Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE 26382

Drill Cuttings Reinjection for Heidrun: A Study

H.R. Crawford, Conoco Inc., and J.A. Lescarboura, Consultant
SPE Members

Copyright 1993, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

r
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 68th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers held in Houston, Texas, 3-6 October 1993.

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Abstract Ever tightening environmental regulations make it difficult to

Drilling of 56 wells from the Heidrun Platform in the
Norwegian North Sea may generate about 150 million
pounds of drill cuttings. If oil-based mud (OBM) is used
on any of the wells these oily cuttings will need to be
disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. This
study was to assess the feasibility of disposing of these
oily cuttings by reinjection into a fracture, initiated from
a purpose-drilled reinjection well. A slurry was prepared
from OBM drill cuttings from the Norwegian North Sea
using a commercial cuttings slurrying system.
Laboratory and pilot-plant tests of this slurry were
conducted to measure: composition, rheology, laminar
and turbulent friction loss, and leak-off coefficient.
Laboratory tests were performed simulating the flow of
the slurry along a fracture in a permeable formation with
leak-off occurring from one side of the fracture. The
paper describes the results of the tests. It concludes
that it is feasible to dispose of the cuttings by reinjection
into a fracture created in an impermeable formation. A
procedure is suggested. It theorizes that permeable
formations can act as barriers to the vertical growth of
the fracture.
dispose of these contaminated cuttings economically. In the
Norwegian North sea a common method of disposal involves
shipping the cuttings to shore for land fill or other methods
of disposal. Since loading operations must be suspended
when waves are too high, considerable storage space must
be available on the drilling platform to allow drilling to
continue when off-loading of cuttings is not possible. This
extra space severely increases the cost of platforms which
are already expensive. Under these conditions, a disposal
method that can be used continuously regardless of weather
is desirable. Reinjection of the oil contaminated drill cuttings
into a suitable formation is such a method.
Disposal of cuttings by downhole reinjection is relatively new
technology which is just now achieving commercial usage.
A number of technical publications have appeared recently
in the literature describing this method of cuttings
disposaI1,2,3,4,5. Although different methods of slurrying the
cuttings are involved, all these publications address disposal
of the cuttings from one well into the same well, i.e., the
disposal of relatively small volume of cuttings into each well.
Furthermore, many of these papers imply disposal of the
cuttings into permeable "thier zones.

Introduction A group papers on cuttings disposal by downhole reinjection

was presented at the 1993 SPE/IADC Drilling
With current technology, some high-angle wells can only Conference6 ,7,8,e. These papers address the disposal of
be drilled safely and economically by use of OBM. But. limited volume of cuttings from one well into that same well.
drilling with OBM results in oil-contaminated drill cuttings. Some7,6,e specify that this disposal is by reinjection into

