High-temperature borehole instrumentation
A new method of extracting natural heat from the earth's crust was invented at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1970. It uses fluid pressures (hydraulic fracturing) to produce cracks that connect two boreholes drilled into hot rock formations of low initial permeability. Pressurized water is then circulated through this connected underground loop to extract heat from the rock and bring it to the surface. The creation of the fracture reservior began with drilling boreholes deep within the Precambrian basement rock at the Fenton Hill Test Site. Hydraulic fracturing, flow testing, and well-completion operations required unique wellbore measurements using downhole instrumentation systems that would survive the very high borehole temperatures, 320/sup 0/C (610/sup 0/F). These instruments were not available in the oil and gas industrial complex, so the Los Alamos National Laboratory initiated an intense program upgrading existing technology where applicable, subcontracting materials and equipment development to industrial manufactures, and using the Laboratory resource to develop the necessary downhole instruments to meet programmatic schedules. 60 refs., 11 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 6355508
- Report Number(s):
- LA-10558-HDR; ON: DE86004383
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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