SPE/IADC-173016-MS

Utilization of Electrical Plasma for Hard Rock Drilling and Casing Milling
Igor Kocis, Tomas Kristofic, Matus Gajdos, Gabriel Horvath, and Slavomir Jankovic, GA Drilling AS

Copyright 2015, SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition held in London, United Kingdom, 17–19 March 2015.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE/IADC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s).
Contents of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers or the International Association of Drilling Contractors and are subject to
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Abstract
Worldwide, the research groups have been dealing with several innovative drilling technologies. Their
common aim is to significantly decrease the overall price of the drilling process, particularly to keep the
high constant speed, energy efficiency and shorter drilling time. There are above twenty innovative
non-contact technologies at different maturity such as: laser, water jet, plasmatorch, ultrasonic, micro-
wave, and several others. However few of them reached Proof-of-the-Concept in laboratory and are
currently developed in outside testing sites. This paper presents one of such activities – development of
technology based on electrical plasma for hard rock drilling. During its development, another application
was identified – milling of steel casing and cement for well Plug&Abandonment operations. Both of these
applications are developed by the team of engineers led by the authors.
The electrical plasma-based tool changes completely from its inception the paradigm of the drilling as
well as casing milling. The most important advance in comparison to conventional plasmatorch technol-
ogy is that the electrical arc with temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees Kelvin heats directly the
surface, especially the radiation component, with minimalized heating of intermediate gas (the interme-
diate gas flow in conventional plasmatorches reduces the efficiency of heat transfer into the rock).
Moreover, the arc creates area-wide, relatively homogeneous heat flow from spiral arc on the whole
surface for high-intensity disintegration process. Compared to conventional plasmatorch technology,
electrical plasma-based technology allows the use of electrohydraulic phenomenon, generating shock
waves for the destruction and transport of disintegrated material. System also allows obtaining electrical
and/or optical characteristics of the arc in the interaction with the rock to derive indirect sensory
information (e.g. online spectroscopy for logging while drilling.).
This paper includes the nature of challenges in both application areas – hard rock drilling and casing
milling, the description of the developed solutions, the results obtained until now, possibilities of some
spin-off technologies using the same core technology concluded by expected impacts. The technology has
been tested on various rock types including sandstone, limestone, halite, granite and quartzite. Currently,
the demonstration prototype is being tested for drilling of testing borehole in the quarry.
2 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

Introduction
The presented non-contact concept was published first time at International Geothermal Days in 2009
(Kocis, 2009) as an innovative tool for accessing sources of geothermal energy stored deep under the
Earth surface. During the initial period of the development, the team was focused on choice of the most
appropriate alternative approach of rock disintegration. Laser was not chosen due to the spot-like acting
which might be used only for slim holes or enhanced by scanning which increases the time needed for
operation. Water jet, chemical plasma and plasma channel drilling was also rejected due to set of
significant drawbacks related to supply of high pressure working fluid, or maintenance of suitable
operational temperature window.
Based on this analysis, the high-energy electric plasma technology fulfils most of the requirements for
continuous hard rock drilling operations. Since this period, set of prototypes were manufactured and tested
in both laboratory and external conditions. This effort attracted the attention of O&G industry and initiated
the Joint Industry Project (JIP) in 2013. Until now, six industrial partners joined the JIP; including four
O&G operators, one drilling service provider and one drilling equipment producer (Ridell, 2014).
The original scope of the JIP was to develop plasma-based drilling solution for hard rock drilling.
However, during this years’ of development process, the application for steel and cement milling, mainly
for the purposes of Decommisioning&Abandonment (D&A) started to be targeted. To enable the
plasma-based solution entering the growing market of Decommissioning in short-term period, only minor
modifications of the tool needs to be done.

