Drill cuttings are rock fragments created during deep water drilling to access oil and gas fields. They are separated from drilling fluids and can be reused for street spreading or building materials. However, disposal of cuttings can harm marine life and contain toxins. Rules exist to regulate disposal.
Drill cuttings are rock fragments resulting from drilling in deep water. Cuttings are created when the teeth of a drill bit cut through the sea floor to make a hole. These wells are used to access the underlying oil and gas fields.
Most cuttings taken from a well are sand and shale. The total composition of the drill bits depends on the location of the drill and the type of sediment and rock encountered. Other cutting materials include barite, caustic soda KOH, potassium sulfate, sodium bicarbonate, and glycol.
Exploration drills use drilling fluids made of water-based muds to drill into the ground. These drilling fluids can be used for both land and sea drilling. Simple wells and can also be used to make wells. Drilling fluids are used to help keep the drill bit fresh and clean, while also helping to prevent formation fluids from entering the borehole.
The process of crushing rock and sediment to make the borehole inserts the drill bits into the drilling fluid. The cuttings are separated from the drilling fluid by shale agitators. Removing solids such as drill bits reduces drilling costs. Once freed from the cuttings, the drilling fluids flow back into the drilling fluid system.
After the drill cuttings have been separated, the contractor must decide whether to dispose of the cuttings or use them. If the cuttings can be used for other purposes, the business may be able to generate income from them. The cuttings that have to be disposed of will be a pure cost for the company. Many states and countries have rules outlining which cuttings can be reused and which must be discarded. Those that are disposed of are usually placed in pre-dug pits adjacent to the drilling area.
Beneficial uses of bore cuttings include street spreading. Oil-coated cuttings can be used on dirt roads similar to tar pavement. Treated cuttings of the right composition can be used as building materials for making bricks, concrete, landfill covers, and asphalt.
There are also concerns about the environmental impact of drilling cuts. The primary concern is the impact on local marine life of the dumping of unwanted cuttings. Currently, around 2.5 million tonnes of cuttings have been placed in the North Sea between Great Britain and Norway. In addition to suffocating life on the seabed, the cuttings contain toxins deriving from the hydrocarbons they contain. Environmental groups and consultants have urged companies and nations to minimize dumping of drill bits.
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