Casing strain resulting from thawing of Prudhoe Bay permafrost

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:7113802

Ruedrich, R A; Perkins, T K; Rochon, J A; Christman, S A

The production of hot fluids through thick permafrost at Prudhoe Bay will result in some thawing and consolidation (compaction) of permafrost soils. Within the last several years, a considerable effort has been expended to study the influence of permafrost thawing and consolidation on casing design. These studies included a large-scale field test as well as laboratory investigations of the mechanical properties of frozen and thawed permafrost soils, numerical simulations of the consolidation process, and experimental and mathematical studies of casing strain limits. This paper describes, in some detail, the Prudhoe Bay large-scale field test and laboratory studies of mechanical properties of various permafrost soils. Four classes of lithology--sand, silty sand, sandy silt, and silt--were utilized in the laboratory studies. The soils were collected from shallow borings and from outcrops in the Prudhoe Bay region. The most significant property measured was the compaction coefficient. The modulus of axial deformation and the ratio of vertical stress change to horizontal stress change were determined under a condition of increasing mean stress (compaction). Shear stress data for these lithologies also were developed. These data and the field test results were employed as input data to various numerical simulations of the consolidation process to develop an acceptable producing well casing design for the Prudhoe Bay Field.

• OSTI ID: 7113802
• Report Number(s): CONF-761008-68
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
ARCTIC OCEAN
BEAUFORT SEA
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
COMPACTING
DESIGN
LITHOLOGY
PERMAFROST
PRUDHOE BAY
SAND
SEAS
SILT
SOIL MECHANICS
SURFACE WATERS
THAWING
WELL CASINGS