The challenges addressed

Hard rock drilling

The rotary drilling is based on the direct contact of the drilling bit with a rock, and transferring the
workloads - torque and weight on bit using drill string and bottomhole assembly (BHA). Hard-to-drill
applications have long challenged the limits of drill bits performance, demanding impact and abrasion
resistance, which typically means sacrificing penetration rate for durability. Difficult drilling formations
are laden with transition zones and conglomerates, and serve as the “proving grounds” for advancing bit
technology, where the objectives is always the same: drill an entire hole interval in a single run at optimal
rate of penetration (ROP). Reducing number of trips to change bit or to replace it to another type saves
rig time and money. Hard rock and abrasive formations can cause vibration-induced damage that reduce
bit and cutter life, resulting in low ROP, long drilling time, and escalating drilling costs.
To eliminate these drawbacks, we need reliable and preferably on-line information. The logging while
drilling (LWD), as well as surface logging systems – mud and cutting analysis are extensively used, but
in fact these systems have definite limitations in capacity and speed of communication. The design of
modern BHA components and existing theory and models for BHA and drill string dynamics allows
minimizing and in many cases excluding the negative effects of vibrations. The problems still exists in
hard, especially unconsolidated rocks and high temperature (ⱖ 200°C) environments. (Gelfgat, 2012)
The current challenges in the area of hard rock drilling include:
● To reduce time of drilling.
● To decrease number of trips during drilling.
● To drill long horizontal or vertical section in one run.
● To increase ROP in hard rock formation.
● To reduce consumables (mud chemicals, fuel, tubings, drill bits).
● To minimalize possibility of fishing.
● To improve hole cleaning in horizontal section and prevent settling.
SPE/IADC-173016-MS 3

Casing milling
When oil well poses a hazard to safety or the environment; or is not capable of oil, gas, or sulphur
production than is obliged to be decommissioned. For too long D&A has been viewed as an isolated
activity, entirely separate from production. Paradigm shift comes with an increasing challenge of
maximizing resources and minimizing cost, thus operators are starting to align their strategy to transition
from late life operations to decommissioning. Decommissioning is still considered an emerging activity
and is currently planned around existing concepts and technology frameworks. The principal objective is
to ensure that decommissioning is executed in a safe, environmentally sound and cost effective manner.
In general, decommissioning is an obligatory procedure for relevant subjects, mainly for O&G operators
and service providers in the post-production period.
Global decommissioning is reaching record levels, mainly in Outer Continental Shelf (US Gulf of
Mexico), and in the North Sea and Asia Pacific. Global spending in the offshore O&G decommissioning
market was total 3.95bn USD in 2013. By 2018, the market will increase to 6.13bn USD, while by the
end of 2023 the market will be worth 7.22bn USD. It is estimated that approximately 30,000 wells
worldwide will have to undergo plug and abandonment within the next fifteen years (Knedel, 2013).
Plug and Abandonment (P&A) is the largest category in D&A expenditures, representing 40-44
percent of the total and comes basically with no return on the investments. Naturally, operators worldwide
are looking for effective solutions that would cut their massive expenses on it. Currently, the well
abandonment is an absolutely critical industry that every well that is ever drilled will require plugging and
abandonment (P&A) in its lifetime. Performing P&A economically sustainable has been significantly
underestimated especially in redeveloped and older fields. As a consequence, neglected P&A operations
form a massive burden for involved O&G companies. Most wells are plugged at the lowest cost possible
following the minimum requirements set by the regional petroleum regulating agencies. By plugging wells
correctly, the risk of restoration costs, related to harmful environmental impacts as fluid or gas leakage
can be diminished. Thereby it may save costs for P&A operations.
Present P&A technology consist of few steps, which include casing milling, underream milled interval
and isolate this milled section with cement plug. If the well operator gets this wrong, results may include
water flows, gas or oil seeps from the seabed, or underground crossflow between formations. Conven-
tional casing milling process generates swarf, which must be removed from hole before cementing.
However, swarf removal can damage the blowout preventer (BOP). To avoid the well integrity issues with
a non-functional BOP and ensure safe operation on future jobs, BOP’s had to be dismantled, inspected and
repaired at considerable expenses.
The main challenges in the area of casing milling for P&A are as follows:
● To save time by casing milling in desired intervals in one run.
● To prevent annulus plugging by decreasing size of milled material.
● To accelerate casing milling process.
● To perform milling & hole enlarging in one operation.
● To avoid wear & tear on milling equipment.

