Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits are routinely used in the oil and gas industry for drilling medium to hard rock but have not been adopted for geothermal drilling, largely due to past reliability issues and higher purchase costs. The Sandia Geothermal Research Department has recently completed a field demonstration of the applicability of advanced synthetic diamond drill bits for production geothermal drilling. Two commercially-available PDC bits were tested in a geothermal drilling program in the Chocolate Mountains in Southern California. These bits drilled the granitic formations with significantly better Rate of Penetration (ROP) and bit life than the roller cone bit they are compared with. Drilling records and bit performance data along with associated drilling cost savings are presented herein. The drilling trials have demonstrated PDC bit drilling technology has matured for applicability and improvements to geothermal drilling. This will be especially beneficial for development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems whereby resources can be accessed anywhere within the continental US by drilling to deep, hot resources in hard, basement rock formations.
OwnerNational Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) - view all
Update frequencyunknown
Last updatedabout 1 year ago
Format
OverviewCACaliforniaSoCalSouthern Californiabefore and afterchocolate mountainschocolate mountains drillingdrillingdrilling chartsdrilling recordsegsgeothermalgranitelateral vibration spectrumpdc bitperformance datapicturesrate of penetrationroller conesynthetic diamondvibration spectrum
Additional Information
KeyValue
dcat_issued2012-01-01T07:00:00Z
dcat_modified2017-05-18T22:47:53Z
dcat_publisher_nameSandia National Laboratories
guidhttps://data.openei.org/submissions/3000
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