily limited to, phospholipids, alkyl betaines, alkyl sultaines, alkyl amidopropyl betaine, alkyl sulfobetaines, dihydroxyl alkyl glycinate, alkyl ampho acetate, alkyl aminopropionic acids, alkyl amino monopropionic acid, alkyl amino dipropionic acids, alkyl amino acids, or alkyl amine oxides.
- a pH control agent may be used to improve the efficiency of the cleaning agent(s).
- Suitable pH control agents include, but are not necessarily limited to, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, ethanolamines, or buffered systems.
- Suitable classes of water softeners/ builders include, but are not limited to, coordination compounds, phosphates (complex phosphates, polyphosphates), silicates, zeolites, carbonates, and citrates.
- Illustrative coordination compounds include, but are not limited to, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA);
- Illustrative Phosphates include, but are not limited to, trisodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium tetraphosphate, Sodium hexametaphosphate;
- Illustrative silicates include, but are not limited to, sodium silicate;
- Illustrative carbonates include, but are not limited to, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium percarbonate;
- Illustrative citrates include, but are not limited to, sodium citrate, calcium citrate, citric acid.
- IFT interfacial tension
- an effective cleaning agent is an agent that reduces the IFT below 1 .0mN/m, preferably less than 0.1 mN/m.
- concentrations of surfactant in solutions were applied to a series of base oils. The tested surfactant was DFE-1621 a surfactant available from BAKER HUGHES INCORPORATED.
- the base oils included Carbosea 2 and CarboSea 1 , which were taken by centrifuging field cuttings contaminated with oil-based mud, Total DF1 , Clairsol 370, Clairsol NS, Diesel, EDC95-1 1 , n- Paraffin, and GT-3000. As shown in Fig. 2, the treated base oils exhibited an IFT in the range of 10 1 to 10 mN/m. Line 26 generally illustrates the IFT values for 0.5 % DFE-1621 and line 28 generally illustrates the IFT values for 2.0 % DFE-1 621 .
- ROC retention on cuttings
- Sample 48 shows the ROC for cuttings washed with only a surfactant, which is lower than the ROC of the untreated sample 46.
- Sample 46 shows the ROC for cuttings washed with a surfactant and a stabilizing agent, which is lower than the sample 48.
- a stabilizing agent significantly increased the effectiveness of the surfactant in reducing ROC.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB1311798.1A GB2502452A (en) | 2011-01-14 | 2012-01-10 | Method for cleaning drill cuttings |
NO20130924A NO20130924A1 (en) | 2011-01-14 | 2013-07-02 | Procedure for cleaning cuttings |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201161432929P | 2011-01-14 | 2011-01-14 | |
US61/432,929 | 2011-01-14 | ||
US13/345,920 US20120181085A1 (en) | 2011-01-14 | 2012-01-09 | Method for cleaning drill cuttings |
US13/345,920 | 2012-01-09 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2012096945A2 true WO2012096945A2 (en) | 2012-07-19 |
WO2012096945A3 WO2012096945A3 (en) | 2012-09-07 |
Family
ID=46489922
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2012/020757 WO2012096945A2 (en) | 2011-01-14 | 2012-01-10 | Method for cleaning drill cuttings |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20120181085A1 (en) |
GB (1) | GB2502452A (en) |
NO (1) | NO20130924A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2012096945A2 (en) |
Families Citing this family (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN107030097A (en) * | 2017-06-09 | 2017-08-11 | 西南石油大学 | A kind of water-base mud drilling cuttings green processing and reuse method |
US11655433B2 (en) * | 2019-05-29 | 2023-05-23 | Green Drilling Technologies Llc | Method, system and product of ultrasonic cleaning of drill cuttings |
GB202015615D0 (en) * | 2020-10-01 | 2020-11-18 | Turbulentus Tech Limited | Process for cleaning hydrocarbon-containing waste |
CN115075755A (en) * | 2022-08-09 | 2022-09-20 | 中海油田服务股份有限公司 | Novel efficient oil-based drilling cutting treatment method |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20030127903A1 (en) * | 1999-10-22 | 2003-07-10 | Lirio Quintero | Low shear treatment for the removal of free hydrocarbons, including bitumen, from cuttings |
US6981560B2 (en) * | 2003-07-03 | 2006-01-03 | Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Method and apparatus for treating a productive zone while drilling |
US20080110624A1 (en) * | 2005-07-15 | 2008-05-15 | Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Methods for controlling water and particulate production in subterranean wells |
US20090301722A1 (en) * | 2006-12-12 | 2009-12-10 | Mehmet Parlar | System, method, and apparatus for injection well clean-up operations |
Family Cites Families (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8356667B2 (en) * | 2009-06-12 | 2013-01-22 | Baker Hughes Incorporated | Liquid crystals for drilling, completion and production fluids |
-
2012
- 2012-01-09 US US13/345,920 patent/US20120181085A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2012-01-10 WO PCT/US2012/020757 patent/WO2012096945A2/en active Application Filing
- 2012-01-10 GB GB1311798.1A patent/GB2502452A/en not_active Withdrawn
-
2013
- 2013-07-02 NO NO20130924A patent/NO20130924A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20030127903A1 (en) * | 1999-10-22 | 2003-07-10 | Lirio Quintero | Low shear treatment for the removal of free hydrocarbons, including bitumen, from cuttings |
US6981560B2 (en) * | 2003-07-03 | 2006-01-03 | Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Method and apparatus for treating a productive zone while drilling |
US20080110624A1 (en) * | 2005-07-15 | 2008-05-15 | Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Methods for controlling water and particulate production in subterranean wells |
US20090301722A1 (en) * | 2006-12-12 | 2009-12-10 | Mehmet Parlar | System, method, and apparatus for injection well clean-up operations |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2502452A (en) | 2013-11-27 |
WO2012096945A3 (en) | 2012-09-07 |
GB201311798D0 (en) | 2013-08-14 |
US20120181085A1 (en) | 2012-07-19 |
NO20130924A1 (en) | 2013-10-01 |
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