References and illustrations at end of paper 109

2 DRILL CUTTINGS RE-INJECTION FOR HEIDRUN: A STUDY
fractures created in impermeable or low permeability
formations with permeable sands providing barriers to
vertical height growth. This information was not available
at the time the work described in this paper was
conducted, but it agrees with the results of this work.
This paper presents the lithology of the Heidrun
Formations; the properties of a slurry made from OBM
cuttings from Gullfaks, which were taken to be
representative of unavailable Heidrun cuttings; a theory
of fracture height containment which facilitates the
location and design of the disposal fracture; a prediction
of the necessary injection pressures; a procedure to
dispose of drill cuttings by reinjection; and, support for
the conclusion that it is feasible to dispose of the
Heidrun OBM drill cuttings by downhole reinjection of a
cuttings slurry.
The design basis for this study is given in Table 1. The
goal was to be able to dispose of 150,000,000 pounds of
cuttings slurried in 256,000,000 pounds of sea water for
a total disposal volume of 40 million gallons of OBM
cuttings slurry.
Much of this paper was taken from References 10,11,12,13,
14,15,16
Slurry Properties
The cuttings slurry was generated by slurrying
approximately 5 barrels of Gullfaks OBM cuttings in 15
barrels of salt water (to simulate sea water). A versus shear rate plots as a straight line on log-log paper.
commercial unit provided by M.S.D., Inc. of Evangeline,
LA was used. Slurry properties were measured in 'the
Conoco laboratories. Pressure loss, start-up and leakoff
tests were conducted in a field-size flow loop at STIM-
LAB in Duncan, OK. Leakoff coefficients were also
determined by Halliburton in Duncan.
One purpose of the tests was to allow field-scale flow
properties to be estimated from laboratory
measurements. This purpose was partly realized.
Laminar pressure drop can be predicted from the
rheological properties measured with a Fann or Baroid
rheometer. But the prediction of turbulent pressure
losses from viscometric measurements was not
satisfactory for this rheologically-complex, three-phase
slurry. Fortunately, the need for turbulent pressure loss
prediction was obviated since the design for Heidrun
could be met with laminar flow in the tubulars.
110
SPE 26382
The properties of the Gullfaks slurry are summarized in Table
2. These are the properties used in the fracture design. The
slurry does not behave as a Power Law fluid over a large
shear rate range. But nand K' values were evaluated near
shear rates expected in the fracture, to be used as inputs
into the fracture design model.
The slurry behaves rheologically as a Herschel-Bulkley fluid,
more commonly known in the oil industry as a Yield-
Pseudoplastic fluid. This is a fluid that has a yield stress that
must be exceeded before flow can start, and then behaves
as a power law fluid after flow is initiated. This model is
represented by Equation 1, below:
ST = YS + CI (SR)III (1)
where: ST is the shear stress in Ib,/100 tt2.
YS is the yield stress in Ib,/100 tt2.
CI is the consistency index in Ibf secm/100 tt2.
SR is the shear rate in reciprocal seconds.
m is the flow index in dimensionless units.
For practical oil-field applications, using a Fann-type
rheometer, ST is given by the Dial Readings, the 3-RPM
Reading is YS and SR is given by the nominal shear rate (1.7
x RPM). In many references, CI is called K and m is given as
n but this is not recommended. The CI and m values
obtained for a given fluid are generally much different from
the K and n values for the same fluid.
For yield-pseudoplastic fluids, shear stress minus yield stress
Figure 1 shows the rheology of the Gullfaks slurry at 37 and
100F. It is clear that the slurry is adequately represented by
the yield-pseudoplastic model. The lower temperature
represents the slurry as it would be on the surface after
mixing with cold North Sea water and the higher temperature
as it would be after warming up on its way downhole.
Full-Size Pipe Flow Studies
These tests were conducted in a large pipe rheometer
purpose-built for the tests. It consisted of 20 ft of 2-inch
(1.99" ID), 20 ft of 2.5-inch (2.45" ID) and 40 ft of 3-inch (2.95"
ID) pipe in series. Pumps capable of pumping from 1 to 22
BPM of the slurry were provided. To maintain the
temperature at 100F in the heat of summer, the pipes had
cooling jackets through which glycol cooled by liquid CO2
was pumped.
SPE 26382 H. R. CRAWFORD & JAIME A. LESCARBOURA
An example of the data gathered from these tests is
given in Figure 2. The apparent severe data scatter was
caused by insufficient sample size and suction head and
the lack of a surge damper. Data smoothing made the
data usable. These data show a sudden transition from
laminar to turbulent flow. This contrasts with the slower
transition observed with homogeneous Yield-
Pseudoplastic liquids. Presumably, this is an effect of
the oily solid particles in the 3-phase slurry. The
available theory is insufficient to predict pressure losses
in turbulent flow for these slurries. Reed and Pilehvari
developed a computer code that solves the equations for
Yield-Pseudoplastic fluids in laminar and turbulent flow in
pipes and annuli 17
An example is given in Figure 3. It compares the
predictions of the code, which uses laboratory rheometer
data, . with the flow loop data for the 3 inch pipe. The
match is good for laminar flow, as expected. But the
match is poor for the turbulent flow data
Leak-Off Studies
Table 3 gives the fluid leak off coefficients which were
measured by Wesselowski 1B The coefficients were
between about 0.01 and 0.05 ft/mino. s for the untreated
slurry. Somewhat lower values could be achieved with
fluid loss control additives. These untreated leak off
coefficients are higher, by a factor of about 5, than is
