Research and development of oily drilling cuttings treatment technologies

Key words:  oil based drilling fluid  oily drilling cuttings  harmless treatment  resource utilization  treatment technology

Abstract:

The use of oil-based drilling fluids will produce a large amount of oily drilling cuttings in the drilling process. Improper treatments of those cuttings can cause ecological environment problems. Many countries in the world have formulated strict standards for the discharge of oily drilling cuttings, which require that oily drilling cuttings must be treated after reaching the discharging standards. In this paper, the relevant regulations and standards for oily drilling cuttings treatments were introduced, and the main research results and application status of the oily drilling cuttings treatment technology were summarized along with its technical principles. The advantages and disadvantages of different types of the treatment technologies for oily drilling were discussed and clarified, and the research and development of new technologies were prospected. It is concluded that the future oily drilling cuttings treatment technology should develop towards new materials, new equipment, and new technologies to achieve hamless and resourceful treatment of oily drilling cuttings.