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Geothermal Resources , Drilling for

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

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Definition of the Subject

The word “geothermal” comes from the combination of the Greek words gê, meaning Earth, and thérm, meaning heat. Quite literally, geothermal energy is the heat of the Earth. Geothermal resources are concentrations of the Earth’s heat that can be extracted economically for some useful purposes. All existing applications of geothermal energy use a circulating fluid to carry the heat from depth to its use at the surface, and this means that holes must be drilled for access to or introduction of these fluids. Drilling, therefore, is a major component of any geothermal project’s development.

This entry describes the overall process of drilling, with emphasis on the ways in which geothermal drilling differs from other kinds of drilling, such as that for oil and gas. The entry also focuses on the drilling of relatively large-diameter, high-temperature holes, such as those most often used to supply electrical generating plants, and specifically does not address the...

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Abbreviations

Barrel:

An extremely common unit of volume in the drilling industry, equal to 42 US gallons or 178 l.

BHA (bottom-hole assembly):

The assembly of heavy drilling tools at the bottom of the drill string; normally includes bit, reamers, stabilizers, drill collars, heavy-weight drill pipe, jars, and other miscellaneous tools.

Blow out:

Uncontrolled flow of fluids from a wellhead or wellbore.

BOP (blow-out preventer):

One or more devices used to seal the well at the wellhead, preventing uncontrolled escape of gases, liquids, or steam; usually includes annular preventer (an inflatable bladder that seals around drill string or irregularly shaped tools) and rams (pipe rams or blind rams: pipe rams seal around the drill pipe if it is in the hole, blind rams seal against each other if the pipe is not in the hole).

Dewar:

A double-walled container or heat shield, similar to a vacuum flask, which insulates a piece of equipment from high temperature.

Directional drilling:

Deliberately drilling on a controlled non-vertical trajectory, usually done to improve productivity.

Drill collars:

Heavy-walled sections at the bottom of the drill string; provide stiffness, vibration control, and most of the weight on the bit.

Fish:

Any part of the drill string, or other tools, accidentally left in the hole; also, fishing – trying to retrieve a fish.

H2S (hydrogen sulfide):

A poisonous gas sometimes found in geothermal drilling.

LCM (lost-circulation material):

Any material used to plug formation fractures to avoid loss of drilling fluid.

Stand:

More than one joint of drill pipe screwed together; when tripping, pipe is handled in stands to avoid making and breaking every connection – for a coring rig, a typical stand is four 3 m joints (12 m), but for a large rotary rig, a stand is three 10 m joints (30 m).

Sub:

Generic name for part of the drill string; for example, instrumentation sub carries instruments for navigation or logging; crossover sub allows different threads to be connected; bent sub forms a slight angle between the axis of the drill string and the axis of a downhole motor, allowing directional drilling.

Trip:

Any event of pulling the drill string out of the hole and returning it.

Twist-off:

Failure mode in which some element of the drill string parts, leaving at least one portion of the drill string in the hole.

Under-pressured:

Describes the pore pressure of in situ fluids during drilling as less than the static head of a water column to the same depth in the wellbore.

Washout:

A hole or leak in the drill string; often caused by fatigue failure, but very dangerous because the flow of high-pressure drilling fluid through the leak will quickly enlarge it to the point of parting the drill string.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sandia National Laboratories, retired, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    John T. Finger

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  1. John T. Finger
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Finger, J.T. (2012). Geothermal Resources , Drilling for. In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_310

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