Guide: With the establishment of “Xi’an Oil and Gas Drilling Waste Management Engineering Research Center”, KOSUN will have more opportunities to make great contributions to the drilling waste management in China. The most attractive content in a drilling waste management research report officially released by this research center is “zero discharge of drilling waste”.

 

 

 

The conception “zero discharge of drilling waste” is generated relative to traditional drilling waste management mode. During the traditional drilling process, waste pit is built at the drilling site for drilling waste management. That is, drilling waste is discharged to the waste pit at ground level for next-stage treatment, or even directly buried. This traditional discharge mode causes serious pollution and great harm to the environment and human life; therefore, State Environmental Protection Administration of China made a formal legislation in January 2015 to put forward stricter requirements and standards for drilling waste management. The conception “zero discharge of drilling mud” emerges at the right moment. Some people also call it “zero discharge of drilling cuttings”. 

 

(Case: Link to case of Algeria drilling waste management site: http://www.chinakosun.com/khal/gn/1212.html)

 

 

 

Waste drilling waste generated during drilling production process is a multi-phase stable colloidal suspended substance containing clay, weighting materials, various chemical agents, sewage, dirty oil and drilling cuttings. The main components bringing impacts to the environment are hydrocarbon, salts, various polymers, heavy metal ions, as well as impurities, asphalt and other modifiers in barite. The main environmental pollutants have characteristics of high COD, high BOD, high oils, high CI—, high pH values, high suspended solids and heavy metal salts, etc. If the pollutants are left in storage pool at the drilling site, they will cause adverse effects to the underground (surface) water and soil along with leakage and overflow of the storage pool, and endanger the surrounding ecological environment, or even cause pollution incident. As the national and local overall environmental requirements become increasingly stringent, environmental protection and management cannot be delayed even a moment and the task is arduous.

 

 

 

In view of the above situation, the chief engineer Mr. Zhang, the principal of Xi’an Oil and Gas Drilling Waste Management Engineering Research Center, told us that there are many effective drilling waste management methods at present, including Hi-G dryer, solidification, thermal desorption, cuttings dryer system as well as WBM dewatering method, etc.

 

Above are main drilling waste management methods at home and abroad. The most common “zero discharge of drilling waste” management modes are management while drilling and centralized management. For detailed process of various management modes previously described, please consult the Xi’an Oil and Gas Drilling Waste Management Engineering Research Center of KOSUN.