Presentation: SPE Aberdeen 2024 – John Clegg, President and CTO, Hephae Energy Technology.
Open Presentation.
ABSTRACT
Higher bottom hole temperatures can significantly impact the economics of conventional (hydrothermal) and Enhanced and Advanced Geothermal Systems (EGS and AGS or “unconventional”) projects, but these wells will require precise placement to achieve their maximum potential – requiring the transfer of technologies such as MWD and RSS from the oil and gas industry.
Even the claimed 175ºC operating capability of oil and gas technologies is challenging for the economics of geothermal drilling because equipment operated at this maximum temperature limit exhibits low mean time between failure and/or service. Therefore, the industry needs a step change in its approach to the temperature capabilities of downhole equipment. This presentation will outline just such an approach to the temperature resistance of the electronics and sensors needed for MWD and RSS.
Showing in detail a new approach to tool design, it will describe how a combination of component selection, a completely reimagined approach to downhole electronics – looking nothing like the boards currently used in oil and gas – and multiple cooling strategies will allow measurement and control to be reliably implemented at higher temperatures, initially above 200ºC and ultimately as high as 300ºC. This will finally make reliable drilling at high temperature a reality.