| Title | Directional Drilling Operations Hot Dry Rock Well EE-2 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brittenham, Terry L.; Williams, R. Edward; Rowley, John C.; Neudecker, Joseph W. |
| Year | 1980 |
| Conference | Geothermal Resources Council Transactions |
| Keywords | Drilling; Hot Dry Rock; USA; New Mexico; Fenton Hill; Operations; Directional Drilling; Engineering |
| Abstract | Directional drilling of deviated geothermal wells in hot granite poses several severe equipment and instrumentation problems. The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal reservoir analyses indicate that boreholes with a significant inclination provide access to hydraulic fracturing of a large volume of reservoir rock. The first well (Energy Extraction No. 2; EE-2) of a pair of wells planned to test this concept was successfully directionally drilled at the Fenton Hill, NM, experimental site. The well was deviated by 180° in the azimuth and the bottom part was drilled at 35° to the vertical. The downhole directional drilling equipment, steering tools, and operational procedures used are presented. Problems encountered were directly related to the rough drilling in the hard granite and high temperature, 275°C (530°F) at the total depth of 4.661 km (15,292 ft). Results of the EE-2 directional program were used to optimize the directional drilling plan of the second well EE-3. |