required to do a frac job to place proppant in a
permeable sandstone.
Faced with these high leak off coefficients, a test to
simulate leak off from a fracture was set up at Stirn-Lab.
The dynamic leak off characteristics of the disposal slurry
were tested in a 4.5-foot long annulus which had a 3.35-
inch 00 section of porous metal pipe inside a pipe with
a 3.9-inch 10. The porous metal pipe is a commercially
manufactured gravel pack screen which has a
permeability of about 35 Darcy. Figure 4 shows a short
sample of this porous pipe together with some pieces of
the dehydrated slurry filter cake described below.
The cuttings slurry was pumped through the annulus
and the filtrate was removed from the inside of the
porous pipe. As the test proceeded the rate of leak off
decreased from very high to very low, as though some
leak off control existed. When the apparatus was
disassembled it was found that a semisolid filter cake
had filled about 95% of the circumference of the annulus
as shown in Figure 5. It also shows the immobile filter
cake formed from the dehydrated slurry. This result
111
3
confirms that high leakoff of liquid from the slurry will occur
from fractures in permeable zones. While fluid loss control
additives could allow some fracturing of permeable
formations, their cost could be avoided if the fracture were
created in non permeable formations.
Theory of Fracture Propagation
At the start of this study, it was assumed that the cuttings
slurry fracture would behave in a manner similar to
stimulation fractures in which the fluid leak off is controlled
by the addition of fluid loss additives and the fracture
extends in the sands and is contained by the shales. But
the measured fluid loss coefficients on the slurry were too
high by a factor of 5 for a short frac job and by a factor of
1000 for a massive job like the Heidrun cuttings disposal
project. To treat the Slurry with sufficient fluid loss additives
would be expensive, and maybe prohibitive.
At this point the following theory was postulated: for fractures
created with slurries, like cuttings slurries, which have a
significant concentration of small-sized solids and a relatively
high leakoff coefficient, the fracture will be extended into
formations with very low permeability (e.g. shales) and will be
contained by formations with relatively high permeability (e.g.
sandstones). This is the reverse of the operative theory of
conventional stimulation fracturing, in which the fracture is
extended in sandstones (with low Poisson's Ratio) and
contained by low permeability shales (With higher Poisson's
Ratio).
The dynamic leak off experiments tend to confirm the theory:
specifically, the slurry will dehydrate in permeable formations
and this will tend to preclude further growth of the fracture
into these permeable formations. Note that the recently
reported field data7 ,B,9 verifies that this is indeed what occurs.
When exposed to this theory and Figures 4 and 5, some
have suggested that the OBM slurry particles may serve as
a fluid loss additive and allow large fractures in permeable
formations 19 Hence field verification of the theory is needed
and welcome.
Rock Properties
The formation rock properties were calculated from the open-
hole logs from one of the Heidrun exploration wells. The
properties calculated were shear & Young's moduli, bulk &
rock compressibilities, Poisson's Ratio, initial shear strength,
and permeability index.
4 DRILL CUTrINGS RE-INJECTION FOR HEIDRUN: A STUDY
The "Heidrun Fracture Design Chart" given in Figure 6
presents a summary plot of TVD versus the overburden
pressure, the fracture extension pressure (which
compares well with the three leak off test pressures), the
pore pressure, the hydrostatic head of sea water and tick
marks for the hydrostatic head for slurry weights of 9, 10,
11, and 12 pounds/gallon. This chart presents an easily
understood picture of these important pressures at any
depth.
Figure 6 allows a quick determination of some of the
important pressures in the system. For example, if the
re-injection point were at 5400 feet TVD with a slurry
weight of 10.5 pounds per gallon, then the Fracture
Design Chart can be used to show that the:
Frac pressure = 4300 psi
Hydrostatic head = 3000 psi
Static well head pressure = 1300 psi.
If there is no pressure loss in the fracture itself that the:
Static well head pressure needed to frac the
formation @ 6000 feet TVD = 1500 psi or 200
psi more than is needed to initiate the fracture @
5400 feet, and.
The frac fluid pressure is not sufficient to
create a horizontal fracture (lift the
overburden) until the fracture grows upwards
to 4000 feet TVD.
A mud loggers chart indicates the presence of 70 to 90%
sand from 480 to 550 meters depth. Confirmation of this
or other shallow sands would help give some assurance
that the disposal fracture will not broach the ocean floor.
Target Formations and Bottom Hole LocatIon
The preferred injection zone for Heidrun is the series of
low permeability shales from 1040 to 1860 meters (3400
to 6100 feet) TVD. Approximate values of the important
properties of this preferred injection zone are:
Average Range
Young's Modulus, psi 1,000,000 500,000 to 1,500,000
Shear Modulus, psi 325,000 200,000 to 450,000
Poisson's Ratio,
dimensionless 0.4 0.39 to 0.41
The injection well should be located away from the
platform in the direction of the minimum horizontal stress.
112
SPE 26382
Established fracture theory suggests that there is a natural
tendency for the fractures to grow upwards more than
downwards in a homogeneous formation with a frac fluid
whose hydrostatic head is less than the fracture gradient.
Hence, to take full advantage of the height of a desired
target formation, it is prudent to inject nearer to the bottom
than to the top of the formation. Thus, for the preferred
disposal zone from 1040 to 1860 meters the perforations
