Drilling A Horizontal Coalbed Methane Drainage System From .
RII 8640 IBureau of Mines Report of lnvestigations/l982Drilling a Horizontal Coalbed MethaneDrainage System From a DirectionalSurface BoreholeBy David C. Oyler and William P. DiamondUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Report of Investigations 8640Drilling a Horizontal Coalbed MethaneDrainage System From a DirectionalSurface BoreholeBy David C. Oyler and William P. DiamondUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORJames G. Watt, SecretaryBUREAU OF MINESRobert C. Horton, Director
This publication has been cataloged as follows :Oyler, D. C. ( D a v i d C.)Drilling a horizontal coalbed methane drainage s y s t e m from adirectional surface borehole.( R c p o r t of i n v c s t i g a t i o n s/ B u r c a u of M i n c s; 8640)Includcs bibliographical rcfcrcnccs.Supt. of l)ocs. no.: I 28.23:8(,40.1. Minc g a s c s . 2. Mcthanc. 3. C o a l rnincs and mining-Safcty mcas u r c s . 4. Boring. I. Diamond, W. P. (William P.). 11. T i t l c . 111. S c r i c s :R c p o r t o f i n v c s t i g a t i o n s ( U n i t c d S t a t c s . B u r c a u of M i n e s ) ; 8(,(,0.
CONTENTSPage.AbstractBackground and introductionAcknowledgmentsDrilling programGeneral drilling planSite selection and preparationDrilling rigPilot hole drillingDirectional drilling equipment and control techniquesDrilling rates and bit performanceDrilling sunmaryReamingLost circulationFishing operationsReaming with a stinger assemblyDrilling summaryCasing and cementingHorizontal drillingHorizontal hole H1Horizontal hole H2Horizontal hole H3Horizontal holes H4 and H5Reaming horizontal sumpCompletion work and initial production ratesProject costsDetailed cost analysisProject cost summaryEstimated costs for a production directional holeConclusions and recommendationsHorizontal drillingReamingBitsAppendix A*--EM-19. detailed time breakdown of drilling operationsAppendix B.-- Project chronology.ee.e.e.ee.e.ee.e.e.e.ILLUSTRATIONS.Map of project siteSection view of EM-19 well pathDrilling site before preparationDrilling location after site preparationPlan view of EM-19 drilling siteDrilling rigDyna-Drill tool and drilling assemblyStrata-Pax bitDiamond bitMixing Dextrid-Polymer mud for pilot hole drillingReaming bitsFlat-faced Strata-Pax reamer and stingerTelevision cameraDebris fished from EM-19Bit-crown fishing spear
ILLUSTRATIONS.ContinuedPage.Reaming stinger and diamond reaming hitPlan and section views of geometry of EM-19 near the bottom of casingPlan view of horizontal holes and bottom hole locations of monitor holesTwo methods of following the coalbedCasing underreamerEM-19 surface installationDewatering hole EM-20Production data from EM-19 and EM-20Crew running the submersible pump into EM-19Shale and coal blown out of EM-19. . . . . . . e e e e e . . e e e e e e e e e . e e e e e e e e e e . e e e e e . e e e e . e e e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . e . . e e e e e e e . e e e e e e e e e e . e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e eTABLES.Penetration versus drilling parameters (pilot hole)Selected penetration rates versus formation typesBit costs-- pilot and horizontal hole . . . Bit costs--reamingHorizontal distances drilledDirectional hole (EM-19) drilling cost . . . . . Costs for EM-19 drilling operationsProject cost totalsProduction hole time estimateProduction hole cost estimate. . . . . e e e . . e e e e . . . e . e . . e . e e e . e e e e e . . e . . e e e e e e . . . . e e e e e e . e e. . . . . . . . . . . . e . . e e e e e e e . e . e e e e e . e e e e e . e e e e . e e . e .
