Methods and apparatus for bitless drilling

A bottom hole assembly for drilling a borehole, comprising:

• a propellant chamber configured to store a liquid propellant provided as one or more propellant capsules for drilling;
• a burner nozzle connected to the propellant chamber via one or more passages to route the propellant of the one or more propellant capsules from the propellant chamber to the burner nozzle;
• and
• an ignitor configured to ignite the propellant of the one or more propellant capsules as the propellant escapes the burner nozzle.

A method for drilling a borehole using a bitless drill assembly, comprising:

• storing a liquid propellant in a propellant chamber;
• routing the liquid propellant from the propellant chamber to a burner nozzle;
• routing a drilling fluid through a path created by the burner nozzle encased in a drill string such that the drilling fluid bypasses the burner nozzle and feeds the drilling fluid down an inside passage and up an outside passage of the drill string;
• igniting the liquid propellant at the burner nozzle;
• drilling a formation using the liquid propellant;
• diverting one or more fuel capsules from the inside passage of the drill string encasing the bitless drill assembly;
• piercing the one or more fuel capsules using a capsule blade;
• and
• capturing the propellant from the one or more fuel capsules.

A method for drilling a borehole using a bitless drill assembly, comprising:

• storing a liquid propellant in a propellant chamber;
• routing the liquid propellant from the propellant chamber to a burner nozzle;
• routing a drilling fluid through a path created by the burner nozzle encased in a drill string such that the drilling fluid bypasses the burner nozzle and feeds the drilling fluid down an inside passage and up an outside passage of the drill string;
• igniting the liquid propellant at the burner nozzle;
• drilling a formation using the liquid propellant;
• diverting one or more fuel capsules from the inside passage of the drill string encasing the bitless drill assembly;
• piercing the one or more fuel capsules using a capsule blade;
• capturing the propellant from the one or more fuel capsules;
• and
• routing the one or more fuel capsules from the capsule blade to a surface via the outside passage of the drill string encasing the bitless drill assembly.