might be placed at about 1650 meters (5400 feet).
Until the fracture dimensions are better understood, there is
a concern that the disposal fracture may have some negative
impact on nearby wellbores that intersect or almost intersect
the disposal fracture. Figure 7 is a chart of the azimuths and
horizontal extent of the planned production wells and the
azimuth range of the vertical disposal fracture if it is North 67
(+- 15) deg'rees East as suggested by differential strain
relaxation data from Heidrun cores. It also shows the extent
of a two inch average width horizontal fracture containing 32
million gallons of disposal slurry & 120 million pounds of drill
cuttings.
This figure shows that only 3 or 4 producing wells would be
impacted by a vertical disposal fracture oriented North 67
degrees East. All of the wells would intersect a shallow
horizontal fracture. While the disposal fracture may not have
a major impact on these wells, this uncertainty makes the
vertical fracture case a better option.
The present preference is to drill the disposal well as a
deviated, maybe horizontal, well from the platform such that
the first fracture is near the bottom of the well. If the fracture
dimensions or pressure loss in this first fracture get too large,
injection into this first fracture can be stopped. The well can
then be plugged back about 70 meters and a second
disposal fracture can be created. As seen in Figure 8, this
allows several disposal fractures to be created from one well
bore.
Fracture Dimensions
The present state-of-the-art knowledge of fracture dimensions
is not sufficient to predict the fracture dimensions of the
disposal fracture with certainty. Nonetheless, there is a high
degree of confidence that the Heidrun drill cuttings re-
injection disposal fracture will neither fracture down enough
to disturb production from the pay zones, nor grow upwards
enough to broach the sea floor.
There is some uncertainty in the present state of the art of
calculating fracture dimensions, especially for fracturing a
shale with a cuttings slurry. A developer of one of the
SPE 26382 H. R. CRAWFORD & JAIME A. LESCARBOURA
current 3D fracture models said that his model was not
valid and he did not know of a 3D model that was valid
for fractures in the shales with the rock properties
inferred from the open hole logs of a Heidrun well. The
logs indicate little con~rast in Poisson's ratio.
Calculations for frac length and width were conducted on
the Conoco 20 model with input data for the:
Properties of the Heidrun shale from 1040 to
1860 meters,
Gullfaks slurry and sea water properties, with
Assumed fracture heights of 1000 and 3000 ft
(305 and 915 meters).
Fluid loss coefficient of 0.00007 ft/square root
min, reported from field experience with OBM
cuttings slurry re-injection at Clyde and Valhall
platforms.
Table 4 summarizes the results of average and wellbore
fracture widths, fracture half length, apparent viscosity in
the fracture at the shear rate existing in the fracture, and
the fracture efficiency which is the volume of the fracture
at the end of pumping divided by the total volume of
slurry and pad pumped. Data are presented for injection
volumes up to 64 million gallons which exceeds the
design basis volume of 40 million gallons.
For 32 million gallons of slurry (80% of the design basis)
the calculated fracture half-lengths are 5867 and 2007 ft
(1790 and 612 meters) for frac heights of 1000 and 3000
ft (305 and 915 meters), respectively. The calculated
fracture wellbore widths are 5.1 and 4.9 inches for frac
heights of 1000 and 3000 ft, respectively.
The same volume of sea water results in fracture half
lengths of 22,556 and 7766 ft (6877 and 2368 meters) for
frac heights of 1000 and 3000 ft, respectively. In these
cases, the calculated fracture wellbore widths are 0.23
and 0.18 inches for frac heights of 1000 and 3000 ft,
respectively. As seen, there is a 25 fold difference in frac
width between sea water and slurry. It might be possible
to exploit this difference in fracture dimensions by
adjusting the solids concentration and the viscosity of
the slurry, if it becomes evident that large width have a
negative effect on neighboring production wells.
113
5
Surface Pressures
Estimates of the surface pressures are required to determine
the size and pressure rating of the pumping equipment and
flow lines. The present design of the standard Heidrun well
head equipment limits the well head pressure to 4000 psi.
The surface pressures are expected to be well below 4000
psi at the design rate of 5 BPM and injection depths of less
than 6500 ft.
The estimates of the surface pressures during steady state
injection of cuttings slurry at various depth from the Heidrun
platform at 5 BPM are presented in Table 5. For example, for
5 BPM at an injection depth of 5000 feet the normal surface
pressure expected during slurry injection is about 1800 psi,
or 0.36 psi/ft. Maximum surface pressure is expected to be
less than 2500 psi, or 0.5 psi/ft.
Procedures
The following re-injection procedures are suggested:
1. Use downhole cuttings re-injection to dispose of OBM
cuttings.
2. As well equipment use 4.5-inch 00 tubing in 9 5/8-inch
casing. Hang tubing from well head and equip well
with the ability to pump slurry and water down separate
conduits.
3. Produce a slurry with the following approximate
properties:
Solids Concentration, vol % 12 to 15%
300 RPM Fann reading, IbJ100 tf 50 to 70
Marsh funnel time, sec/quart 50 to 70
Yield strength, 3 RPM reading,
IbJ100 tf 15 to 50
Particle size: 090 300 micron
100% to pass through 40 mesh screen 420 micron
Consider particles up to 18 mesh or 1000 microns
if less fracture height growth is desired.
4. A surface equipment arrangement similar to that shown
in Figure 9 is recommended. It is likely that no
'grinder" will be required.
6 DRILL CUTTINGS RE-INJECTION FOR HEIDRUN: A STUDY SPE 26382

