Drilling and Constructing Monitoring Wells with Hollow-Stem Augers Part 1: Drilling Considerations

Hollow-stem augers are a widely used drilling method for constructing monitoring wells in unconsolidated materials. The drilling procedures used when constructing monitoring wells with hollow-stem augers, however, are neither standardized nor thoroughly documented in the published literature.
Variations in drilling procedures and techniques may occur as a result of the: (1) type of auger drill equipment and formation samplers used; (2) hydrogeologic conditions at the site, especially where heaving sands occur; and (3) known or suspected presence of contaminated zones, where there is a potential for the vertical movement of contaminants within the borehole.
In a saturated zone in which heaving sands occur, changes in equipment and drilling techniques are required to provide a positive pressure head of water within the auger column. This may require the addition of clean water or other drilling fluid inside the augers.
When monitoring the quality of ground water below a known contaminated zone, hollow-stem auger drilling may not be advisable unless protective surface casing can be installed. Depending on the site hydrogeology, conventional hollow-stem auger drilling techniques alone may not be adequate for the installation of the protective surface casing. A hybrid drilling method may be needed that combines conventional hollow-stem auger drilling with a casing driving technique that advances the borehole and surface casing simultaneously.     

Applications of Dual-Wall Reverse-Circulation Drilling in Ground Water Exploration and Monitoring

Dual-wall reverse-circulation drilling uses flush-threaded double-wall drill pipe and high-pressure air to provide continuous return of formation and water samples. Cuttings and formation waters are not contaminated with drilling additives or mixed with other borehole material. Up-hole velocity of about 70 ft/sec provides reliable logging of water, mineral or contaminant-bearing strata. Water samples representative of specific strata may be airlifted or bailed to the surface.
In the percussion hammer system, dual-wall drill pipe is advanced through chiefly unconsolidated material by the percussion action of an above-ground pile hammer. The borehole is drilled and temporarily cased in one pass. Wells or monitoring devices are installed as the drill pipe is hydraulically retracted during construction. A rotary head may be adapted as an option to allow dual-wall rotary drilling into consolidated or crystalline formations through a percussion hammer drill string temporarily left in place as a conductor.
The complex geology and variety of geoenvironmental problems in southern California has provided a testing ground for dual-wall drilling on hazardous material site investigations. Several case histories have demonstrated the capabilities and versatility of this method, including: (1) the installation of 4-inch and 6-inch diameter gasoline monitoring and recovery wells through gravels and cobbles at a filling station where hollow-stem auger drilling failed; (2) the confirmation of a dry borehole initially drilled by direct rotary at a landfill; and (3) multiple installations of monitoring devices through municipal refuse at a city of Los Angeles landfill.     

Installation of Observation Wells on Hazardous Waste Sites in Kansas Using a Hollow-Stem Auger

Noncontaminating procedures were used during the hollow-stem auger installation of 12 observation wells on three hazardous waste sites in Kansas. Special precautions were taken to ensure that water samples were representative of the ground water in the aquifer and were not subjected to contamination from the land surface or cross contamination from within borehole. Precautions included thorough cleaning of the hollow-stem auger and casing, keeping drill cuttings from falling back into the borehole while drilling, and not adding water to the borehole. These procedures were designed to prevent contamination of the ground water during well installation.
Because the use of water during well installation could contaminate the aquifer or dilute contaminants already present in the aquifer, two methods of well installation that did not introduce outside water to the borehole were used. The first method involved using a slotted 3/4-inch coupling that was attached to the bit plate of the hollow-stem auger, allowing formation water to enter the auger, thereby preventing sand-plug formation. This method proved to be adequate, except when drilling through clay layers, which tended to clog the slotted coupling. The second method involved screened well swab that allowed only formation water to enter the hollow-stem auger and prevented sand from plugging the hollow-stem auger when the bit plate was removed.     

