Directional drilling operations Hot Dry Rock well EE-2

Conference · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980 · Trans. - Geotherm. Resour. Counc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6297188

Brittenham, T L; Williams, R E; Rowley, J C; Neudecker, J W

Directional drilling of deviated geothermal wells in hot granite poses several severe equipment and instrumentation problems. The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal reservoir analyses indicate that boreholes with a significant inclination provide access to hydraulic fracturing of a large volume of reservoir rock. The first well (Energy Extraction No. 2; EE-2) of a pair of wells planned to test this concept was successfully directionally drilled at the Fenton Hill, NM, experimental site. The well was deviated by 180/sup 0/ in azimuth and the bottom part was drilled at 35/sup 0/ to the vertical. The downhole directional drilling equipment, steering tools, and operational procedures used are presented. Problems encountered were directly related to the rough drilling in the hard granite and high temperature, 275/sup 0/C (530/sup 0/F), at the total depth of 4.661 km (15,292 ft). Results of the EE-2 directional program were used to optimize the directional drilling of the second well EE-3.

• Research Organization: Grace, Shursen, Moore and Associates, Amarillo, TX
• OSTI ID: 6297188
• Report Number(s): CONF-800920-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trans. - Geotherm. Resour. Counc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
150901* -- Geothermal Engineering-- Drilling Technology & Well Hardware
BOREHOLES
CAVITIES
COMMINUTION
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
DRILLING
DRILLING EQUIPMENT
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
FRACTURING
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
GEOTHERMAL WELLS
GRANITES
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HOT-DRY-ROCK SYSTEMS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
IGNEOUS ROCKS
OPTIMIZATION
PLUTONIC ROCKS
ROCKS
WELLS