Underground Injection Wells Research Articles

Results of Introducing Innovative Thermal Mining Technologies at Yaregskoye Oilfield

Presented in this paper are results of the introduction of a modernized single-horizon system of development with heat-insulated pipes at the inclined block ÐiевеN€Ð½N‹Ð¹ (“North”) Oil Mine № 2 on the Substation Control «SC-2 bis» (ОПУ-2биN) and Substation Control «SC-3 bis» (ОПУ-3биN) pilot plots of Yaregskoye Oilfield. In plots SC-2 bis and SC-3 bis, thermometry is systematically carried on the control wells to determine the temperature distribution in the reservoir, as well as the rational distribution of steam injection in the developed plot. A method for determining the effectiveness of injection wells on pilot plots was developed by staff at Ukhta State Technical University. In line with the method, studies which helped to determine the acceleration of underground injection wells necessary for calculating the volume of steam injection at each pilot plot were carried out. Also, regular sampling of water extracted from wells for determining the presence of chlorides is carried out. Based on the analysis of these samples, wells in which have inflows of reservoir water from the aquifer are detected and develop measures to isolate them are then developed.

Obfuscation Does Not Provide Comfort

Obfuscation Does Not Provide Comfort

Clean, Blend, And Reuse

A $35-million project to remediate several plumes of contaminated groundwater used air sparging and soil vapor extraction, underground injection wells, and a new reverse-osmosis water treatment facility to keep the area off the Superfund site list and provide potable water to residents of Hutchinson, Kansas.

Environmental Health

Variance in personal susceptibility to environmental hazards may be attributable to age, gender, previous or concomitant exposure, economic status, race, or genetic endowment. Water pollution sources can be either point sources (a well-defined source, e.g., factory waste water discharge) or non-point sources (more diffuse sources including agricultural, industrial, and urban runoff, domestic lawn care, and air pollution). Pollutants can migrate from disposal sites, underground injection wells, or underground storage systems and contaminate ground and surface drinking water sources. The annual cost of human exposure to outdoor air pollutants from all sources is estimated to be between $40 to $50 billion. The death toll from exposure to particulate air pollution generated by motor vehicles, burning coal, fuel oil, and wood is estimated to be responsible for as many as 100,000 fatalities annually in the United States. Through the identification of individuals and groups at greater risk, occupational and environmental health nurses can use primary and secondary prevention activities to protect susceptible individuals and communities from adverse exposures and environmentally related disease.

RCRA and UIC obligations attendant to closing a facility

AbstractThe current competitive global business environment, coupled with the considerations brought about by the existing regulatory regime, might yield the conclusion that a particular facility is too expensive to operate, and that placing it in cold standby or shuttering it altogether is the more cost‐effective course. Even in this analysis, cost is an important consideration, particularly the cost of complying with the myriad environmental obligations that will govern a facility's placement in cold standby or closure, because numerous environmental requirements attach to closing a plant. Two of the most important sources of those requirements for facilities that manage hazardous waste and injection‐well facilities are the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Plants must hold a RCRA permit to operate hazardous waste storage units, hazardous waste landfills, and hazardous waste container storage areas, which must also be closed in accord with that statute, especially the unit‐specific requirements for landfills and surface impoundments. The SDWA governs plants with underground injection wells, which must have an Underground Injection Control permit to operate. This permit governs closure and postclosure activities for the underground injection wells. Finally, other agreements, such as Consent Decrees, may attach closure, postclosure, and interim obligations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Comparison of CBL, RBT, and PET Logs in a Test Well With Induced Channels

Summary The introduction of new ultrasonic and ratio logging techniques has dramatically transformed cement evaluation. Previous methods [cement bond logs (CBL's)] that used a low-frequency (appx. 20 × 103-cycle/sec [appx. 20-kHz]) acoustic signal and a single-transmitter/dual-receiver combination suffered from inherent measurement problems. To eliminate several of the CBL problems a new dual-transmitter/multireceiver acoustic measurement tool, the ratio bond tool (RBT), has been introduced. The RBT measures attenuation directly through ratiometric techniques, is self-calibrating, and is much less sensitive to tool centralization. For cement evaluation across "fast formation" intervals, a 1-ft [0.33-m] spaced transmitter/receiver signal amplitude is measured. While techniques such as those implemented with the RBT tool improve on the CBL response, there are still inherent problems that could not be eliminated, such as sensitivity to microannuli and low sensitivity to local channels. An improved tool, the pulse echo tool (PET), uses ultrasonic frequency (appx. 500 X 103 cycles/sec [appx. 500 kHz]) to measure cement/casing bond and casing ID and wall thickness. The use of a double helix array of eight transducers, each independently measuring casing bond, ID, and wall thickness, allows detection of local channels in the cement and a detailed analysis of casing conditions. The radial measurement principle reduces the effect of formation signal and allows the attenuation of the resonant wave even in the presence of a small microannulus. A "logging well" has been constructed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate downhole tool response to cement channels. This test well was constructed with numerous sizes and weights of casings and has specially constructed flaws on the casing circumference to produce channels of variable lengths and widths. A detailed analysis of the ability of the CBL, RBT, and PET logs to detect these channels is presented. Introduction Cement evaluation logging tools are designed specifically to evaluate casing annular conditions and are constructed to make measurements that can be related to cement quantity, compressive strength, and bonding to pipe and formation, with the determination of cement isolation being the major objective of the log response. For oil and gas production purposes, fluid or gas migration in the annulus is economically undesirable, but in underground injection wells, it is imperative that there is no significant fluid movement into an underground source of drinking water through vertical channels adjacent to the wellbore. EPA underground injection control regulations require all Class II injection wells to demonstrate mechanical integrity before operations begin and at least once every 5 years thereafter. In July 1981, a research project was founded by the EPA to establish guidelines for mechanical integrity verification. As part of this project, a special logging well was constructed to determine present industry capability to evaluate cement bond between the cement/casing and cement/formation in injection wells. Service companies were invited to run their cement evaluation logging tools and to provide a complete interpretation of the condition of the cement before leaving the job site. The logging tools used in the initial test were of two basic generations: the first was the CBL with a low-frequency acoustic signal and a single-transmitter/dual-receiver combination, and the second was an ultrasonic tool with eight transducers in a helical array. On the basis of the test results, logging procedures for determining mechanical integrity in injection wells were established. Since the EPA test, new ratiometric logging techniques have been introduced that eliminate many of the inherent CBL problems. Calibrated CBL, RBT, and PET logs have been run on the logging well, and a detailed analysis of the three log responses to channels is presented. The results of this analysis should contribute to a better understanding of the ability of currently available technology to evaluate the cement integrity of the cased wellbore properly.

Operation and Maintenance of Underground Injection Wells

AbstractThe DuPont Victoria Texas plant has gained 195 well‐years of experience in operating and maintaining underground injection wells since 1953. This experience demonstrates that it is very important to locate wells where proper geology exists for ground water protection. The well construction features and materials are equally important. Well operation at this plant features a leak detection system that continuously monitors the mechanical integrity of the wells. The evaluation of these monitoring data provides early detection of problems before the environment can be harmed. Investigation and diagnostic techniques are then used to determine the nature and exact location of problems, whether they exist at the surface or downhole in the injection tubing, packer or casing. Once the problem is defined, remedial action is instituted. Finally the success of the repair is confirmed through additional testing.Only a limited number of repairs have been required over the past 33 years and all have been carried out without endangering the environment.