DOE awards drilling systems research grants

The U.S. Department of Energy has named four companies and a university to conduct research to improve the effectiveness of drilling systems.

DOE said industry spends nearly $10 billion/year to drill oil and gas wells, "an amount that is likely to grow as U.S. drillers encounter more complex geologic formations and confront more stringent environmental requirements."

The five award winners, selected from 12 original proposers, will conduct 1-year studies to define the feasibility of proposed technologies. DOE will contribute from $100,000 to more than $542,000.

If the concepts show promise, developers will design and fabricate prototype systems over 2 years, contributing at least 25% of the costs.

DOE intends to select one or more concepts for 2 years of field testing. Developers will contribute at least half of those costs.

DOE said the advanced drilling initiative grew from a joint DOE-Gas Research Institute study that analyzed the needs and priorities for advanced drilling technology in the U.S.

The 1994 study concluded that "smart drilling systems,"which integrate advances in hardware with improvements in real-time subsurface sensors, could significantly improve well penetration rates and cut costs.

The projects

Maurer Engineering Inc. of Houston will work on an advanced high-pressure coiled-tubing drilling system. The $301,597 project includes $23,244 cost sharing by Maurer.

The firm will identify potential problems, perform computer analyses to calculate the life and performance of the system, and select the best candidate downhole drilling motor for development.

Technology International Inc., Kingwood, Tex., will work on high-strength and faster-drilling thermally stable polycrystalline (TSP) diamond cutters. The $113,747 project includes $6,443 cost sharing by the firm, which also will provide $50,000 of in-kind contributions.

In addition to testing the TSP cutters, it will design TSP "drag" bits (a scooped-spoon shape that shears the rock off the bottom of the well) and test the bits in laboratory, test well, and field applications.

Tempress Technology Inc., Kent, Wash., has a $199,115 contract for hydraulic pulse drilling. It will conduct a theoretical and laboratory-scale test of the mechanics of drilling with hydraulic pressure pulses to determine if water-hammer pressures can be used to drill sedimentary rock efficiently.

In the second phase, it would build and test a prototype water-hammer subassembly. The third phase would include field testing and demonstration in wells deeper than 5,000 ft.

Novatek, Provo, Utah, has a $542,261 contract to test an integrated drilling system using a mud actuated downhole hammer as the primary engine.

It will investigate four advanced drilling functions, one of which will be chosen to move forward the development of an integrated, steerable drilling system that offers significant cost reduction over current drilling practice, particularly in deep, medium-to-hard rock formations. Prototypes then will be tested in the lab and field.

And Pennsylvania State University has a $185,465 contract to develop advanced drill components incorporating carbide and/or diamond composites utilizing microwave processing.

In the first phase, it will develop microwave processing technology for making tungsten-carbide-based drill- ing cutters and/or high-wear parts of various shapes and sizes. It would then test prototypes on a pilot scale, and then in the field.