D R I L L I N G A H O R I Z O N T A L C O A L B E D M E T H A N E DRAINAGE SYSTEMFROM A D I R E C T I O N A L SURFACE BOREHOLEbyDavidC. Oyler 1andWilliamP.Diamond 2ABSTRACTThree l o n g h o r i z o n t a l h o l e s wered r i l l e d from a d i r e c t i o n a l l y d r i l l e d s u r Mine n e a rf a c e h o l e a t t h e EmeraldW a y n e s b u r g , Pa.The p u r p o s e was t o a d a p tt h e technique of d i r e c t i o n a l d r i l l i n g f o ru s e i n d r a i n i n g methane from c o a l b e d s .A504-m ( 1 , 6 5 2 - f t ) l o n g , 76-mn ( 3 - i n ) diameter,circular arcpiloth o l e wasd r i l l e d , u s i n g a d o w n h o l e mud m o t o r , t oe n t e r t h e Pittsburgh coalbed a t a v e r t i The h o l ec a l d e p t h of 305 m ( 1 , 0 0 0 f t ) .was r e a m e d t o 222 nm ( 8 - 3 / 4 i n ) a n d wascasedt o a m e a s u r e d d e p t h o f 486 rn(1,595 f t ) .T h r e e 76-nn ( 3 - i n ) d i a m e t e rhorizontal drainageholeswere t h e ndrilled,totaling2,909 n (9,544 f t )of horizontal hole.Improvements i nd r i l l i n g nethods increased the averaged r i l l i n g r a t e from20.4 n ( 6 7 f t ) t oThe c o s t o f64.9 m (213 f t ) p e r day.d r i l l i n g t h e d i r e c t i o n a l and h o r i z o n t a lh o l e s ( u s i n g a Governnent-owneddrillr i g ) was 1 , 1 6 9 , 5 3 0 , a f i g u r e i n f l a t e d byi n e x p e r i e n c e a n d by d e l a y s c a u s e d b yl o s t - c i r c u l a t i o n problemsand f i s h i n goperations.An e s t i m a t e d t o t a l d r i l l i n gc o s t of 960,000 ( i n c l u d i n g r e n t a l of adrill rig)f o r a n i m p r o v e d s y s t e m , wasdetermined by a d e t a i l e d c o s t a n a l y s i s .I n i t i a l g a s and water productionf r o m November 1979 t h r o u g h May 1 9 8 0 waslow b e c a u s e of c a v i n g o fthe horizontalh o l e s d r i l l e d i n s h a l e near t h e bottom ofthe casing.BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTIONA project t o directionally d r i l l ac o a l b e d methane d r a i n a g e s y s t e n f r o n t h es u r f a c e was i n i t i a t e d b y t h e B u r e a u o fMines i n 1976. D r i l l i n g a c t i v i t i e s begani n S e p t e m b e r 1 9 7 8 a t t h e E m e r a l d Mine i nG r e e n e C o u n t y , Pa. ( f i g . 1 ) .I n October1 9 7 7 , t h e c o n t r a c t was t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h eU.S.Department ofEnergy, w i t h t h eBureau of Minescontinuing technicalmanagement o fthe project.Included i nI e c h a n i c a le n g i n e e r .2 u D e rivs o r y g e o l o g i s t .A l l a u t h o r s are w i t h t h e P i t t s b u r g h R e s e a r c h C e n t e r , Bureau o f Mines, P i t t s b u r g h , Pa.t h e n e t h a n e d r a i n a g e s y s t e n was a d i r e c t i o n a l l y d r i l l e d a c c e s s h o l e from t h esurface intercepting the Pittsburgh coalbed,t h r e e l o n g h o r i z o n t a l inethane c o l l e c t i o n holes d r i l l e d i n t h e c o a l , a vert i c a l h o l e f o r r e m o v i n g w a t e r from t h ec o a l b e d , a n d s e v e n v e r t i c a l h o l e s t o noni t o r t h e e f f e c t s of t h e s y s t e n w i t h time.The g o a l s o f t h e p r o j e c t a r e t o demons t r a t e t h a t t h e t e c h n i q u e of d i r e c t i o n a ld r i l l i n g can be used t o d r a i n nethanef r o n c o a l b e d s i n advance of mining, t odetermine t h e distance horizontal holescan be d r i l l e d ,to obtaininformationt o improve t h e t e c h n i q u e ,and t o i n v e s t i g a t e c o a l b e d r e s e r v o i r mechanics.
