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US 2026/0063555 A1Published application
Continuous emissions monitor for directed-energy borehole drilling
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorPaul P. Woskov
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for monitoring emissions from a borehole to determine the composition of earthen material removed from the borehole are described. Monitoring can be done in real time as the borehole is being deepened with a millimeter-wave drilling beam.
Claims19
A system for drilling a borehole and monitoring emissions from the borehole, the system comprising:
- a high-power millimeter-wave (MMW) source;
- a waveguide to carry MMW radiation from the MMW source to the borehole;
- exhaust piping to seal the borehole and capture exhaust gas from the borehole while the borehole is being deepened with a MMW drilling beam formed from the MMW radiation;
- a plasma chamber in fluid communication with the exhaust piping to receive an exhaust slip stream picked off from the exhaust gas and to receive a portion of the MMW radiation for heating the exhaust slip stream;
- and
- a spectrometer in electromagnetic communication with the plasma chamber to detect emissions from a plasma formed in the plasma chamber from the exhaust slip stream.
3 more elements
A system for drilling a borehole and monitoring emissions from the borehole, the system comprising:
- a high-power millimeter-wave (MMW) source;
- a waveguide to carry MMW radiation from the MMW source to the borehole;
- exhaust piping to seal the borehole and capture exhaust gas from the borehole while the borehole is being deepened with a MMW drilling beam formed from the MMW radiation;
- and
- a plasma chamber in fluid communication with the exhaust piping to receive an exhaust slip stream picked off from the exhaust gas and to receive a portion of the MMW radiation for heating the exhaust slip stream.
2 more elements
A system for monitoring a composition of earthen material in a borehole created by a millimeter-wave directed-energy drilling beam, the system comprising:
- a plasma chamber to receive exhaust gas from the borehole and to receive a portion of millimeter-wave radiation that is used to make the millimeter-wave directed-energy drilling beam, wherein the plasma chamber is configured to heat the exhaust gas with the portion of the millimeter-wave radiation to create a plasma emitting optical emissions;
- and
- a sample tube or sample port connected to the plasma chamber to receive the exhaust gas from the borehole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.