钻井液侵入海洋含水合物地层的一维数值模拟研究

本文以墨西哥湾水合物区域为背景,利用数值模拟方法研究了过平衡钻井条件下,当钻井液温度高于地层中水合物稳定温度时,水基钻井液侵入海洋含水合物地层的动态过程及其一般性规律.与侵入常规油气地层相比,耦合水合物分解和再形成是钻井液侵入海洋含水合物地层的主要特征.模拟结果表明,钻井液密度、温度和盐度都对侵入过程有影响.在一定条件下,钻井液密度越大,温度和含盐量越高,则钻井液侵入程度越深,热量传递越远,水合物分解程度越大.分解的水气在合适条件下又会重新形成水合物,影响了钻井液进一步侵入.而重新形成的水合物的饱和度甚至可能高于原位水合物饱和度,在井周形成一个"高饱水合物"环带.这一现象归因于钻井液侵入的驱替推挤、水合物分解的吸热以及地层传热的滞后等因素共同作用.在地层物性一定的条件下,高饱水合物环带的出现与否主要受钻井液温度和盐度控制.水合物分解以及高饱水合物环带的出现对井壁稳定和电阻率测井解释有很大影响.因此,为维护井壁稳定、确保测井准确和减少水合物储层伤害,就必须对钻井液密度、温度和滤失量进行严格控制,防止地层中的水合物大量分解.最好采用控制压力钻井(MPD)和深侧向测井方式,同时尽量选用低矿化度的含水合物动力学抑制剂的钻井液体系,采取低温快速循环方式.     

基于压缩感知的随钻测井编码传输方法

随钻测井是一种能在钻头钻进过程中通过安装在钻头附近的传感器实时获取和传输测井数据的技术.实时可靠高效的传输测井数据是随钻测井研究领域的关键问题.目前随钻测井系统普遍使用的测井数据传输方式是钻井液压力脉冲遥测传输.钻井液信道是一种长时延极低速单向无反馈删除信道,因此利用传统的差错控制方法无法在保障测井数据传输实时性的同时纠正信道噪声引起的实时测井数据传输错误.为此本文提出了一种基于压缩感知理论的随钻测井数据信道编码传输方法,该方法具有短码长线性编译码复杂度的优点.地面接收端通过压缩感知重构算法恢复井下测井数据,在保障测井数据传输实时性的同时使得地面施工人员能在随机删除信道条件下正确的获得全部井下实时测井数据.钻井现场真实测井数据编码实验表明,本文所提方法在不影响测井数据传输实时性的前提下大大提高了测井数据的抗信道删除能力,降低了由于信道删除带来的测井数据丢包率,而且允许测井施工人员根据实际钻井液信道状态灵活调整发送码率,以实现不同删除概率信道下的测井数据可靠传输.     

A Method to Evaluate the Vertical Distribution of VOCs in Ground Water in a Single Borehole

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in multiple water-bearing zones beneath and downgradient of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This area is composed of interfingering unconsolidated alluvial sediments with hydraulic conductivities ranging over four orders of magnitude. The more permeable sediments exhibit moderate hydraulic interconnection horizontally and less interconnection vertically, and appear to consist largely of interconnected stream channel deposits. To optimize selection of monitoring well screened intervals in this complex environment, a technique that enables collection of saturated formation samples from each water-bearing zone without contamination from other VOC-containing zones was developed, tested, and implemented. The technique utilizes a wireline punch-coring system that allows the drill bit to be replaced with a core barrel without removing the drill rod from the borehole. To help ensure that a sample from one water-bearing zone is not contaminated by VOCs from another zone, the drilling fluid is replaced with new fluid before each sampling run. Overnight chemical analysis by gas chromatography enables field personnel to know the vertical distribution of VOCs as drilling proceeds. Since its first use in 1985, the technique has successfully characterized the presence or absence of VOCs in ground water in 123 of 140 wells, many with concentrations in ground water in the low parts-per-billion range. Our sampling technique is a cost-effective and rapid method of evaluating the vertical distribution of VOCs in ground water in a complex hydrogeologic environment.     

The Resonant Sonic Drilling Method: An Innovative Technology for Environmental Restoration Programs

The resonant sonic drilling method offers unique capabilities to the environmental restoration market. By using a drill head that imparts high-frequency, high-force vibrations into a steel drill pipe, continuous, relatively undisturbed cores can be taken through virtually any formation. The resonant sonic method requires no mud, air, water, or other circulating medium for penetration: drills very fast; easily drills at any angle through formations such as rock, clay, sand, boulders, permafrost, or glacial till; and yields no cuttings in the drilling process. Case histories of projects using the method demonstrate excellent results but also indicate several problem areas with the method in its present state. Expanding research efforts to further develop the resonant sonic drilling method should help solve current drawbacks, and could produce a drilling technology for environmental work that significantly changes the way monitoring wells are drilled and constructed.     