5. During Injection: inject slurry in annulus or in tUbing
at 5 BPM while concurrently injecting sea water in
the tubing or annulus at 0.25 BPM. Monitor tUbing,
annulus and bottom hole pressures. Stand ready
to inject, or reverse out with, sea water if bottom
hole pressure increases too fast.
laboratory and in a field-size flow loop. These
properties are taken as representative of Heidrun
cuttings, but the properties of slurries made from
cuttings from a Heidrun well should be measured and
all calculations based upon slurry properties should be
reviewed using the new data.

6. For an extended shut-in use a 20,000 gallon sea Acknowledgement

water flush and use a 20,000 gallon sea water pad
for re-start. The authors are grateful to Conoco Inc. and Conoco Norway
Inc. for permission to publish this paper. They also thank
7. As target formation use the lower part of the low Eric Andersen, Stanley Bohon, Caroline Bratton, Robert
permeability shales from 1040 to 1860 meters. Burton, David Chenier, Tom Clancy, Luis Chu, John Huycke,
Cecil Parker, Barbara Quebedeaux, Jan Sattler, Sheryl Stine
8. Use about 40 perforations at 1 shot per foot from and Scott Tethington for their help on this study.
1640 to 1652 meters (5380 to 5420 ft), preferably
with 180 degree phasing and in the direction
perpendicular to the least normal horizontal stress,
i.e. along the fracture azimuth (NE/SW).

