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Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems at Chocolate Mountain

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Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits are routinely used in the oil and gas industry for drilling medium to hard rock but have not been adopted for geothermal drilling, largely due to past reliability issues and higher purchase costs. The Sandia Geothermal Research Department has recently completed a field demonstration of the applicability of advanced synthetic diamond drill bits for production geothermal drilling. Two commercially-available PDC bits were tested in a geothermal drilling program in the Chocolate Mountains in Southern California. These bits drilled the granitic formations with significantly better Rate of Penetration (ROP) and bit life than the roller cone bit they are compared with. Drilling records and bit performance data along with associated drilling cost savings are presented herein. The drilling trials have demonstrated PDC bit drilling technology has matured for applicability and improvements to geothermal drilling. This will be especially beneficial for development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems whereby resources can be accessed anywhere within the continental US by drilling to deep, hot resources in hard, basement rock formations.

Citation Formats

Sandia National Laboratories. (2012). Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems at Chocolate Mountain [data set]. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.15121/1225980.
Export Citation to RIS
Knudsen, Steven, Raymond, David, Blankenship, Doug, Bjornstad, Steve, Barbour, Joel, and Schen, Aaron. Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems at Chocolate Mountain. United States: N.p., 01 Jan, 2012. Web. doi: 10.15121/1225980.
Knudsen, Steven, Raymond, David, Blankenship, Doug, Bjornstad, Steve, Barbour, Joel, & Schen, Aaron. Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems at Chocolate Mountain. United States. https://dx.doi.org/10.15121/1225980
Knudsen, Steven, Raymond, David, Blankenship, Doug, Bjornstad, Steve, Barbour, Joel, and Schen, Aaron. 2012. "Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems at Chocolate Mountain". United States. https://dx.doi.org/10.15121/1225980. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/140.
@div{oedi_3000, title = {Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems at Chocolate Mountain}, author = {Knudsen, Steven, Raymond, David, Blankenship, Doug, Bjornstad, Steve, Barbour, Joel, and Schen, Aaron.}, abstractNote = {Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits are routinely used in the oil and gas industry for drilling medium to hard rock but have not been adopted for geothermal drilling, largely due to past reliability issues and higher purchase costs. The Sandia Geothermal Research Department has recently completed a field demonstration of the applicability of advanced synthetic diamond drill bits for production geothermal drilling. Two commercially-available PDC bits were tested in a geothermal drilling program in the Chocolate Mountains in Southern California. These bits drilled the granitic formations with significantly better Rate of Penetration (ROP) and bit life than the roller cone bit they are compared with. Drilling records and bit performance data along with associated drilling cost savings are presented herein. The drilling trials have demonstrated PDC bit drilling technology has matured for applicability and improvements to geothermal drilling. This will be especially beneficial for development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems whereby resources can be accessed anywhere within the continental US by drilling to deep, hot resources in hard, basement rock formations.

}, doi = {10.15121/1225980}, url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/140}, journal = {}, number = , volume = , place = {United States}, year = {2012}, month = {01}}
https://dx.doi.org/10.15121/1225980

Details

Data from Jan 1, 2012

Last updated May 18, 2017

Submitted Dec 13, 2012

Organization

Sandia National Laboratories

Contact

Steven Knudsen

Authors

Steven Knudsen

Sandia National Laboratories

David Raymond

Sandia National Laboratories

Doug Blankenship

Sandia National Laboratories

Steve Bjornstad

USN Geothermal Program Office

Joel Barbour

Barbour Well Inc.

Aaron Schen

NOV Downhole

Research Areas

DOE Project Details

Project Name Technology Development and Field Trials of EGS Drilling Systems

Project Lead Arlene Anderson

Project Number AID 20008

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