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Mining Publication: Drilling a Horizontal Coalbed Methane Drainage System from a Directional Surface Borehole
Keywords: Costs Degasification Drilling
Original creation date: January 1982
Authors: DC Oyler, WP Diamond
Report of Investigations - January 1982
Download PDF Document (6.20 MB)
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 10002321
Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, RI 8640, 1982 Jan; :1-50
Three long horizontal holes were drilled from a directionally drilled surface hole at the Emerald Mine near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. The purpose was to adapt the technique of directional drilling for use in draining methane from coalbeds. A 504-m (1,652-ft) long, 76-mm (3-in) diameter, circular arc pilot hole was drilled, using a downhole mud motor, to enter the Pittsburgh coalbed at a vertical depth of 350 m (1,000 ft). The hole was reamed to 222 mm (8-3/4 in) and was cased to a measured depth of 486 m (1,595 ft). Three 76-mm (3-in) diameter horizontal drainage holes were then drilled, totaling 2,909 m (9,544 ft) of horizontal hole. Improvements in drilling methods increased the average drilling rate from 20.4 M (67 ft) to 64.9 M (213 ft) per day. The cost of drilling the directional and horizontal holes (using a government-owned drill rig) was $1,169,530, a figure inflated by inexperience and by delays caused by lost-circulation problems and fishing operations. An estimated total drilling cost of $960,000 (including rental of a drill rig) for an improved system, was determined by a detailed cost analysis. Initial gas and water production from November 1979 through May 1980 was low because of caving of the horizontal holes drilled in shale near the bottom of the casing.
Image of publication Drilling a Horizontal Coalbed Methane Drainage System from a Directional Surface BoreholeReport of Investigations - January 1982
Download PDF Document (6.20 MB)
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 10002321
Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, RI 8640, 1982 Jan; :1-50
See Also
Cableless Electronic Surveying Systems for Horizontal Holes
Degasification and Production of Natural Gas From an Air Shaft in the Pittsburgh Coalbed
Degasification System Selection for U.S. Longwall Mines Using an Expert Classification System
Directional Drilling For Coalbed Degasification: Program Goals and Progress in 1978
Directionally Controlled Drilling To Horizontally Intercept Selected Strata, Upper Freeport Coalbed, Greene County, Pa.
Drainage of Methane From the Overlying Pocahontas No. 4 Coalbed From Workings in the Pocahontas No. 3 Coalbed
Nature and Cost of Low Back Pain
Noise Exposure and Overhead Power Line (OPL) Safety Hazards at Surface Drilling Sites
Rotary Drilling Holes in Coalbeds for Degasification
Rotary Drilling Techniques Used in the Beckley Coalbed
Page last reviewed: September 21, 2012
Page last updated: September 21, 2012
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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