MD /,398m(4,588ft)KEY MAP--H5 MD 7 0 2 m (2,302ft)HD2/5m (707ft)Dewater nghole, EM-20,Bottom of casrng,MD 486m (1,595ft)-EM-21.and f tHor zontald r l pathlVert calmonltorlng holeFIGURE 1.0400o1208001,200ft240260 rnScale- Map of proiect site.The path of EM-19 and the locations of dewatering hole EM-20,monitor holes EM-21 through EM-27, and nearby mine workings are shown.P r e v i o u s p u b l i c a t i o n s 3 have o u t l i n e d i nd e t a i l t h e s c o p e and g o a l s of t h i s ando t h e r Bureau of Mines d i r e c t i o n a l d r i l l ing research.The p u r p o s e of t h i s r e p o r ti s t o d e s c r i b e t h e a c t u a l performance o ft h e work a t t h e Emerald Mine and t o makerecommendationsforimprovementsind r i l l i n g methods f o r f u t u r e systems oft h i s type.3 i a m o n d , W. P . , a n d D. C. O y l e r .D i r e c t i o n a l D r i l l i n q f o r Coalbed D e g a s i f i c a t i o nS y m . onMethane R e c o v e r v From C o a l b e d s ,i n Advance o f Mining. p r o c . 2d Ann.P i t t s b u r g h , P a . , Apr. 18-20, 1979, DD. 162-176.D r i l l i n g Long H o r i z o n t a l C o a l h e d Methane n r a i n a q e H o l e s From a D i r e c t i o n a lSurface Rorehole.e r o c . 1 s t Ann. SPE/DOESvrnp. on T J n c o n v e n t i o n a l Gas R e c o v e r y ,P i t t s b u r g h , P a . , Yay 18-21, 1980, pp. 325-378.D i r e c t i o n a l l y C o n t r o l l e d D r i l l i n q ToDiamond, W. P., D. C. O y l e r , a n d H. H. F i e l d s .H o r i z o n t a l l y I n t e r c e p t S e l e c t e d S t r a t a , Upper F r e e p o r t Coalbed,Greene County,Pa.SuMines RI 8231, 1977, 21 pp.Oyler,D. C., Y. P. Diamond, a n d P. W. J e r a n .D i r e c t i o n a l D r i l l i n q f o r CoalbedD e q a s i f i c a t i o n : Proqram G o a l s a n d P r o q r e s s i n 1979. BuMines R I 8 3 8 0 , 1979, 15 pp.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSMuch of t h e c r e d i t f o r t h e t e c h n i c a ls u c c e s s a t t a i n e d i n t h e Emerald d i r e c t i o n a l d r i l l i n g p r o j e c t belongs t o t h ed r i l l i n g c o n t r a c t o r , t h e d r i l l i n g crews,and t h e s u b c o n t r a c t o r s .Special recognig i v e n t o Mr. Harold F. S c o t t ,t i o n isJohn Gardner ,g e n e r a l manager, and M r .g e n e r a l s u p e r i n t e n d e n t , of t h e formerHarold F. S c o t t , C o n t r a c t o r , B r i d g e v i l l e ,VerneNesvacil, d i r e c t i o n a lPa. ; M r .drillingengineer,Eastnan-Whipstock,I n c . , T r a v e r s e C i t y , Mich.; and M r . JohnWorkman, mining and i n d u s t r i a l manager,Dyna-Drill Co., I r v i n e , C a l i f .The cont i n u e d a s s i s t a n c e o f t h e Emerald Minesis also grateCorp.,Waynesburg, Pa.,f u l l y appreciated.DRILLING PROGRAMGeneral D r i l l i n e PlanThe g e n e r a l p l a n f o r d r i l l i n g t h ed i r e c t i o n a l h o l e was t o d r i l l a 76-mm(3-in) diameter p i l o t hole i n a c i r c u l a ra r c from t h e s u r f a c e t o i n t e r c e p t t h eP i t t s b u r g h coalbed h o r i z o n t a l l y ( f i g . 