Application of a New Vertical Profiling Tool (ESASS) for Sampling Groundwater Quality During Hollow‐Stem Auger Drilling

A new tool called ESASS (Enhanced Screen Auger Sampling System) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The use of ESASS, because of its unique U.S. patent design (U.S. patent no. 7,631,705 B1), allows for the collection of representative, depth‐specific groundwater samples (vertical profiling) in a quick and efficient manner using a 0.305‐m long screen auger during hollow‐stem auger drilling. With ESASS, the water column in the flights above the screen auger is separated from the water in the screen auger by a specially designed removable plug and collar. The tool fits inside an auger of standard inner diameter (82.55 mm). The novel design of the system constituted by the plug, collar, and A‐rod allows the plug to be retrieved using conventional drilling A‐rods. After retrieval, standard‐diameter (50.8 mm) observation wells can be installed within the hollow‐stem augers. Testing of ESASS was conducted at one waste‐disposal site with tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination and at two reference sites with no known waste‐disposal history. All three sites have similar geology and are underlain by glacial, stratified‐drift deposits. For the applications tested, ESASS proved to be a useful tool in vertical profiling of groundwater quality. At the waste site, PCE concentrations measured with ESASS profiling at several depths were comparable (relative percent difference <25%) to PCE concentrations sampled from wells. Vertical profiling with ESASS at the reference sites illustrated the vertical resolution achievable in the profile system; shallow groundwater quality varied by a factor of five in concentration of some constituents (nitrate and nitrite) over short (0.61 m) distances.     

地层波速的电缆和随钻动电测井实验研究

基于孔隙介质动电效应的测量方法在油气勘探领域有着巨大的潜在应用价值.本文针对理论预测的随钻动电测井可削弱钻铤波对地层声波干扰的问题,设计了室内随钻动电测井实验装置和测量系统,并在小尺寸砂岩模型井中开展了随钻动电测井实验研究.为了突出随钻动电测井技术的特点,本文先在砂岩模型井中进行了电缆声波测井和电缆动电测井实验测量,获得了地层声波的传播速度.然后又在同一模型井中进行了随钻声波测井和随钻动电测井实验,记录了这两种情况下的测井全波波形,比较了电缆声波/动电测井和随钻声波/动电测井的差异性,并进一步分析了钻铤波和井中动电转换信号的传播特性.本文还通过随钻动电测井的时域波形提取到被测地层的纵横波速度,从实验角度验证了随钻动电测井技术测量地层波速的可行性.此外,本文实验结果对随钻动电测井的仪器设计及现场测量也有参考意义.     

随钻方位伽马测井仪器的优化设计

随钻方位伽马测井仪器能在钻井过程中有效测量地层的方位放射性强度,其测量效率与其结构参数有关.合理设计测井仪器的结构参数,可以大大提高其测量效率.利用蒙特卡罗数值模拟方法建立模型,从归一化统计误差和探测特性分析仪器的响应特征,为结构参数的选取提供理论依据.研究结果表明,6.75 in(1 in=2.54 cm)的钻铤外径下,当晶体直径为1 in左右,晶体长度为18~22 cm,屏蔽体长度为2~3 cm,屏蔽体厚度为2~3 cm,窗口材料为铍,屏蔽体开口角度选在0°附近,泥浆通道半径为2 cm左右时,仪器可以获得相对较低的统计误差和相对较好的探测特性.该研究表明,优化后的随钻方位伽马测井仪器的测量效率大大提高.     

南海北部神狐海域天然气水合物分解的测井异常

南海北部神狐海域GMGS-1钻探揭示SH3井天然气水合物位于稳定带上部,厚度约为10 m.氯离子异常计算的水合物饱和度最高达26%,高水合物饱和度层出现高电阻率和低纵波速度.为分析该低纵波速度异常,本文基于简化的三相介质理论计算了饱和水纵波速度,在深度195 m附近,测量的纵波速度小于饱和水纵波速度.利用阿尔奇公式,基于原位温度、盐度、密度孔隙度和测量的电阻率,利用交会分析确定了该井的阿尔奇常数为a=1.1和m=2.3.基于该参数,利用阿尔奇方程计算的水合物饱和度占孔隙空间5%~20%,局部地层水合物饱和度达26.8%,在垂向上分布不均匀.由于钻探可能导致水合物发生分解而产生游离气,原位游离气和水合物分解产生的气体都能造成低纵波速度异常.由于地震资料采集在测井之前完成,利用不同速度制作合成地震记录并与地震资料进行对比,能够确定水合物稳定带上部的低速异常形成原因.     

