# Presentation: 066988

## Drilling Waste Management Information System

*R. Sullivan, T. Kotek, P. Richmond, M. Puder, D. Elcock *
***Environmental Science Division***
*October 26, 2006*

***An Interactive Web-Based Tool for Access to Technological, Environmental, and Regulatory Information on Drilling Waste Management***

## Topics

- What is drilling waste and why is it a problem?
- Drilling Waste Management Information System (DWMIS) approach
- DWMIS module screen shots
- Results
- Technology used

*Work funded by DOE Office of Fossil Energy and the *
*National Energy Technology Laboratory*

## Drilling Waste Results from Oil and Gas Exploration

- Drilling waste consists of drilling mud and solid drill cuttings
- Drilling mud lubricates drill bit and carries cuttings to surface
- Solid drill cuttings must be separated from mud so mud can be recycled
- Generally produced in large volumes during well drilling
- Waste can cause environmental problems when disposed

## Drilling Waste Management Decisions Are Complex 

- Drilling waste disposal can be **costly**
- Disposal method must be determined prior to beginning operations
**Many technical options** for drilling waste management
- Three main management methods, 12 sub-options, with many variations
- Not all options are allowed or make sense in all locations
- New, environmentally-friendly methods available
**Complex regulations** exist at federal and state level for disposal practices
- Can greatly restrict available options

**How do operators determine which drilling waste management methods to use?**

## Drilling Waste Management Information System (DWMIS)

- Three modules:
***Technology Description Module*** – technical fact sheets on current disposal methods and technologies
***Regulatory Module*** – compendium of federal and state regulations
***Technology Identification Module*** – expert system to select reasonable disposal alternatives for a given location and circumstances.

**Web-based resource for environmentally responsible drilling waste management decision making**

## DWMIS Home Page

- http://web.evs.anl.gov/dwm

## Opening Screen of the Technology Description Module 

## Example of a Fact Sheet in the Technology Description Module 

## Opening Screenshot of the Regulatory Module 

***Opening Screenshot of the Regulatory Module****** ***

## Example of a State Agency Page in the Regulatory Module 

***Example of a State Agency Page in the Regulatory Module****** ***

## Link to Texas Regulations

## Opening Screen of the Technology Identification Module 

## The Technology Identification Module Development Team

- Domain Experts
- Web Technical Lead
- Usability Expert
- Technical Programmer
- Graphic Designer
- Internal Reviewers
- External Review Panel

- X 5

## Overview of Flow Diagram

***Overview of Flow Diagram***

**Key Decision Points**
- Offshore vs. onshore
- U.S. waters vs. non-U.S. waters
- Environmentally sensitive area?

**Responses trigger appropriate question sequences**

## Questions on Waste Minimization and Reuse

## Overview of Flow Diagram

***Overview of Flow Diagram***

- Offshore drilling

- U.S. Waters

- Waste Type Description

## Overview of Flow Diagram

***Overview of Flow Diagram***

- Onshore drilling

- Not environmentally sensitive

- Land application options

## Sample Screen from an Interactive Online Questionnaire 

***Sample Screen from an Interactive Online Questionnaire****** ***

## Overview of Flow Diagram

***Overview of Flow Diagram***

- RESULTS

## Results Screen – Based on Answers to Questions

## DWMIS Has Been Used Actively Since Launch

- Site launched June 2004
- 365,000 page views in 87,000 user sessions (~100 sessions/day)
- 42,000+ users
- Usage increasing steadily

- Currently funded to create similar application for produced waters management

## Software and Programming Tools Used for DWMIS

**HTML**
- Formats and presents the web site content (e.g., images and text)
**JavaScript**
- Enables fast application interaction for a rich user-friendly approach
- Dynamic display of follow-up questions
**ColdFusion**
- Rapid development environment for Web pages
- Allows conditional processing on the server
- Provides session management capability

## For More Information

**Bob Sullivan**
**630-252-6182**
**sullivan@anl.gov**

- Drilling Waste Management Information System
- http://web.evd.anl.gov/dwm