Patent ID: 7086472
Filing Date: 2006-08-08
Classification: E21B

Abstract:
1. A method of removing watery drill cuttings returned from a hole section for surface casing in a wellbore, the method comprising: placing a collecting device having a receptacle element on a seabed near a template arranged over a mouth of a well, wherein the receptacle element has one or more permeable draining wall portions; pumping drill cuttings and water from the template into the receptacle element, wherein liquid displaced when the drill cuttings are fed into the receptacle is drained out through the one or more permeable draining wall portions; raising the collecting device from the seabed; draining a substantial portion of the water from the receptacle element through said permeable draining wall portions as the receptacle element is brought on board a vessel from a surface of a sea; and transporting the drill cuttings for further processing.