Theory and Definitions

Worldwide, research groups have been dealing with more than 20 several innovative (non-conventional)
drilling technologies such as: laser, spallation, plasma, electric technologies (electron beam, electric spark
and discharge, electric current and electric arc), pellets, enhanced rotary, water jet erosion, ultrasonic,
chemical, induction, nuclear, forced flame explosive, turbine, high frequency (microwave), heating/
cooling stress and others.
The most recent effort utilizing the high energy electrical plasma is based on a set of patented
subtechnologies (Kocis, 2011, 2012, and 2013) comprising complementary systems, each tackling a
4 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

particular process. When compared to conventional plasmatorches and other thermal mentioned non-
contact approaches, this technology brings the following advances:
● The electrical arc with temperatures up to ten thousand of degrees Kelvin heats directly the surface
of the disintegrated material, especially the radiation component, with minimalized heating of
intermediate gas (the intermediate gas flow in conventional plasmatorches reduces the efficiency
of heat transfer into the material).
● The heat flow is area-wide, relatively homogeneous by applying long arc on the whole surface for
high-intensity disintegration process.
● Rotating spiral arc, in addition to the thermal influence, has “built-in” centrifugal pump function
for disintegrated material removal.
● Compared to conventional plasma torch technology, direct electric arc plasma technology allows
the use of electrohydraulic phenomenon, generating shockwaves and pressure waves. It utilizes
generated mechanical power for the destruction and transport of disintegrated material out of the
BHA area.
● The pressure waves are generated using high intensity short current pulses. These pulses are
accumulated with a time transformation of charging/discharging from 4 to 7 orders of magnitude
(s/␮s), thus allowing an increase in instantaneous pulse disintegration effect with power pulses in
scale of MW.
Fig. 1 shows the difference between the shape of the plasma of conventional plasmatorch (narrow flow
of plasma) and the presented innovative technology (area-wide flow of plasma).

Figure 1—Difference between the shape of the plasma of conventional plasmatorch – narrow plasma flow (left) and presented
innovative technology – area-wide flow (right)

Hard rock drilling

The technology is a radical abandonment of the rotary drilling technologies with connected tubes
transferring the torque. Thermal rock-disintegration is a non-contact process, without vibrations and
weight on bit. When drilling using electrical plasma, thermal characteristics (boiling point, melting point,
thermal conductivity) of the rock are determinants for ROP, not mechanical properties as by mechanical
SPE/IADC-173016-MS 5

drilling. Based on this feature, drilling in hard rocks reaches similar parameters as drilling in sedimentary
rocks and brings significant benefits in ROP. The following modes of disintegration are possible
distinguishing by plasma temperature:
● Spallation
● Melting.
● Evaporation.
Current drilling technologies either do not, or only to a restricted extent allow to perform Real Time
Data Acquisition (RTDA) using spectroscopy. The reason for this comes from the incompatibility of
spectroscopic devices with drilling mechanisms, which means spectroscopy cannot be carried out unless
the drilling string is pulled out of the well for purpose of drill bit/tool replacement or delivery of a
particular rock sample for analysis. Since the continual information of the rock composition is crucial for
the whole drilling process efficiency, a market demand has emerged and persists for such system. An
example of a long-established approach in exploration is the method of coring, which however, is
considerably more expensive and the degree of automation is small.
The technology uses thermal plasma for rock destruction. For the purpose of the real-time rock analysis
and active feedback, the same plasma source could be employed to provide material excitation to the
spectroscopic signal. The melted and evaporated rock elements are highly excited and produce radiation
of relatively high intensity. This radiation is characteristic and typical for every chemical element present
in a particular drilled substance. Detection of emitted optical signal is guided by optical fibres to
pre-processing by standard analogue spectroscopic module and finally processed on the surface by
spectroscope and sophisticated recognition by adaptive algorithms.
The analysis of the signal is performed in three ways:
● Rock type detection: this process will be done by comparison of measured signal with sampled
data of known and previously measured pattern of rock composition.
● Recognition of selected chemical elements through detection of characteristic spectral lines in
combination with sophisticated algorithm, advanced plasma-generator control and resource spec-
tral line databases.
● Real-time spectra analysis for optimal drilling mode evaluation: directly process spectra in order
to control the process. It can possibly exploit the results of the two previous analysis steps.
In this way, constant drilling together with rock analysis could be simultaneously achieved, unlike the
traditional drilling systems, which require additional devices sensitive to vibration or transporting of rock
samples to the surface. Fig. 2 shows the scheme of drilling control using spectral analysis.

