Using horizontal wells to recover dissolved contaminants and non-aqueous-phase-liquid: Capture size and capture time delineation

Horizontal wells have been used for oil and gas production and extensive studies on pressure analysis have been carried out in petroleum engineering. Such wells can provide improved access to subsurface contamination at sites with surface restrictions and are effective in removing non-aqueous-phase-liquid from subsurface. The capture size and capture time of a horizontal well must be identified to use this technology effectively. Closed-form analytical solutions were obtained for capture times on the conditions of a steady-state flow and an infinitely long well. The capture sizes were analyzed based on the iso-capture time curves. The suitability of the assumptions used in the analytical work was justified. Four different scenarios were studied to simulate four possible site situations: recovery from a confined aquifer; recovery from underneath a water reservoir or a lake in which the top boundary of the aquifer is treated as constant-head; recovery from a low-permeability stratum bounded above and below by much higher permeability media; and recovery from the bottom aquifer.

API - National Ground Water Association Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water: Prevention, Detection and Remediation Joint Conference Proceedings

Using horizontal wells to recover dissolved contaminants and non-aqueous-phase-liquid: Capture size and capture time delineation Academic Article