Review: Horizontal, directionally drilled and radial collector wells: Pozos horizontales y colectores radiales de perforación direccional

Georg J. Houben*, Sarah Collins, Mark Bakker, Thomas Daffner, Falk Triller, Anvar Kacimov

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
197 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Horizontal wells play an often overlooked role in hydrogeology and aquifer remediation but can be an interesting option for many applications. This study reviews the constructional and hydraulic aspects that distinguish them from vertical wells. Flow patterns towards them are much more complicated than those for vertical wells, which makes their mathematical treatment more demanding. However, at some distance, the drawdown fields of both well types become practically identical, allowing simplified models to be used. Due to lower drawdowns, the yield of a horizontal well is usually higher than that of a vertical well, especially in thin aquifers of lower permeability, where they can replace several of the latter. The lower drawdown, which results in lower energy demand and slower ageing, and the centralized construction of horizontal wells can lead to lower operational costs, which can make them an economically feasible option.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)329-357
Number of pages29
JournalHydrogeology Journal
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Drilling
  • Horizontal well
  • Radial collector well
  • Slant well
  • Water supply

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