| Title | Drill Deeper, Faster: Fluid-Driven High-ROP Drilling with Real-Time Seismic Insight for Deep Geothermal |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerbaud Laurent, Naveen Velmurugan, Mark Noble, Florian Cazenave, Nadine Maatouk, Marion |
| Year | 2026 |
| Conference | World Geothermal Congress |
| Keywords | |
| Abstract | Geothermal energy is a leading candidate to supply clean, non-intermittent and renewable source of energy but its utilization is currently limited to thermal hotspots where higher than average geothermal gradient is present. For global scalability of this energy source, it is paramount to be able to drill deeper than the current average. However, two bottlenecks exist in unlocking this potential: low rate of penetration (ROP) and high uncertainties in the subsurface structure. Drilling for geothermal power requires to expand the exploration horizon beyond what is currently done in the traditional oil and gas sector. This includes drilling through the basement rock, usually hard granites, where traditional drilling tools are not suitable. The boundary between sedimentary and basement rocks acts as a strong reflector for traditional geophysical techniques limiting the ability to map the subsurface basement structures. In this study, we develop a fully fluid driven system that provides high ROP in hard granites as compared to traditional polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, and that generates controllable seismic source signal. Learnings from previous projects like ORCHYD have shown that combining shearing and percussion actions improve the rock cutting process, greater than pure shearing action supplied by PDC bits. By actively controlling the energy of the percussion action, we provide detectable source signal of the seismic waves generated by the drill bit which are used for illuminating the reservoir by processing the seismic waves acquired by geophones placed at the surface. The tool’s performance is also tested in lab environment. |