Incorporation of drilling cuttings into stable load-bearing structures
AssigneeScott Environmental Services, Inc.
InventorsJonathan Blake Scott, Billy Roy Scott, Dallas N. Little
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Cuttings from drilling through or into natural rock and/or soil can be incorporated into useful, high quality load-bearing structures such as vehicle roads and pads for deep drilling rigs. This process recycles a material previously regarded as valueless at best and often as a pollution hazard. The cuttings, optionally mixed with drilling mud and/or soil, are converted to the useful structures by pozzolanic and/or cementitious reactions after being mixed with suitable other materials and/or are bonded into the useful structures by asphaltic materials.
Claims20
A process for constructing a load-bearing structure incorporating drilling cuttings, said structure having a shape and a size and containing a continuous portion having a cross-sectional area at least as large as the area of a circle having a diameter of 101 millimeters, said process comprising operations of:
- (1) forming a particulate mixture comprising drilling cuttings;
- and
- (2) at least one of groups (2.1) and (2.2) of suboperations, said group (2.1) comprising suboperations of:
- (2.1.1) mixing said particulate mixture comprising drilling cuttings with at least one stabilizer selected from the group consisting of:
- (A) quicklime;
- (B) hydrated lime;
- (C) Portland Cement;
- (D) Class C fly ash;
- (E) cement kiln dust;
- (F) lime kiln dust;
- (G) Class F fly ash;
- and
- (H) other pozzolans to form a cementitious second mixture,
- (2.1.2) forming said cementitious second mixture into the shape and size of the load-bearing structure and developing structural strength within said shaped and sized second mixture by pozzolanic reaction to form said load-bearing structure,
- said load-bearing structure having sufficient resistance to rutting that any rut formed in such surface by 10,000 applications of a single axle load of 18,000 pounds will have a depth of rutting that is less than 1 inch;
- and said group (2.2) comprising suboperations of:
- (2.2.1) mixing said particulate mixture comprising drilling cuttings with at least one of foamed asphalt and emulsified asphalt to form an asphaltic second mixture;
- (2.2.2) forming said asphaltic second mixture into the shape and size of the load- bearing structure;
- and developing structural strength within the shaped and sized asphaltic second mixture by curing, said load-bearing structure having sufficient resistance to rutting that any rut formed in such surface by 10,000 applications of a single axle load of 18,000 pounds will have a depth of rutting that is less than 1 inch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.