Gleb Ryzhov, Eco TecOil project manager
Drilling waste receiving, processing and management works were completed at the drilling site in the Poltava region. All waste is processed into recyclables to be used for their intended purpose.
Drilling waste receiving, processing and management services were provided by EcoTech-Oil using drilling waste dewatering Filter Pool technology. While drilling, the well generated 6,665 m3 of drilling waste (drilling mud, spent drilling mud, cementing waste, wash waters).
As a result of drilling waste processing, is was received:
3,865 m3 of filtered water to be used to prepare drilling mud at the customer's facilities or transferred for further disposal to a specialized enterprise. In the future it is planned to use water at industrial enterprises for commercial purposes in order to use 100% of waste as recyclables;
2,800 m3 of safe dry residue to be used as soil for backfilling and planning of the domestic waste landfill, which solves another environmental problem in the region. It should be noted that according to the results of a large number of analyzes and studies, the dry residue formed as a result of using the Filter Basin technology received technical conditions (TU U 08.9-40371287-002:2018 "Mixture of minerals for arranging ECOTEC-GEO+ territories" ) and a positive conclusion issued by the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. According to the conclusions of the scientific institution of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the dry residue obtained is recommended to be used for backfilling and layering of domestic solid waste and solid industrial waste landfills, planning of territories while constructing roads and industrial facilities, recultivating quarries, mines and other anthropogenic facilities, arranging bypass and barrier dams, shafts, embankments, etc.
Drilling waste processing was carried out using a flocculation station, flocculants and coagulants that are certified in Ukraine, have all the necessary permits and examinations, environmently-friendly and do not adversely affect the final composition of filtered water and dry residue.
According to the results of using Filter Basin drilling waste management technology, the following positive points can be identified:
- Accumulation of the main volume of waste occurs directly at the drilling site, which removes the need for constant loading of semi-liquid waste, the movement of trucks along the drilling site and local roads, thus facilitating the work and reducing social tension;
- The Filter Pool drilling waste management unit ensures the reception of the entire design volume of waste, as it is designed and manufactured separately for each drilling rig. In case of unforeseen circumstances and increase in the volume of generated waste, the problem can be solved by installing the additional unit of the required size;
- Depending on the available space on the drilling site, both one unit can be installed to manage the entire volume of waste or several smaller units;
- All waste generated during well drilling is processed into recyclables, which fully corresponds to the waste management hierarchy;
- The Filter Basin unit ensures uninterrupted receiving of all waste generated during drilling, including during volley discharges of drilling mud, cementing waste, during replacement of spent drilling mud, which significantly reduces the risk of terminating drilling due to possible load problems and removal of drilling waste from the drilling site;
- As the dehydrated residue is in the Filter Basin until the end of drilling, it is possible to get an analysis of the total volume of accumulated waste by the envelope method (5 samples). A complete package of documents is to be approved for further use of dry residue, removing possible problems due to improper waste disposal .
