I-Corps: Self-guiding drilling tool for the oil, gas and geothermal industries

I-Corps：用于石油、天然气和地热行业的自导向钻井工具

• 批准号: 2100640
• 负责人: Eduardo Gildin
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2100640&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Self; guiding; drilling; tool

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the benefits for the energy industry, especially the US oil & gas and geothermal industries. The energy sector is ramping up its digital transformation process as other sectors (e.g. automotive or information technology) have already seen tremendous progress in digitalization. Over the next five years, the markets for traditional drilling tools and digital oilfields are expected to reach $5 billion and $30 billion, respectively. Furthermore, with the increasing clean energy demand and regulations regarding eco-friendliness, the global geothermal energy market is projected to reach $9 billion by 2025, with a significant share held by North America. The proposed, automated, self-guided drilling tool targets this market to reduce the public, environmental, and economic hazards associated with deep oil and geothermal well development. Improved drilling operations will keep the overall drilling rig's footprint low, significantly minimizing sidetracks and non-productive time. Consequently, the intended semi-autonomous process will ultimately reduce costs and energy consumption resulting in more environment-friendly drilling and improved safety.This I-Corps project will explore the commercial potential of technology stemming from previously funded drilling automation research. The proposed self-guided drilling tool is superior by at least two automation levels compared to the current market tools, resulting in significant cost savings and improved safety. Developing a tailored prototype and a functional tool requires a much better understanding of potential customer needs. This I-Corps project aims to discover critical customer needs through comprehensive customer interviews to guide prototype development. Proving technical and economic feasibility of the product will benefit automated drilling operations and open up avenues for implementing the technology in other aspects of process optimization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是对能源行业的好处，特别是美国石油天然气和地热行业。能源部门正在加快其数字化转型进程，因为其他部门(例如汽车或信息技术)已经在数字化方面取得了巨大进展。未来五年，传统钻井工具和数字油田的市场规模预计将分别达到50亿美元和300亿美元。此外，随着清洁能源需求的增加和有关环保的法规，到2025年，全球地热能市场预计将达到90亿美元，北美将占据相当大的份额。拟议的自动化、自动导向钻井工具瞄准这一市场，以减少与深层石油和地热井开发相关的公共、环境和经济危害。改进的钻井操作将使整个钻机的占地面积保持在较低水平，显著减少侧钻和非生产时间。因此，计划中的半自动过程最终将降低成本和能源消耗，从而实现更环保的钻井和更好的安全性。这个i-Corps项目将探索来自以前资助的钻井自动化研究的技术的商业潜力。与目前的市场工具相比，建议的自动导向钻井工具至少有两个自动化级别的优势，从而显著节省了成本并提高了安全性。开发定制的原型和功能工具需要更好地了解潜在的客户需求。这个i-Corps项目旨在通过全面的客户访谈来发现关键客户需求，以指导原型开发。证明该产品的技术和经济可行性将有利于自动化钻井操作，并为在工艺优化的其他方面实施该技术开辟了途径。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。