2).The h o l e was t o b e overreamed ( o v e r t h eBQ w i r e l i n e r o d u s e d t o d r i l l t h e p i l o tand t h e n ah o l e ) t o 222 mm (8-314-in)140-m (5-112-in) d i a m e t e r c a s i n g was t ob e cemented i n p l a c e .Three 76-nm ( 3 - i n )diameterhorizontalmethane d r a i n a g eh o l e s ( f i g . 1 ) were t h e n t o be d r i l l e d ,e a c h up t o 915 m ( 3 , 0 0 0 f t ) i n l e n g t hAf a n n i n g o u t from t h e bottom o f c a s i n g .v e r t i c a l h o l e was t o b e d r i l l e d n e a r t h ec o a l b e d i n t e r c e p t p o i n t and equipped w i t ha downhole p l u n g e r pump f o r d e w a t e r i n g .The v e r t i c a l h o l e would be h y d r a u l i c a l l ys t i m u l a t e d t o c r e a t e a h i g h e r permeabili t y p a t h f o r w a t e r t o f l o w from t h e h o r i z o n t a l hole i n t o t h e v e r t i c a l hole.Inaddition,sevenverticalh o l e s wereplanned f o r m o n i t o r i n g t h e p r o g r e s s o fmethane d r a i n a g e by o b s e r v i n g t h e c h a n g e si n t h e h e i g h t of a s t a t i c w a t e r columnover t h e coalbed i n each hole.HORIZONTDL DISTDNCE, f I0S i t e S e l e c t i o n and P r e p a r a t i o n-I c 5m-mnrrtmYJ rrrroqrmC m a T L r hk Y5 shah llmlm-"-600-500-53350II1300250230lylI100ZW1504000H m A mViwE.LrnFIGURE 2.-Section view of EM-19 well path.Geologic column at left is from acorehole near well EM-20. The p r i m a r y r e q u i r e m e n t o f a d i r e c t i o n a l d r i l l i n g s i t e is for sufficientdepth of cover over t h e t a r g e t coalbed t on a k e t h e r e q u i r e d 1.57-rad (90')turnt o e n t e r t h e coalbed h o r i z o n t a l l y .Att h e r a t e of a n g l e b u i l d d e s i r e d f o rthe directionalhole,0.34 rad/100m(6'1 100 f t ) , t h e r e q u i r e d d i s t a n c e was(950 f t ) .Thedrillingsite290 mselected was at the top of the highestridge i n the area t o obtain the requiredd e p t h o f cover.The l o c a l s t r u c t u r e oft h e c o a l b e d w a s a l s o downdip i n t h ed i r e c t i o n of d r i l l i n g which added a n o t h e r6 m (20 f t ) t o the e f f e c t i v e v e r t i c a ldistance.The a c t u a l v e r t i c a l d i s t a n c et o t h e c o a l b e d , d e t e r m i n e d when w e l l EM20 ( f i g . 1 ) w a s d r i l l e d , was a p p r o x i m a t e l y 305 m (1,000 f t ) .T h i s made i tp o s s i b l e t o start d r i l l i n g with the r i g ' sm a s t v e r t i c a l ( a d e f i n i t e a d v a n t a g e duri n g d r i l l i n g and f o r s e r v i c i n g t h e w e l l )and l e f t a n a d d i t i o n a l 15 m ( 5 0 f t ) t o b e
d r i l l e d v e r t i c a l l y before beginning t od e v i a t e t h e hole.P a r t of t h i s d i s t a n c ewas used t o s e t c o n d u c t o r p i p e i n t h ehole.Two a d d i t i o n a l r e q u i r e m e n t s of t h es i t e were a l o c a t i o n t h a t would a l l o w av e r t i c a l h o l e t o be l o c a t e d a t t h e c o a l bed i n t e r c e p t p o i n t , and a s i t e s i t u a t e ds u c h t h a t t h e h o r i z o n t a l h o l e s would bef a r ahead of mining, b u t i f p o s s i b l es t i l l l o c a t e d where t h e h o l e would have am e a s u r a b l e e f f e c t on methane e m i s s i o n s i nt h e mine.These r e q u i r e m e n t s