Cornering water jet drill for creating horizontal holes in coal seams
Sandia National Laboratories has developed a drilling system which uses high velocity water jets to make horizontal holes in coal seams accessed through vertical boreholes. For underground coal gasification (UCG), these horizontal holes can be drilled to create linking paths between vertical or horizontal process wells. Three test series have been conducted to study and improve the drilling system and, ultimately, to prove the viability of the concept. With the exception of a persistent string binding problem, which ultimately determined the hole depth, all drill system components either performed as designed or exhibited weaknesses which could be remedied with minor alterations. The cornering water jet drill (CWJD) concept was proven to be viable for drilling horizontal holes in coal seams. For distances greater than 50 ft (15.2 m), however, making the process a routine operation will require additional study and improvement. 12 references, 16 figures.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 6898103
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-84-0228; ON: DE84012895
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Testing of a cornering water-jet-drilling system for drilling horizontal holes in coal
Field testing of a cornering water jet drill
Related Subjects
010404 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
42 ENGINEERING
420206* -- Engineering-- Mining & Drilling Equipment & Facilities-- (1980-1989)
BOREHOLE LINKING
COAL DEPOSITS
COAL SEAMS
DATA
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
DRILLING
DRILLING EQUIPMENT
DRILLS
EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEDERAL REGION VI
FIELD TESTS
GASIFICATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IN-SITU GASIFICATION
IN-SITU PROCESSING
INFORMATION
JET DRILLS
JETS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PROCESSING
RESOURCES
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA
WATER