The Cuttings Grinder was built as an innovative method to dispose of drilled cuttings, providing an alternative to placement of drilled cuttings in reserve pits. The Cuttings Grinder reduces drilled cuttings into a slurry, which is then pumped down a disposal well into the Tertiary sandstone. This paper explains why the Cuttings Grinder was built and describes how it works, together with the modifications that have been made since it has been in operation.

Keywords:
reserve pit, surface hole gravel, grinder, prudhoe bay, society of petroleum engineers, drilling industry, tertiary sandstone, modification, waste management, auger
Subjects:
Drilling Operations, Drilling Fluids and Materials, Environment, Waste management
Copyright 1991, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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