Fracture development during disposal of hazardous drilling cuttings by deep underground injection: A review

Abstract

Drilling fluids with complicated compositions are becoming more common as the oil and gas industry develops. The production of hazardous cuttings is increasing, which not only stifles the oil and gas industry's development but also poses a severe environmental threat. Deep underground re-injection is a cost-effective and efficient method for dealing with hazardous cuttings. Numerous experiments and numerical studies on cuttings re-injection have been conducted in the past thirty years. However, there is still a divergence of views on the fracture development in the process of cuttings re-injection. A comprehensive review of existing studies is necessary to help researchers advance this technology. This paper provides a review of the fundamental studies on fracture behaviors during the deep underground re-injection of drilling cuttings. The limitations of the existing studies are also discussed to inspire new research endeavors.