Figure 2—Spectra analysis hierarchy

Casing milling
The similar approach can be utilized also in the area of casing milling. Using commercially available
technologies the casing milling can be performed via oxy-fuel flame cutters or high temperature plasma
6 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

jets that use mainly argon/hydrogen/oxygen plasmas. However, such a flame- or plasma jets have a narrow
cross-sectional interaction area with the target metal surface, resulting in good conditions for a simple
metal plate cutting but an enormous time and technological limitations for total removal of targeted metal
content. Parameters limiting the rate and effectiveness of cutting rate processes of conventional cutters are
as follows:
● Low temperatures.
● Type of plasma forming gas (usually expensive gases are used for plasma generation - explosive
or inert gases).
● Limited power density reachable through chemical combustion in jets.
● Ensuring total safety in combustion processes at high pressures.
● Low plasma-steel interaction area.

Combination of a high temperature large cross-section plasmatorch and rotating electric arc resulted in
a new generation of plasma generators which was proved to be an effective tool for casing milling. The
process using plasma technology is based on a hybridized plasmachemical and thermochemical processes
resulting fast metal degradation and removal in water steam environment. The main processes responsible
for the rate and effectivity of steel destruction/removal are:
● Oxidation
● Melting.
● Evaporation.
It is necessary to note that oxidation is active in both melting and evaporation processes up to the steel
temperature T ⫽ 3,500 K. Nowadays, several studies and techniques deal with effect of water steam and
temperature on steel removal rate at wide range of input parameters. One can conclude that temperature
and heat transfer were found to be the key factors in increasing the constant rate needed for the required
thermochemical and thermophysical processes. The proportional contribution of mentioned processes
resulting in steel removal effect therefore varies with changing temperature and bring the following basic
features:
● The oxidative part of steel structural degradation is an exothermic process - i.e. it supplies
additional energy for all steel removal sub-processes.
● Oxidation and evaporation rate of steel raises with increasing plasma temperature, power density
through the unit area at the plasma/steel interface and plasma enthalpy.
● Oxidation and evaporation rate of steel is most efficient in water steam and air/steam mixtures
from energetic point of view (in comparison with other industrial gases). (Yuan, 2013)
● There is a narrow temperature window in range 3,330-3,660 K where enthalpy liberated from
oxidative processes raises by a factor of 3. It means that three times more energy is supplied into
steel removal processes without increasing external power of the plasma generator - this window
should be valid for all types of steel alloys since at such a high temperatures all the compounds
are in gaseous phase. (Adedayo, 2010)
● Above a steel surface temperature of 3,660 K a total dissociation and evaporation is occurred -
plasma particles impact to the steel surface in form of active ionic atoms resulting in metal etching
effect. It is important not to forget that oxidation is still active during melting and evaporation
processes as well.

Presentation of results
Both applications development using plasma tool are covered within JIP. According to the API 17N
methodology of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), the both applications reached TRL 3: Prototype
SPE/IADC-173016-MS 7

tested and are ready for Environment Testing (TRL 4). Fig. 3 shows the latest version of the prototype
with carbon shield on the testing drilling rig.