9. The bottom hole location is to be horizontally

displaced from the platform along the azimuth of
the minimum horizontal stress in the Heidrun
formations.

Conclusions

The major conclusions derived from this study are:

1. It is feasible to dispose of OBM cuttings from

Heidrun by re-injecting a cuttings slurry downhole
in a disposal well.

2. The slurry's high leak off coefficient indicates that

a slurry disposal fracture in a permeable formation
is likely to dehydrate and screen out. The slurry's
leak off coefficient was found too high for even a
small propped fracture job in a permeable
formation. It was too high by a factor of 1000 for
an extended pump time proppant placement
fracture in a permeable formation.

3. The theory developed infers that a fracture created

with the high-Ieakoff, high-solids-content slurry will
dehydrate and form a plug in permeable formations
thereby bounding the fracture height and causing
the fracture to be extended in the very low
permeability zones such as shale. Experimental
evidence was obtained which supports this theory.

4. The properties of a slurry made from Gullfaks OBM

cuttings have been measured, both in the

114
SPE 26382 H. R. CRAWFORD & JAIME A. LESCARBOURA
References
1. Smith, R. I., "The Cuttings Grinder," paper SPE
22092, presented at the SPE International Arctic
Technology Conference, Anchorage, Alaska, May
28-31, 1991.
2. Reddoch, J., "Closing the Loop with Onsite
Cuttings Disposal," Petroleum Engineer
International, 63(7), pp 59-60, July 1991.
3. Minton, R. C., "How to Minimize Drill Fluid
Environmental Impact," Ocean Industry. pp 29-33,
August 1991.
4. Malachosky, E., Shannon, B. E., and Jackson, J.
E., "Offshore Disposal of Oil-Based Drilling Fluid
Waste: An Environmentally Acceptable Solution,"
paper SPE 23373, presented at the First
International Conference on Health, Safety and
Environment, The Hague, Netherlands, November
10-14, 1991.
5. Andersen, E. E., Louviere, R. J., Witt, D. E.,
"Guidelines for Designing Environmentally
Acceptable Downhole Injection Operations", paper
SPE 25964, presented at the 1993 SPE/EPA
Environmental Conference, San Antonio, March 7-
10,1993.
6. Louviere, R. J., and Reddoch, J., "Onsite Disposal
of Rig Generated Waste Via Siurrification and
Annular Injection," paper SPE 25755, presented at
the 1993 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference,
Amsterdam, February 23-25, 1993.
7. Willson, S. M., Martyn Rylance and N. C. Last,
"Fracture Mechanics Issues Relating to Cuttings
Re-Injection at Shallow Depth," paper SPE 25756,
presented at the 1993 SPE/IADC Drilling
Conference, Amsterdam, February 23-25, 1993.
8. Moschovidis, Z. A., D. C. Gardner, G. V. Sund, R.
W. Veatch, Jr,"Disposal of Oily Cuttings by
Downhole Periodic Fracturing Injections in Valhall-
North Sea: A Case StUdy and Modelling Concepts,"
paper SPE 25757, presented at the 1993 SPE/IADC
Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, February 23-25,
1993.
7
9. SirevAg, G., and Bale, A.,"An Improved Method for
Grinding and Reinjecting of Drill Cuttings," paper SPE
25758, presented at the 1993 SPE/IADC Drilling
Conference, Amsterdam, February 23-25, 1993.
10. Crawford, H. R., "Heidrun Drill Cuttings Downhole
Injection Study," Conoco Draft Report, November 1991.
11. Lescarboura, J. A., "Slurrying of Oil-Base Mud Cuttings
for Storage or Injection at Heidrun", A Draft of PT
Report No. T-9-91, November 1991.
12. Huycke, J., Selvey, D. W., and Christensen, J. M.,
"Testing of Cuttings and Cuttings Slurries for Cuttings
Transport and Downhole Injection," Technical Service
Report 114-91-303-453, September 1991.
13. Anonymous, "An Evaluation of the Rheology and
Leakoff of Slurried Gullfaks Drill Cuttings," STIM-LAB
Report SL 2409, October 8, 1991.
14. Gidley, J. L., "The Feasibility of Cuttings Disposal in a
Hydraulically Created Fracture in the Heidrun Field"
Gidley and Associates Report, August 13, 1991.
15. Stine, S. F., "Formation Strength Study for the
Haltenbanken Area, Norway Oil Base Mud Project",
Conoco Report, November 20, 1991.
16. Flanigan, D. A, and Chu, L. A., "Cuttings Treatment
Technology for the Heidrun Platform", Conoco Report,
July 1991.
17. Reed, T. D., and Pilehvari, A A, "A New Model for
Laminar, Transitional, and Turbulent Flow of Drilling
Muds", paper SPE/IADC 25456, presented at the 1993
SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, Amsterdam, February
23-25, 1993.
18. Wesselowski, K S., Halliburton Services Report,
August 1991.
19. Abou Sayed, A. S., and Willson, S. M., BP, Personal
Communication, November 18, 1991.
115
 TABLE 2

