Research on Suction Pile Well Construction Model for Deep Sea Resource Drilling

In the process of drilling for oil, gas and hydrate in deep water, the establishment of wellhead is the key to the safety and timeliness of the entire drilling operation. As a new well construction model, suction pile well construction has become a research hotspot in global ocean engineering, and thus, research on this model is of great significance for boosting innovations in well construction technologies and improving deep sea well construction efficiency. The model mainly depends on negative pressure to install suction piles, which causes small perturbations to the soil and could greatly enhance the bearing capacity of the wellhead. Further, its mud depth was considerably reduced compared with that of the traditional well construction model. In addition, the suction pile could be extended to accommodate multiple wellheads, and the problem of soft formation deviation could be overcome in combination with the wellbore predeflection design. In this paper, the process flow of suction pile well construction was introduced, and the design methods for suction piles and wellbores were given. Moreover, the parameters of soil quality in a deep-water well site in the South China Sea were utilized to design suction piles and wellbores suitable for the well site. The design results indicated that the suction pile well construction model could be effectively adapted to the well site. The research suggests that this model provides a new way to construct wells for deep sea resource exploration and development.