Figure 3—The latest version of the prototype

Hard rock drilling

The technology has been tested on various rock types including limestone, sandstone, halite, granite and
quartzite. Both for limestone and sandstone, spallation is not very efficient due to relatively low
macroscopic internal stresses within the rock. Moreover, the quartz grains and larger quartz islands are
surrounded by fine grained limestone. According to Equation (1), limestone at temperatures higher than
1,153 K undergoes the process of thermal degradation into fine powder of CaO while CO2 is a co-product
of this reaction. This process is further decreasing the internal stresses within the rock thus prohibiting the
spallation mechanism.
(1)

For the halite, the boiling temperature of the NaCl is relatively low 1,686 K, so the highest ROP can
be achieved by the regime of evaporation. For quartzite, the most effective process for plasma drilling is
spallation due to high internal stresses caused by metamorphic changes of quartz. The tensile pulse
spalls/peels the thin film while propagating towards the substrate. Using theory of wave propagation in
solids it is possible to extract the interface strength. The stress pulse created is usually around 3-8
nanoseconds in duration while its magnitude varies as a function of jet fluency. Due to the non-contact
application of load, this technique is very well suited to spall.
Currently, the team has manufactured prototype with about 10 cm in diameter and testing was
performed in the quarry as shown in Fig. 4.
8 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

Figure 4 —Testing infrastructure in the quarry in Krnca, Slovakia

Casing milling
Among the plenty of experiments with plasma milling, one of the most relevant for this paper is the
following one: the tube simulating casing (ID/OD: 98/108 mm) was surrounded by a 10 mm thick
cemented layer and the entire structure was fixed by an outer steel tube. The inner sample tube was
grounded and connected to the outer electrode potential of the plasma device. The experiment was carried
out in air environment using a net power of P ⫽ 60 kW put to the plasma generator. The time of
experiment was 180 s. The mean heat energy density needed for the removal of steel tube segment in the
experiment was Hp ⫽ 2,7 MJ/kg (calculated from removed mass, power and time) which is by 25% lower
value than in case of steel plate placed in open air environment. This fact is caused by the heat isolation
of cemented layer surrounding the removed steel tube. On the other hand, theoretical value of heat energy
consumption of steel melting up to its melting point was estimated at Htot ⫽ 5MJ/kg. It means that
additional energy was liberated by the oxidation processes.
The cemented layer experimentally simulated real casing conditions, where heat energy of plasma
generator is accumulated in a radially closed place due to its heat conservation effect and small heat
conduction of the cement. After analysis it has been observed that the segment of inner tube was totally
removed in a length L ⫽ 0.15 m which resulted in a steel removal rate mSRT ~70-80 kg/h for a power 60
kW. Time evolution of a casing milling experiment is shown in Fig. 5. The overall experiment was held
for three minutes, however the removal of steel on one side was observed in 75 s from the beginning of
the experiment.
SPE/IADC-173016-MS 9

Figure 5—Time evolution of casing milling in a tubular sample

Thanks to steel oxidative processes, large amount of energy was released during oxidation reactions
and successfully recycled to steel removal processes. In closed vessel conditions usually the total energy
consumed for steel removal was at least by 30-40% lower than the theoretical value needed for steel
melting. As a matter of fact, penetration rate is a strong function of total power put into the steel
degradation processes and the environment. Theoretically, by increasing input power the steel removal
rate should be increased slightly linearly up to its saturation point which can be obtained experimentally
only.

Discussion
The important development step is the testing of the tool in high pressure environment. Increase in water
steam pressure causes change in total voltage requirements of the electric arc plasma and plasma
temperature. Simple linear electric arcs were investigated up to pressures p ⫽ 100 bars in underwater
welding/cutting processes (Cho, 1998). It can be qualitatively concluded that plasma temperature and total
voltage needed for arc plasma ignition raises with increasing pressure. From quantitative point of view,
Fig. 6 shows the dependence of plasma arc voltage on water steam pressure at a steam flow rate 1 g/s
derived from a concrete inter-electrode geometry. The points in Fig. 6 has been extrapolated by an
equation (2) (Zhukov, 2006) widely used in a design of thermal plasma torches, where p is the steam
pressure, G is steam flow rate, D is the diameter of cylindrical anode tube, L is the length between cathode
tip and anode end, I is the current intensity and U is the total voltage drop of the arc plasma.
10 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

Figure 6 —Plasma voltage requirements as a dependence on a water steam pressure according to the semiempirical equation (2) [6];
Dⴝ25mm, Lⴝ200mm

