Honeycomb storage winner

Baroid Fluid Services, part of Halliburton's Fluid Systems Division, has been recognised by the 2007 Offshore Technology Conference's Spotlight on New Technologies Program for its unique Honey Comb Base (HCB) bulk cuttings storage system.

After years of development and extensive testing, the first HCB system was successfully deployed offshore in the UK sector of the North Sea in March 2007.

In many locations, operators must collect drill cuttings offshore and transport to shore for treatment and disposal. This has traditionally been done through the use of cuttings boxes or skips.

These boxes are filled on the rig and then lifted with a crane down to the supply boat. The number of crane lifts required to perform these operations can be very high, which significantly increases the health, safety, and environmental risk. In addition, in inclement weather conditions, the cranes may not be able to operate, which can cause the drilling operations to cease.