Plasma deep drilling technology
In the recent past, there were several attempts to develop new drilling technology which would be able to substitute conventional contact-based rotary systems. These concepts were based on different principles such as water jet, hydrothermal spallation or laser. Worldwide there are several research teams which work continually on research and development of new deep drilling technology. Until now, no one from these attempts has been proved to be effective in extreme deep drilling conditions. One of them was also technology of plasma in several different variants.
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High-energetic electrical plasma
High-energetic electrical plasma is one of the most promising technologies which are currently being developed in deep drilling applications. It has lower energy efficiency than some of the other technologies, but has several other advantages. The most important are utilization in water environment or producing boreholes with wide range of diameters. The research team from Slovakia is developing drilling concept based on electrical plasma principle suitable for several drilling applications. The core of the research is held in Research Centre for Deep Drilling established in the premises of Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava.
Physical principle of electrical plasma
An electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air or gas. An arc discharge is characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge, and relies on thermionic emission of electrons from the electrodes supporting the arc. The electric arc is influenced by different factors: the gas flow, inner and outer magnetic fields, construction elements of the chamber which confine the arc, the elements being often under electric voltage, differing from that of the arc. Thus, there is a strong need for deep understanding of a wide spectrum of the processes taking place in the discharge chamber in order to develop highly effective plasma torches that we have proposed to use as a source of the thermal plasma.
Plasma deep drilling technology in mining applications
Plasma deep drilling technology may be suitable not only for geothermal, oil and gas or carbon capture and storage applications but also for underground mining. This new non-contact drilling method combined with the development of current mining techniques may bring smart technology for underground mining industry. The most promising project connects advantages of plasma drilling and raise boring technologies.
Advantages of Plasma deep drilling technology
- Higher drilling energy efficiency
- Continuous drilling process without replacement of mechanical parts
- Constant casing diameter
- Effective transport of disintegrated rock
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