g r e a t l yr e s t r i c t e d t h e number of a v a i l a b l e s i t e sand t h e allowable d r i l l i n g d i r e c t i o n s f o rt h e s i t e c h o s e n , b u t t h e s i t e met a l lt h r e e requirements.The EM-19 s i t e wasl o c a t e d s o t h a t when on p r o d u c t i o n i twoulds h i e l d t h e Emeraldmine frommigrating gas ( f i g . l ) , but the horiz o n t a l h o l e s w e r e n o t w i t h i n t h e a r e a off u t u r e mine development.T h i s meant t h a tt h e methane d r a i n a g e l i f e of EM-19 c o u l db e as much a s 10 t o 40 y e a r s .FIGURE 3.- Drilling site before preparation.The s u r f a c e l o c a t i o n r e q u i r e m e n t swere f o r good a c c e s s r o a d s , s e c u r i t y fromv a n d a l i s m , n e a r b y e l e c t r i c a l power, s u f f i c i e n t s i t e a r e a f o r a l l equipment, an e a r b y s o u r c e of w a t e r , and a n e a r b yp i p e l i n e f o r g a s s a l e s once p r o d u c t i o nbegan.S i n c e t h e s i t e chosen was on minep r o p e r t y and was l o c a t e d n e a r a n e x i s t i n groad,s e c u r i t y , s i t e a c c e s s , and a c c e s st o power were e a s i l y a r r a n g e d .Water f o rmixing d r i l l i n g f l u i d s (mud) had t o behauledfromhydrantsabout300 m( 1 , 0 0 0 f t ) away, b u t o r i g i n a l l y t h i s wasn o t c o n s i d e r e d a s e r i o u s problem.Thel a c k of a c o n v e n i e n t w a t e r s u p p l y was t obe e x p e c t e d on a h i l l t o p s i t e .Fort u n a t e l y a g a s l i n e passed w i t h i n 60 m(200 f t ) of t h e s i t e , s i m p l i f y i n g t h e g a spiping requirements.The Emerald MinesCorp. a l s o c l e a r e d a s i t e l a r g e enoughf o r a l l d r i l l i n g and c o m p l e t i o n a c t i v i t i e s ( f i g s . 3-4).ofThesitepreparationconsistedclearing thet r e e s from a n a r e aPhotograph taken March1978, v i e w is east.
FIGURE 4.-D r i l l i n g location after s i t e preparation. Mud p i t s i n foreground.August 1978, view i s northwest.a p p r o x i m a t e l y 120 m(400 f t ) by 45 n(150 f t ) .A d i v i d e d mud p i t 26 m ( 8 5 i t )l o n g , 6 m wide ( 2 0 f t ) , and 2 m ( 6 f t )d e e p was t h e n dug.The s i t e was t h e nc o v e r e d by a b o u t 30 cm ( 1 f t ) o f c r u s h e ds t o n e which was r o l l e d and compacted.F i g u r e 4 shows t h e s i t e i n August 1978s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e p r e p a r a t i o n work wascompleted.A p l a n view of t h e s i t e ,a f t e r t h e d r i l l i n g equipment was s e t upi n November 1978, i s shown i n f i g u r e 5.Photograph takenA n a j o r d i f f i c u l t y w i t h t h e EM-19d r i l l i n g s i t e , which w i l l b e d i s c u s s e d i nn o r e d e t a i l i n t h e " P i l o t Hole D r i l l i n g "and "Reaming" s e c t i o n s , was t h e r i d g e t o pl o c a t i o n which p u t t h e s i t e above t h el o c a l water table.S e v e r a l f r a c t u r e d andsolutionchanneledl i m e s t o n e s becamesevere l o s t c i r c u l a t i o n zones t h a t c r e a t ed n a j o r d i f f i c u l t i e s i n d r i l l i n g u n t i lt h e h o l e was f i n a l l y c a s e d .