(2)

In other words, the plotted points in Figure 6 are valid for the geometry of our actual plasma generator.
Maximum average plasma temperature in steam plasma generators is assumed to be at about 15,000 –
20,000 K at 200 bar, which is the maximum pressure mapped for plasma torches in laboratory conditions
(Zhukov, 2006). Fig. 6 provides information about requirements for power supply design. Increasing
pressure therefore can bring theoretically the following advantages:
● With increasing voltage the total plasma power also increases thus causing higher heat energy
towards the rock/steel and higher ROP.
● Increasing pressure causes higher temperature, better heat conduction environment and higher heat
flux, which can also results in higher ROP.
Some predictive data from literatures (Zhukov, 2006) and (Cho, 1998) can also provide physical
assumptions about the plasma behaviour and its possible risks in high pressure conditions:
● Narrowing of the primary electric arc column caused by pressure increase is a trivial phenomenon
which causes raise of temperature and power density of the arc. The tool generates a hybridized
rotating arc and rotating high temperature, high enthalpy plasma flow. Presence of water can
decrease the attachment area between arc plasma and surface but with higher temperature and heat
energy transfer than in low pressure cases.
● The arc plasma in the inter-electrode gap is wall stabilized with addition of magnetic coupling. It
means that a vortex like steam (or gas) cushion is formed around the inner wall of the tubular
anode which separates the anode material from the active plasma species (high energetic and high
temperature atoms, molecules, electrons and photons). At the outlet a strong magnetic coupling is
added to generate magneto-hydrodynamic forces in order to stabilize the arc plasma and also to
separate it from the outer body of the plasmatorch. Since anode arc attachment is moving fast
around the anode outlet, the only consumable part is the cathode with stationary cathode arc
attachment. This cathode consuming will be reduced in the future by hollow cathodes maintaining
magnetically rotated cathode spots, however, it needs couples of simulations, calculations and
fundamental experiments.
● The electrode life is limited by the value of electric current, the rotation speed of the arc spot and
the number of randomly occurring micro water drops, which can cause local microexplosion of the
material on the casing wall and electrodes as well. Due to this reason, generation of steam cushion
SPE/IADC-173016-MS 11

is important to form stable environment for the plasma-electrode interface where arc plasma can
burn in safe conditions and arc spots (attachments) can rotate and relatively dry electrode surfaces.
● If the mentioned stabilizing conditions are filled, the cooling should be high enough to save the
lifetime in pressurized underwater conditions in a casing tube.
● Primary steam ⫹ arc plasma overpressures are a key factors in forming a stable steam cushion
from the water environment. When plasma is burned in a dry steam, voltage requirements should
follow the equation (2).
The subject of the further development in the area of casing milling is related to investigation of steel
alloys having high Cr content. Removal of cemented layer around an inner steel tube requires certain
minor modifications in electrode shape to achieve a forced movement of high energy active ions toward
the cemented layer. From energetic point of view in order to achieve the same removal effect and rate,
at the start of underwater steel removal a higher energy input is needed due to the generation of stable
plasma steam-water interface which ensures an appropriate physical conditions for plasma maintenance.
At the plasma-water interface a rapid steam generation causes overpressure formation which ensures dry
steam environment for the plasma-steel interaction zones. Presence of water steam accelerate steel
oxidation and removal kinetics (Yuan, 2013).

Spin-off technologies
The core of the technology offers the set of features that can be used in a variety of other applications.
These spin-off technologies have been evaluated within feasibility study, but are in lower TRL than the
presented approaches.

