Plasma-channel drilling system gets the go-ahead
11 Sep 2001
Electrical engineers at the University of Strathclyde are being awarded £146,000 to further develop a new oil drilling technique that will make exploration cheaper - and mean that more oil can be retrieved from every well.
As oil prices fluctuate, and North Sea reserves are depleted, the oil and gas industry is constantly looking for new ways to maximise production at least cost.
The Oil Industry Task Force has estimated that as much as 1.3 billion barrels of oil could be retrieved from existing wells if new recovery techniques were available.
A research group of the University of Strathclyde's Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering has developed a new drilling technique that has the potential to provide the required efficiency.
The group, led by Professor Scott MacGregor and Dr Steven Turnbull, uses high voltage pulses to produce plasma-channel formation inside the rock ahead of the drill region. The extremely rapid expansion of this plasma channel within the rock, which occurs in less than a millionth of a second, causes the local region of rock to fracture and fragment.
The plasma-channel technique represents an advance in drilling through its portability and optimum use of input energy. In addition, because the plasma-channel process generates small holes of only an inch or two in diameter, damage to the sea-bed is greatly reduced compared to that of conventional drilling. The underpinning technology behind the plasma-channel drilling process is that of high-voltage pulsed power.
Last night, the group were formally awarded £146,000 by Scottish Enterprise to continue their work in plasma-channel drilling. Professor MacGregor predicts that the new technique will be exploited commercially.
'Economic pressures are requiring the oil and gas industries to focus on the development of new technologies that will reduce production costs, allow existing oil wells to provide greater yields and ensure that adverse environmental effects are minimised. Plasma-channel drilling has the potential to address all of these issues,' he said.
'Successful development of plasma-channel drilling technology is likely to have a major impact on the Scottish Oil and Gas Industry. As well as the increase in recovery from existing wells, the benefit to the Scottish economy will be even greater if the 4.3 billion barrels of oil estimated to exist in new reserves can be fully exploited.'
Dr David McBeth, Deputy Director of Strathclyde University's Department of Research and Consultancy, said: 'Many companies now recognise that small-diameter holes represent the preferred option for oil exploration and retrieval, because of the resultant big reduction in drilling costs and in environmental impact. Plasma-channel drilling can provide this option and become the technology of the future for oil and gas exploration and recovery.'
