SEMINAR ON PLASMA DRILLING

Department of Petroleum
Engineering
Indian School of
Mines,Dhanbad
Presented by:Rupa Kumari
Alok Kumar Singh
Pankaj Kumar
Nishankit Kumar
Prateek Kumar Singh

Plasma Deep Drilling

Technology
Itis one of several different variants of recently
explorednew drilling technologieswhich would
be able to substitute conventional and contactbased rotary systems. High-energetic electrical
plasma is a technology currently being developed
in deep drilling applications to address many
issues related to drilling in water environment or
in the production of boreholes with a wide range
of diameters.

Plasma Deep Drilling

Technology

These new technologies, including plasma deep

drilling,water
jet,hydrothermal
spallationorlaser, are matter of active research.

Only a very small number of companies have

embraced
plasma-drilling
method,
e.g.GA
Drilling, headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Physical Principle of Electrical

Plasma

Physical Principle
Anelectric arcis an electrical breakdown of a gas
that produces an ongoingplasmadischarge,
resulting from a current flowing through normally
nonconductive media such as air or gas.
An arc discharge is characterized by a lower
voltage than a glow discharge, and relies on
thermionic emission of electrons from the
electrodes supporting the arc.
The electric arc is influenced by factors such as:
the gas flow, inner and outer magnetic fields, and
construction elements of the chamber which
confine the arc.

Plasma torch
It is a device for generating a directed flow
ofplasma.The plasma jet can be used for
applications includingplasma cutting,plasma
spraying, andplasma arc waste disposal.
It is also known as aplasma arc,plasma gun,
orplasma cutter.

Plasma cutting
Plasma cuttingis a process that is used to
cutsteeland othermetalsof different thicknesses or
sometimes other materials like rocks using a plasma
torch.
In this process, a gas (oxygen, air, inert and others
dependant on material) is blown at high speed out of
a nozzle; at the same time an electrical arc is formed
through that gas from the nozzle to the surface
being cut, turning some of that gas toplasma.
The plasma is hot enough to melt the metal or rock
being cut and moves fast enough to blow molten
metal away from the cut.

How a Plasma Cutter Works

Working of a Plasma Cutter

Plasma cutters work by sending an electric arc
through a gas that is passing through a
constricted opening. The gas can be shop air,
nitrogen, argon, oxygen. etc.
This elevates the temperature of the gas to the
point that it enters a 4th state of matter. We all
are familiar with the first three: i.e., solid, liquid,
and gas. Scientists call this additional state
plasma.

Working of a Plasma Cutter

As the material being cut is part of the circuit, the
electrical conductivity of the plasma causes the
arc to transfer to the work.
The restricted opening (nozzle) the gas passes
through causes it to sqeeze by at a high speed,
like air passing through a venturi in a carburetor.
This high speed gas cuts through the molten
metal. The gas is also directed around the
perimeter of the cutting area to shield the cut.

Plasma Channel Microhole

Drilling Technology
This research aims to develop a new plasma
channel drilling (PCD) method for drilling of small
diameter holes (3.5-15 cm) for sidetrack
creation and multilateral drilling.
The method relies upon the use of the energy of
impulse plasma discharges which are formed
inside rock formation ahead of the drill position.

Repeated formation of the plasma channel

results in an effective and controlled drilling
action.

Plasma Channel Microhole

Drilling Technology
In the case of new small-scale oil fields,
multilateral wells with multiple horizontal
sidetracks can make them profitable by reducing
the number of wells needed to drain a reservoir.
Currently, mechanical drilling techniques such as
through tubing rotary drilling and coiled tubing
drilling are used for these purposes .
The new non-rotational PCD method of drilling
narrow holes by high voltage spark breakdown of
rock can be an inexpensive and efficient
alternative to mechanical rotary techniques.

Mechanism of Plasma Channel

Drilling
Plasma channel drilling is a process in which
submicrosecond electrical breakdown of rocks is
used for efficient fragmentation of rock
formations.
This preferential electrical breakdown of rock is
achieved by the use of a dielectric liquid (water
for example) as the drilling fluid.
The drilling fluid in the PCD process serves as a
superior electrical insulator due to differences in
the electrical properties between the rock and the
dielectric liquid under impulse conditions.

Plasma Channel Drilling System

The plasma-channel drilling system consists of a
pulsed power driving circuit, a plasma channel
drill with incorporated water circulation tubes, a
metallic support frame for the plasma channel
drill, and a high pressure, high flow-rate water
pump.