Fracking / stimulation
The technology can generate area-wide electropulses utilizing short (milliseconds) high-energy plasma
peaks in order of megawatts (MW). This approach can be performed between two actuators which
generate such high energy plasma pulses in the particular area of the reservoir, or alternatively from one
particular actuator. The principle is based on the ability of pulsed current generator that can deliver a large
pulsed current to the already ignited arc causing its expansion and, hence, generation of the pressure wave
acting as a piston (Fig. 7). The method can be used for extraction of shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal
bed methane. The main benefit coming from the technology is the environmentally friendly operation due
to substantially lowered amount of the used and therefore polluted/lost water.
12 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

Figure 7—Plasma piston created by rotating plasma arc

As an example of the suitable applications is tight oil recovery which is currently performed by
acidizing. In this case, plasma technology is not dependent on rock type and can be applied in rocks with
different properties and permeability when compared to acids. This engineered solution offers a prompt
penetration process reducing environmental issues caused by acids.

Well stability enhancement

Plasma-based drilling tool creates a vitrified layer in the wellbore which may serve as a temporary casing.
Its mechanical properties are, however, insufficient for long-term well stability enhancement. Therefore,
the research and development team researched the possibilities of in-situ casing creation by additive
layering technology. It is based on additive layering by deposition of metal powder on walls of the well
in order to enhance its stability. It might be used for temporary stabilisation of the well while drilling in
unstable formations or alternatively it can totally replace casing by creation of the structure with similar
properties. The third possible application is borehole repair of existing wells. The development of the
technology has been postponed since its completion will be in long-term period and it is one of the
subsequent technologies within the development roadmap. Fig. 8 shows a sample of metal structure
layered from outside on granite cylinder.
SPE/IADC-173016-MS 13

Figure 8 —Metal structure created by additive layering technology on a granite substrate

Conclusions
This paper presents current advances in the development of plasma-based tool for hard rock drilling and
casing milling. The technology is being developed with leading industrial partners within JIP.
To sum up, the presented technology changes completely from its inception the paradigm of the
drilling. It is not the incremental improvement – moderate innovation, but it is the radical innovation and
result of “out of the box” thinking:
● The system uses electric arc and water steam as a plasma-creation gas and the process ends with
pure condensed water. The cornerstone of the difference to mechanical drilling is that decisive
properties of the drilled rock are not mechanical characteristics (hardness, compressive and tensile
strength), but thermal characteristics (melting temperature, boiling temperature, viscosity of
molten rock, thermal conductivity). The positive fact is that some rock types which are difficult
to drill mechanically (basalt, granite, andesite etc.) are much easier to drill thermally.
● The drilling process is non-contact and there is no wear of the drill bits as well as no need to
transfer the torque. As a consequence, there are no friction losses from surface to down-hole
drilling system.
● There are no reaction forces on the drill bits and there are no radial forces in complex layered
structures which deviate drilling resulting in no need for weight on bit. There are no vibrations or
sticking in complicated layers.
● The System allows obtaining electrical and/or optical characteristics of the arc in the interaction
with the rock to derive indirect sensory information (e.g. online spectroscopy, etc.). This property
allows acquiring important information from drilling process and rock composition.
The above mentioned advantages in the drilling area can be supplemented by advantages for casing
milling as follows:
● Rapid structural degradation of steel enables higher ROP of milling; expected value 10 m/h is
based on the power increase of the device for field operation. When compared to conventional
approaches, this feature brings a significant advantage in time savings – when considering no
tripping operation.
● The tool shall produce tiny steel powder instead of swarf. This feature is beneficial for operation
of BOP as well as other components where swarf was usually stuck causing failures and
non-productive time.
14 SPE/IADC-173016-MS

● The non-contact approach brings improved reliability by minimization of wear and tear of the tool.
The risk of damaged rotary milling tool and its stuck parts causing time delays is significantly
reduced.
Besides casing milling application, the tool is suitable also for applications where steel needs to be
removed including milling of stuck tools in the well and lateral drilling (side-tracking). The common
advantage for both drilling and milling is the use of simple and light mobile rig in the category of coiled
tubing. Its full automation goes hand in hand with enhanced safety of the operational staff.

Nomenclature
D ⫽diameter, L, m
G ⫽flow rate, L3/s, m3/s
H ⫽heat energy needed for steel removal, MJ/kg
I ⫽current intensity, A
L ⫽length, L, m
p ⫽pressure, m/L2, Pa
P ⫽power, W
T ⫽temperature, K
U ⫽voltage, V

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