New Perspectives on Horizontal Wells for Assessment and Remediation

Some remediation technologies can be established but not prevalent, however; they are subject to the forces of change. In some cases, process improvements can drive new applications and levels of acceptance. This is what is happening with the deployment of horizontal wells for site assessment and remediation. In essence, decreasing costs, as well as certain strategic shifts, are two factors that have brought about a resurgence of horizontal well systems. The latter is specifically tied to moving from monolithic single well systems, that are subject to preferential path distortions, to segmented well systems which provide control and efficiency, and the reduction of the operational footprint.

A case will be made for how this forms a next generation advancement in site assessment and remediation. As one example, segmented horizontal profiling brings additional accuracy to assessment at sites, especially those challenged by access issues, and also provides more directed treatment operations with a unique flexibility in dynamic groundwater systems. Also, with nested, segmented horizontal well systems, CSMs can be significantly enhanced with new perspectives on the true nature if contaminant impact, plus new uses in PRB designs are emerging with emphasis on flux metrics.

Lastly, this technological advancement creates a new paradigm in contrast, or rather as an adjunct to, vertical profiling and high resolution site characterization (HRSC). In fact, it opens up a new strategic approach that can be called high resolution contaminant distribution (HRCD), because flexible horizontal segmented well systems can be used to navigate “up the spine of the plume” providing discretized data sets that illuminate contaminant locations in new ways. Several case studies will be presented that illuminate the advantages of horizontal segmented well systems, that also rely on economic models that compare logistics and cost with vertical well arrays. The improved flexibility and the integrity of the data sets that are collected and the ability to deliver reagents with improved precision will be illustrated.

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