Thawing and Differential Settlement Close to Oil Wells through Permafrost

• Main Author: Palmer, Andrew C
• Other Authors: BROWN UNIV PROVIDENCE RI DIV OF ENGINEERING
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1972
• Subjects: Mining Engineering; Soil Mechanics; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *MINING ENGINEERING; *PERMAFROST; *SOIL MECHANICS; ARCTIC REGIONS; DRILLING; HEAT TRANSFER; MELTING; PETROLEUM PRODUCTS; PIPES; OIL WELLS; Arctic; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0749097; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0749097

The paper puts forward a preliminary analysis, whose purpose is to identify the factors which determine settlements and casing stresses, and to find out what information is needed for a more precise evaluation. Bold idealizations will be made in order to isolate primary from secondary factors: thus, for example, no account is taken of the variation with depth of the initial temperature of the undisturbed permafrost layer. The heat transfer problem is briefly considered first; simple models of thaw consolidation and arching follow, and their implications for thawing around a well are then examined.