PROPERTIES OF SLURRY MADE FROM GULLFAKS OBM CUTTINGS

TABLE 1 DENSITY, Ib/gal 10.5

DESIGN BASIS WATER, volume % 80

OlL, volume % 6
HEIDRUN DRILL CUTTINGS RE-INJECTION STUDY SOUDS, volume % 14

QUANT1T1ES PRESSURE LOSS IN PIPES at 5 BPM, psilft

OBM CUTTINGS 150,000,000 LBS 67,500 TONNES 4.5 inch OD, 3.92" ID 0.084
SLURRY WATER 256.000,000 LBS 116000 TONNES 3.5 inch OD, 292" ID 0.123
TOTAL 406,000,000 LBS 184,000 TONNES
RHEOLOGY,
OBM CUTTINGS 10,000,000 GALS 237,500 BBLS 37,5OOm'
SLURRY WATER 30,000,000 GALS 712,500 BBLS 1125OOm' MARSH FUNNEL, sec/quart 70
TOTAL 40,000,000 GALS 950,000 BBLS 150,000 m'
37" F 100" F
PROPERTIES OF SHALE IN TARGET REINJECTION ZONE K', CONSISTENCY INDEX, Lbf sec" / sq ft 0.38 0.47 @ 60 - loo/sec
n, FLOW BEHAVIOR INDEX, dimensionless 0.15 0.09 @ 60 - lOO/sec
AVERAGE RANGE
YOUNGS MODULUS; PSI 1,000,000 500,000 to 1,500,000 FLUID LOSS COEFFICIENT, C, ft/ sq rt min
SHEAR MODULUS, PSI 325,000 200,000 to 450,000
In a low permeability shale 0.00007
POISSON'S RATIO, Dimensionless 0.4 0.39 tto 0.41 In a permeable formation 0.01 to 0.05

TABLE 3
FLUID LOSS TESTING RESULTS

TEMP CORE Cw
TEST OF TYPE (FT/MIN /2 )
'

rI
1 200 BEREA 0,0495
2 200 BEREA 0,0182
3 200 FILTROSE 0,0387
4 200 FILTROSE 0,0154
5 125 BEREA 0.0221
6 125 BEREA 0.00892
::l
7 125 FILTROSE 0.00757
8
9
10
11*
12**
200
200
200
200
200
FILTROSE
FILTROSE
FILTROSE
FILTROSE
FILTROSE
0.0274
0.0132
0.0220
0.0165
0.000575
1
13* 200 BEREA 0.00983
14** 200 BEREA 0.000614
15** 200 BEREA 0.000542
16** 200 BEREA 0.000588
17* 200 BEREA 0.01428
18*** 200 BEREA (118 mD) 0.000647
19*** 200 BEREA (31 mD) 0.000392
20*** 200 BEREA (58 mD) 0.00502
21*** 200 BEREA (60 mD) 0.00152
22*** 200 BEREA (77 mD) 0.000199

Sample gelled with 20 Ib guar/Mgal.

