Drilling Waste Management: Improvements to the Dewatering Process Through Chemical Optimisation—Results of a Pilot Test (original) (raw)
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1 Introduction There are essentially three main categories of drilling fluids: oil based fluids (OBF's), synthetic based fluids (SBF's) and water based fluids (WBF's). OBF's have been traditionally been used for their high performance drilling characteristics but tend to have a poor environmental performance in terms of their ecotoxicity and their tendency to persist in cuttings piles on the seafloor. More recently, SBF's have been developed to provide similar drilling performance as OBF's but with improved ecotoxicity and biodegradation characteristics. Synthetic based fluids include internal olefins (IO's), poly-alpha-olefins (PAO's), linear-alpha-olefins (LAO's), acetals and ester based fluids (EBF's). WBF's, whilst generally not delivering optimal performance in more challenging drilling conditions, provide the best environmental performance in terms of their non-toxic nature and enhanced ability to biodegrade rapidly on the seafloor. 2 Regulating the use of drilling fluids The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) assesses the use of drilling fluids in perspective with environmental risks associated with the whole operation. This holistic assessment approach takes into account the technical justification for the proposed use of the drilling fluid, environmental sensitivities of the proposed drilling location, the method of cuttings disposal and the drilling fluid environmental performance under standard test protocols. Criteria for assessing the environmental performance of drilling fluids include the ecotoxicity, biodegradation and bioaccumulation properties of the whole and base fluid. Drilling using OBF's (aromatic hydrocarbons >1%) is not accepted because of the high potential for adverse environmental impacts. The use of OBF's in the bottom hole sections has reduced from 10% of all wells drilled in 1994 to 0% in 1998. The use of SBF has remained essentially the same over the same period with increasing use of EBFs. The use of SBF's may be accepted for a well subject to agreed environmental controls. Where the use of SBF is accepted, discharges to the seabed are limited to a maximum amount of 10% by dry weight of base fluid on drilled cuttings for a 311mm hole size. Currently, EBF's that demonstrate better biodegradation rates are more likely to be accepted by DME than other synthetic based fluids. No whole SBF may be discharged to the marine environment. Since the late 1980s there has been a trend towards the increased use of more technically advanced WBF's. Presently, over 80% of all wells are drilled in WA using WBF in all hole sections, and there are no restrictions on the amount of water based fluid on cuttings to be discharged to the sea. The remaining wells are drilled using WBF for the top hole sections and non-WBF in the 311mm or 216mm bottom hole sections. All drilling proposals in State waters require an Environmental Management Plan (EMP), and in Commonwealth waters require an Environment Plan (EP) as part of the application to carry out drilling operations. The EMP/EP should provide a description of the biophysical environment, potential environmental aspects and impacts and methodologies for avoiding or minimising those potential impacts. The EMP/EP should include information on the distribution and density of benthic flora and fauna, relevant site survey information and the distance of the proposed drill site from any potentially sensitive marine habitat, and information on the resilience and recovery of marine biota if this information is known. The information required of proponents is discussed in detail in Section 3 below. Drilling proposals likely to have a significant adverse