A Multilevel Ground Water Monitoring System for Casing Advance and Bedrock Drilling Methods

A single-hole multilevel sampling piezometer system (MLSPS) has been designed by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) to be installed using drilling systems that continuously core (e.g., Rotosonic) or continuously sample (e.g., hollow-stem auger, Becker hammer) overburden and that have the flexibility of allowing additional coring (diamond drilling) or sampling (hammer drilling) of bedrock. The GSC-MLSPS (under license to Solinst Canada Ltd.) uses a patented GSC dry injection system for accurate emplacement of filter packs and seals. This system permits (a) the use of variable screen lengths; (b) the complete evacuation of piezometers before introduction of new ground water (no bailing); (c) the use of a number of types of hydraulic tests (e.g., slug, withdrawal/recovery, vacuum, pressure-pulse); (d) ground water sampling under a nitrogen atmosphere; (e) dissolved gas sampling; (f) a great deal of flexibility in the use of design materials; and (g) the elimination of bridging and collapse of filter packs and seals.     

地层水矿化度检测的地球物理测井方法

传统的水文地质研究方法在进行地下水的矿化度评价时，是通过地层水的取样进行室内分析化验，确定含水岩组中地层水的矿化度，目前，在利用已有的地质、地球物理资料进行西部地下水资源评价的研究中，鉴于大多数石油井不含有浅层地层水的水样化验资料，因而本文介绍一种利用石油测井数据（主要为自然电位曲线）计算地层水矿化度的方法，并将之应用于鄂尔多斯白垩系自流水盆地地层水的矿化度估算，方法研究和应用实例证明这种方法是较为可靠的，虽然求取的地层水的矿化度的数值存在一定的误差，但完全可以满足地层水矿化度分级评价的需求，从而开发了石油测井数据在水文地质中的应用，也降低了单纯利用水文取样，由于样点少，矿化度预测精度低的缺点。     

深水钻探面临的挑战:浅水流灾害问题

浅水流(shallow water flow,简称SWF)灾害被看作深水钻探中面临的重要挑战之一,它是指深水钻探中,钻头钻过一超压砂层时,孔隙压力太大以致砂和水激烈流进到井眼里,导致了井和钻井平台损坏的事件.SWF问题仅发生在深水区,位于海底泥线下几百米以下,主要出现在一种原位超压的未固结的斜状砂体中,这种砂体一般被低渗透的泥覆盖.超压的形成常认为是快速沉积压实所致,也可能与构造因素或水合物分解有关.SWF砂体具有低密度、低速度和高Vp/Vs的性质,是可能被地震勘探方法所检测的.我国即将进入深水钻探领域,为了避免或减轻深水钻探中可能面对的SWF灾害,我们建议开展有关SWF灾害问题的前期研究.     

井震联合分析预测神狐海域天然气水合物可能的垂向分布

已有的地质与地球物理信息表明南中国海北部陆坡神狐海域存在天然气水合物,2007年钻井和取样结果证实其以细颗粒均匀存在于水合物稳定带内,但区域分布范围极不规则.由于测井记录长度和取样深度的范围有限,天然气水合物垂向分布特征难以确定.为了深入了解此区域天然气水合物深度上的分布规律,对SH7井的多种测井数据进行综合分析并与地震反射特征建立联系,得到三个主要的沉积物性变化层位并以此为基础进行叠后数据的伪井约束反演,结果表明在已证实的含水合物层之下还存在高速层.而AVO叠前正演模拟分析结果与实际地震数据对比表明,研究区的天然气水合物稳定带可能由含水合物沉积物与饱水沉积物的薄互层组成,这就意味着在取样获得天然气水合物样品的深度之下,很可能存在另一个含水合物层.     

The influence of drill cuttings on physical characteristics of phytodetritus

Sinking of aggregated phytoplankton cells is a crucial mechanism for transporting carbon to the seafloor and benthic ecosystem, with such aggregates often scavenging particulate material from the water column as they sink. In the vicinity of drilling rigs used by the oil and gas industry, the concentration of particulate matter in the water column may at times be enriched as a result of the discharge of ‘drill cuttings’ - drilling waste material. This investigation exposed laboratory produced phytoplankton aggregates to drill cuttings of various composition (those containing no hydrocarbons from reservoir rocks and those with a <1% hydrocarbon content) and assessed the change in aggregate size, settling rate and resuspension behavior of these using resuspension chambers and settling cylinders. Results indicate that both settling velocity and seabed stress required to resuspend the aggregates are greater in aggregates exposed to drill cuttings, with these increases most significant in aggregates exposed to hydrocarbon containing drill cuttings.     

