Methods and systems for adaptive non-contact / contact boring
AssigneeArcByt, Inc.
InventorsShivani Torres, Thomas Egan, Barzin Moridian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The systems and techniques described herein may allow for optimized boring through a variety of geologies. A plurality of different boring techniques may be utilized for boring through a geological formation, in order to suit the characteristics of various portions of the geological formation. The systems and techniques described herein includes determining geological features and adjusting operation of boring based on the geological features. In certain such embodiments, boring systems may include a bore head that includes a plurality of boring elements. Such boring elements may be contact and/or non-contact boring elements.
Claims18
A system comprising:
- a bore head comprising a non-contact boring mechanism, the non-contact boring mechanism comprising a jet engine;
- a first sensor, configured to measure a first boring parameter associated with boring operations of the non-contact boring mechanism;
- and
- a controller, communicatively coupled to the first sensor and configured to:
- cause the jet engine to operate in a borehole in a first manner by directing exhaust gases of the jet engine to a geological formation to perform thermal spallation;
- receive first data from the first sensor;
- determine the first boring parameter from the first data;
- and
- cause, based on the determined first boring parameter, the non-contact boring mechanism to operate in a second manner, wherein the operating in the second manner comprises adjusting at least one of:
- a dwell time of the jet engine on features of the geological formation;
- stand-off distance of the jet engine from a bore face of the geological formation;
- a raster rate of the jet engine;
- and
- a raster pattern of the jet engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.