Modular Slurrification System for High-Solids Drill Cuttings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for disposing of drill cuttings and drilling mud in marine environments are inefficient and costly, with traditional disposal methods causing environmental harm and requiring laborious and expensive lifting operations, and existing slurrification systems struggle to maintain high solids content in re-injection slurries, leading to equipment clogging and increased drilling costs.
Innovation Solution
A modular slurrification system that integrates a skid-based blender with a programmable logic controller, feeder, gate, and impeller to create high-solids content slurries by mixing drill cuttings with energized fluid, allowing for increased solids content beyond 20% by volume and continuous re-injection, while utilizing existing infrastructure to reduce lifting operations and enhance efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional disposal methods (dumping, conveyor belts, screw conveyors) are used for drill cuttings, then the cuttings can be disposed of, but the methods are laborious, expensive, and require major modification to the rig area with extensive installation hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the slurrification process with the existing cuttings storage and transfer infrastructure. The blender module is integrated into the work site equipment, merging multiple functions (storage, transfer, and slurrification) into a unified system, thereby eliminating the need for separate complex disposal systems like conveyor belts and screw conveyors.
Solution Approach 2:
The blender module is designed as a universal unit that can be integrated with existing cuttings storage vessels and transfer systems. It serves multiple purposes: mixing cuttings with fluid, controlling solids content, and preparing slurry for injection, thereby replacing multiple specialized devices with one multi-functional unit.
2Productivity
If slurry is prepared with high solids content for re-injection, then the re-injection efficiency is improved, but the slurry tends to separate and settle during storage, leading to equipment clogging
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous mixing and continuous injection operations. The blender continuously mixes cuttings with fluid to maintain homogeneous slurry, and the injection system continuously pumps the slurry into the wellbore, preventing separation and settlement that would occur with batch processing and storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses an intermediary pumping and injection mechanism that directly transfers the slurry from the blender to the wellbore without intermediate storage vessels. This intermediary system maintains slurry stability by keeping it in constant motion and preventing the separation that would occur in static storage containers.
3Ease of operation
If water is added to drill cuttings to facilitate disposal, then the cuttings can be transported more easily, but the volume and bulk increase, creating additional transport problems and pollution
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the physical parameters of the cuttings by controlling the amount of fluid added during mixing. Instead of adding large quantities of water that increase volume, the blender precisely controls fluid addition to achieve the desired solids content (20-40%), thereby facilitating transport while minimizing volume increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a concentrated slurry product that replicates the transportability of wet cuttings while maintaining a controlled solids content. The blender produces a homogeneous mixture that behaves like a pumpable fluid, enabling easy transport without the excessive volume problems of water-saturated cuttings.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enables efficient production and continuous injection of high-solids content slurries, reducing the risk of wellbore blockages, lowering operational costs, and decreasing rig downtime and accidents by integrating slurrification with storage and transfer operations, thus improving drilling efficiency and environmental safety.
Implementation Method 1
an impeller disposed in the blender for energizing the fluid
Data Source
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AI summary
A module for slurrfying drill cuttings that includes a skid, a programmable logic controller disposed on the skid, and a blender. The blender including a feeder for injecting drill cuttings, a gate disposed in fluid communication with the feeder for controlling a flow of the drill cuttings, and an impeller for energizing a fluid, wherein the module is configured to be removably connected to a cuttings storage vessel located at a work site. Also, a method of drill cuttings re-injection that includes creating a slurry including greater than 20 percent by volume drill cuttings in a blender system, and pumping the slurry from the blending system to a cuttings injection system. The method further includes injecting the slurry from the cuttings injection system into a wellbore.