A Wireline Piston Core Barrel for Sampling Cohesionless Sand and Gravel Below the Water Table

A coring device has been developed to obtain long and minimally disturbed samples of saturated cohesionless sand and gravel. The coring device, which includes a wireline and piston, was developed specifically for use during hollow-stem auger drilling but it also offers possibilities for cable tool and rotary drilling. The core barrel consists of an inner liner made of inexpensive aluminum or plastic tubing, a piston for core recovery, and an exterior steel housing that protects the liner when the core barrel is driven into the aquifer. The core barrel, which is approximately 1.6m (5.6 feet) long, is advanced ahead of the lead auger by hammering at the surface on drill rods that are attached to the core barrel. After the sampler has been driven 1.5m (5 feet), the drill rods are detached and a wireline is used to hoist the core barrel, with the sample contained in the aluminum or plastic liner, to the surface. A vacuum developed by the piston during the coring operation provides good recovery of both the sediment and aquifer fluids contained in the sediment. In the field the sample tubes can be easily split along their length for on-site inspection or they can be capped with the pore water fluids inside and transported to the laboratory. The cores are 5cm (2 inches) in diameter by 1.5m (5 feet) long. Core acquisition to depths of 35m (115 feet), with a recovery greater than 90 percent, has become routine in University of Waterloo aquifer studies. A large diameter (12.7cm [5 inch]) version has also been used successfully. Nearly continuous sample sequences from sand and gravel aquifers have been obtained for studies of sedimentology, hydraulic conductivity, hydrogeochemistry and microbiology.     

In-House Well Drilling Operations for a Ground Water Monitoring Program, Suffolk County, New York

All public agencies involved in ground water monitoring and protection face the requirement of obtaining well drilling services consistent with their needs. Most will rely on contracted drilling services, but a limited number of agencies having responsibilities for long-term aquifer monitoring and the promulgation of monitoring standards may find that implementing an in-house well drilling program is an effective approach to achieving their ground water protection goals.
Suffolk County, located on Long Island, New York, has been operating a well drilling program for 10 years, with three levels of drilling capability to meet the requirements of characterizing and monitoring an unconsolidated regional aquifer system. The program's cost and labor requirements are substantial, but this approach has provided uniformly high-quality data and the hands-on experience needed to test drilling innovations and produce monitoring regulations that are effective and feasible. If soundly organized and run, an agency-directed drilling operation will be readily adaptable to changing needs and priorities. In Suffolk County, this has included emergency response and fuel-spill monitoring. A successful program must also include a demonstrated geologic identification and well logging capability, close laboratory support, and an experienced hydrogeological or ground water engineering staff.
This approach may be suitable for other regional agencies based on their ground water conditions and water-supply protection needs.     

Screened Auger Sampling: The Technique and Two Case Studies

The screened auger is a laser-slotted, hollow-stem auger through which a representative sample of ground water is pumped from an aquifer and tested for water-quality parameters by appropriate field-screening methods. Screened auger sampling can be applied to ground water quality remedial investigations, providing:(1) a mechanism for determining a monitoring well's optimal screen placement in a contaminant plume; and (2) data to define the three-dimensional configuration of the contaminant plume.
Screened auger sampling has provided an efficient method for investigating hexavalent chromium and volatile organic compound contamination in two sandy aquifers in Cadillac, Michigan. The aquifers approach 200 feet in thickness and more than 1 square mile in area. A series of screened auger borings and monitoring wells was installed, and ground water was collected at 10-foot intervals as the boreholes were advanced to define the horizontal and vertical distribution of the contaminant plumes. The ability of the screened auger to obtain representative ground water samples was supported by the statistical comparison of field screening results and subsequent laboratory analysis of ground water from installed monitoring wells.     

松南长岭断陷火山岩亚相约束下的气层测井识别评价

松辽盆地长岭断陷营城组火山岩包括4相12亚相;优质储层主要见于爆发相热碎屑流、喷溢相上部和下部、火山通道的火山颈等4亚相.火山岩气藏普遍含CO2,部分为纯CO2气藏.基于26口重点探井的自然伽马、电阻率、声波时差和中子等测井参数分析,建立了岩相亚相-测井识别模式;进而在亚相约束下,用声波-中子-密度三种孔隙度叠置图进行...