Components of a PCD System

Pulsed Power Circuit

The pulsed power supply comprises a primary high
voltage power supply providing a charging voltage
of up to 40 kV, an energy storage system (a
capacitor bank), a high power spark-gap switch
and a switch trigger unit.
This circuit is designed to deliver high voltage
pulses to the drill head electrodes via a flexible
high voltage transmission line. The operating
pulse energies can be varied from 60 to 300
Jipulse. The pulse repetition rate was in the range
of 5-20 pulses/second.

Plasma Channel Drill

In the present work, a radially symmetric electrode
design was utilised in the plasma channel drill
head. This drill head consists of an internal high
voltage disc electrode and an external grounded
cup-like electrode.
This provides an annular inter-electrode gap such
that the plasma channels can form in any position
within the gap. As a result, self-rotation of the
plasma occurs during the drilling action and this
removes any necessity for mechanical rotation of
the drill shank.

Environmental Applications of
Plasma Spectrometer in Oil
Industry
Plasma emission and plasma mass spectrometer are
used for environmental application in oil industry.
Plasma emission and plasma mass spectrometer are
effective for
environmental work due to multi
element nature, sensitivity and dynamic range of
techniques.
The technique use the inductively coupled plasma
(lCP).
The ICP is a high temperature discharge which is
formed at the top of a glass torch by the interaction
of a radio frequency field with a gas stream.
Gas used is argon.

 Power is coupled into the gas stream by inductive

heating achieving very high temperatures 000 K)
are achieved in the plasma.
When a liquid is introduced into the plasma in the
form of a fine aerosol, the aerosol undergoes the
various processes of desolvation , vaporization ,
atomization , excitation and ionization.
This technique is extensively used in ICP - optical
emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ICP - mass
spectrometry (ICP-MS).

ICP Optical Emission

Spectrometry
More mature technology than ICP-MS.
The polychromatic light emitted from the plasma is
collected and dispersed via the diffraction grating of an
optical spectrometer.
Types of spectrometer vary enormously from fixed
wavelength instruments having several analytical lines
available for simultaneous detection (polychromators)
to variable wavelength instruments where the
measurement wavelength is selected in sequential
fashion by movement of the grating itself or by moving
the detector.
This instrument uses two monochromators to cover the
wavelength range 160 nm to 800 nm.
The detector is a photomultiplier (PM) tube

ICP Mass Spectrometry

ICP is coupled with a quadrupole mass spectrometer.
Ions are extracted from the plasma via a differentially
pumped interface region, into the mass spectrometer.
The plasma torch is mounted horizontally along the
axis of the mass spectrometer.
The bulk plasma is sampled through the aperture in
this cone.
Positively charged ions are then extracted and
focused by the ion optics, negatively charged ions are
repelled and neutral atoms and molecules diffuse
away.
Ions are detected by an electron multiplier and the
pulses are stored by a data handling system.

Environmental Applications
of Plasma Spectrometry
ICP-MS is (predominantly) a solution analysis
technique in which the sample is introduced to the
plasma in the form of finely nebulised aerosol.
The weak acid extracts and strong acid digests were
analysed by ICP-MS, after dilution with water.
VG Plasma Quad is the 'semiquant' mode of analysis.
The drill cuttings were also treated by microwave
dissolution using nitric acid.
The drilling muds were analysed after oxidation with
sulphuric and nitric acids to destroy the organic
matter.
The acid soluble fraction of the residue was analysed
by ICP-MS, after dilution with water.

Plasma Torch Perforation to route

HF in unconventional reservoirs
Recent advances in high power plasma torch
technology provide an apparatus to replace the
conventional perforation methods in oil and gas
wells.
High power plasma torches are capable of cutting
and removing rocks textures efficiently.
Plasma torch perforation is gone along with heat
flux generation.

Plasma Torch Perforation to route

HF in unconventional reservoirs
As the temperature increases during plasma torch
operation, thermal energy accumulates the
matrix expansion. This expansion generate
thermal stresses induce the rock texture.
Furthermore, thermal stresses exceeds the rock
strength, thermal fractures will form in texture
that mainly depend on rock thermal properties,
pore size distribution, applied thermal stresses
and confining and pore pressures.

Advantages
Increasing the rate of penetration (ROP)
significantly and therefore reducing the drilling
operation cost.
Reducing or eliminating rig day rate, casing
requirements, and trip time.
Providing enhanced well-control, perforating, and
side-tracking capabilities.
Providing these capabilities with environmentally
attractive, safe, and cost-effective technology.

Advantages
Stabilizing the roof of the new holes, just because
the power of laser and the melted plasma layer
covered the wall of the hole and make it much
more stable than before.
Less amount of skin effects.
The laser drilling has shown its ability to drill slim
hole successfully and effectively replace the
previous methods.