-0n\0\\Trace of directional hole0\NLEGENDEdge of cleared sitePower polesLiqht poles5 10 15 20 m2550Scale75 ft\STORAGEAREARoad (red dog or dirt)FIGURE 5.-Plan v i e w of EM-19 drilling site.-D--r-i-l l i n g RigThe d r i l l i n g r i g used t o d r i l l t h ed i r e c t i o n a l h o l e was a Reed Too
DRILLING A HORIZONTAL COALBED METHANE DRAINAGE SYSTEM FROM A DIRECTIONAL SURFACE BOREHOLE by David C. Oyler 1 and William P. Diamond 2 ABSTRACT Three long horizontal holes were drilled from a directionally drilled sur- face hole at the Emerald Mine near Waynesburg, Pa. .
DRILLING PROGRAM Directional Hole The general drilling plan was to drill a 3-inch-diameter pilot hole on a circular arc starting vertical at the surface and intercepting the Pittsburgh coalbed horizontally at a vertical depth of 999 feet (EM-19, fig. 1). The hole will be reamed to a diameter of 8-314 inches after the coalbed has been
interval. Open hole completion provides the maximum exposure of the coalbed to production of gas with minimal chance of formation plugging by invasion of well cement. When drilling to the top of the coalbed was completed, the holes were logged with geophysical logging equipment (fig. 5). Gamma ray, neutron, density, and caliper logs are used to .
The Pottsville Formation of the Coosa coalfield has been divided into three magnafacies by Pashin [4]. In the Coosa coalfield there are approximately 20 informal coal beds or zones (fig. 2). Coal resources are concentrated in the mudstone measures, which are the primary focus for coalbed methane development and assessment of sequestration .
Alberta Research Council Coalbed Methane - CO 2 Project zFlue Gas Composition versus Reservoir Response Four Micro-pilot tests: Fenn-Big Valley Site 100% N2 53% N2, 47% CO2 87% N2, 13% CO2 100% CO2 zFlue Gas Composition versus Cost: Surface Facility Model
Fundamentals of drilling operations; the drilling rig equipment and their functions; drilling terminologies; drilling processes; planning of drilling operations; logistics, role and responsibilities of service companies including drilling contractor; the functions of drilling fluid, casing, cementing and components of a drill string; the different
Question #: 4 Determine the number of molecules of methane (CH 4) in 5.00 moles of methane gas. . A. 80.2 molecules of methane B. 4.82 x 1025 molecules of methane C. 3.01 x 1024 molecules of methane D. 8.30 x 10-24 molecules of methane Question #: 5
Casing drilling, otherwise known as drilling with casing (DwC) or casing while drilling (CwD) is an alternative drilling technique to the conventional drilling method. Casing drilling involves the simultaneous drilling and casing of well with a (active-standard) casing string. It is mandatory to note that casing is the same grade and weight as in
Thomas Talarico, Nicole Inan . Pennsylvania Policy Forum, from Solicitor, Richard Perhacs, in which he stated "Empower Erie" and the "Western Pennsylvania Policy Forum" are private entities separate and distinct from the County of Erie." Mr. Davis's question to Council regarding this is that, if Empower Erie is separate from the County, why did Tim McNair current Chair of Empower Erie send a .
