Plasma chemistry derived formation rock evaluation for pulse power drilling
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorMathew Dennis Rowe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
During pulse power drilling, the formation rock type is determined by analyzing organic and inorganic chemical reaction products. Plasma pulses interact with the solid rock of the formation to shift downhole chemical reactions. The formation type may act as a catalyst or an inhibitor to enhance or degrade reactions. The concentration of organic and inorganic chemical reaction products is determined by analyzing the reactions occurring at the drill bit. From the concentrations, the formation rock type is determined.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- determining chemical species released into a drilling fluid after a rock of a subsurface formation has interacted with a plasma discharge produced via one or more electrodes of a drill bit of a pulse power drill string disposed in a borehole for drilling the borehole in the subsurface formation;
- correlating the chemical species to an attribute of the subsurface formation that interacted with the plasma discharge;
- and
- classifying a type of the rock of the subsurface formation that interacted with the plasma discharge based on the correlating.
A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to perform operations comprising:
- determining chemical species released into a drilling fluid after a rock of a subsurface formation has interacted with a plasma discharge produced via one or more electrodes of a drill bit of a pulse power drill string disposed in a borehole for drilling the borehole in the subsurface formation;
- correlating the chemical species to an attribute of the subsurface formation that interacted with the plasma discharge;
- and
- classifying a type of the rock of the subsurface formation that interacted with the plasma discharge based on the correlating.
A system comprising:
- a pulse power drill string configured to be positioned in a borehole formed in a subsurface formation, wherein the pulse power drill string comprises a drill bit with one or more electrodes to periodically emit an electrical discharge to drill the borehole;
- a sample extractor configured to collect a sample of drilling fluid that circulated down the borehole after the drilling fluid has interacted with the electrical discharge;
- a processor;
- and
- a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor to cause the system to,
- determine chemical species released into the drilling fluid after a rock of the subsurface formation has interacted with the electrical discharge,
- correlate the chemical species to an attribute of the subsurface formation that interacted with the electrical discharge, and
- classify a type of the rock of the subsurface formation that interacted with the electrical discharge based on the correlating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.