**Sample gelled with 40 Ib guar/Mgal.
***Sample contains 2 Ib bentonite/bbl, 6 Ib lignosulfate/bbl, and 1 Ib super 10 pack/bbl.

116
 Table 4
ESTIMATED DIMENSIONS FOR VERTICAL FRACTURES
HEIDRUN CUTTI NGS REINJECTION

VOLUME HEIGHT
FRACWIDTH FRACWIDTH 1/2 VISCOSITY
FRAC
FLUID AVG. WELLBORE LENGTH EFFICIENCY:
MMGAL. FEET CP
INCHES INCHES FEET %
8 WATER 1000 0.13 0.19 10366 1.0 20.6
16 " 1000 0.14 2.21 15355 1.0 16.8
32 " 1000 0.15 0.23 22556 1.0 13.6
64 " 1000 0.17 0.25 32940 1.0 10.8
8 SLURRY 1000 2.23 3.34 2356 415000 81.9
16 " 1000 2.75 4.13 3722 608000 79.8
32 " 1000 3.39 5.08 5867 889000 77.5
64 " 1000 4.17 6.26 9225 1298000 75.0
8 WATER 3000 0.10 0.15 3628 1.0 16.6
16 " 3000 0.11 0.16 5327 1.0 13.4
32
64
"
3000
3000
0.12
0.13
0.18
0.19
7766
11266
1.0
1.0
10.8
8.5
8 SLURRY 3000 2.16 3.24 807 106000 81.4
16 " 3000 2.66 3.99 1274 155000 79.3
32
64
3000
3000
3.28
4.03
4.92
6.05
2007
3154
227000
322000
76.9
74.4
"Frac efficiency - fracture volume @ end of pumping I (slurry) volume Injected
..
1. Slurry - 14% (vol) gullfaks cuttings
2. Injection rate - 5 BPM K _ 0.47 @ 1000F
3. Fluid loss coefficient - 0.00007 ftIsq rt min. n _ 0.09 @ 1000F
4. Calculated with Conoco 20 frac program V 1.31

TABLE 5

HEIDRUN CUTTINGS REINJECTION PRESSURES @ 5 BPM

ESTIMATE OF SURFACE PRESSURE: SLURRY, 4.5" TUB., DPFrac = O.05*TVD

Ps = Surface pressure, psig

FXP =Fracture extension pressure, psi
0.084 DPtub = Delta pressure, tubulars, psi/feet
20 DPsurf =Delta pressure, surface equipment, psi
0.05*TVD DPfrac = Delta pressure, fracture, psi
40 DPPerf =Delta pressure, perforations, psi
HSH = Hydrostatic head, psi
10.50 SW = Slurry Weight, 1b/gallon
TVD =Total Vertical Depth, feet
MD = Measured Depth, feet

Ps/TVD
TVD, ft Ps, psi= FXP + DPtub +DPsurf+DPfrac +DPperf. HSH psi/ft

6500 2182 4800 546 20 325 40 3549 0.34

6000 2288 4700 504 20 300 40 3276 0.38
5000 1800 3800 420 20 250 40 2730 0.36
4000 1412 3000 336 20 200 40 2184 0.35
3000 924 2100 252 20 150 40 1638 0.31
2000 486 1250 168 20 100 40 1092 0.24

117
1650
2475
3300 1000 NE
4125 /'"
5950 1500
5775
6600 2000
U.FANGST
7425
8250 2500
Figure 8. Suggested Locations of
9075 Heldrun Re-Injection Fractures
9900 3000

TUBING ANNULUS
SEA V!lATER SLURRY
SEA WATER IN TUBING & SLURRY IN ANNULUS
OR VICE VERSA.

Figure 9. Cuttings Slurry Surface

Equipment Flow Chart

120