Drill String Radar (DSR)      

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Drill String Radar™ (DSR) is a core Stolar technology under development that is applicable to most geological and geotechnical drilling applications including exploration drilling, coal bed methane (CBM) drilling, oil and gas reservoir drilling, and dewatering and monitoring well drilling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSR is a specialized radar developed for use on a drill string (vertical drill pipe, horizontal directional drill pipe, or coiled tubing drilling systems) to provide sensitivity to nearby structures and geologic layering.  DSR uses electromagnetic waves to detect and range planar boundaries of rock formations above and below the drilled strata and to estimate the orientation of fractures and bedding plains in layered materials such as coal and sandstone.  It can be used for detection, navigation and mapping through unknown strata and is a necessary tool for advanced measure-while-drilling (MWD) and log-while-drilling (LWD) applications..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DSR design is highly adaptable to many sizes and grades of drill pipe and can be used in conjunction with the industry’s existing downhole sensors.   DSR also will retrofit to existing infrastructure; it does not require re-engineering or modification of existing equipment.

DSR revolutionizes and provides the following measurable benefits to horizontal directional drilling (HDD):

·        In concert with Stolar’s Data Transmission System, DSR provides real-time sensing and navigation to reduce drill-time and costly side-tracking.  Earlier methods of HDD required trial-and-error sidetrack boreholes to keep the borehole within the coal beds or oil reservoirs.  Examination of drilling logs suggests that sidetrack drilling can increase borehole length by as much as 50%.

·        DSR increases the horizontal distance potential, minimizing the number of wellbores required to access a given area.

·        DSR’s accuracy allows more efficient degassing of coal beds and CBM recovery with less environmental impact and damage to the coal seam than other methods.  Degassing before mining reduces mine ventilation costs and dramatically increases mine safety.  Estimates suggest that 70% of the existing methane can be recovered from the coal bed using horizontal degas boreholes.  With DSR technology mining company estimates of ventilation energy savings range between 10 and 30%.

·        Accurate HDD increases borehole contact with the production zone, increasing the production level.  This also reduces the amount of water produced by a well (water produced largely when the upper or lower bounding strata are pierced by side tracks).  When coupled with acoustic gas flow intensification, accurate HDD reduces the need to fracture a coal seam.  Reduced seam fracturing preserves the integrity of the coal seam and greatly simplifies mining once the seam has been degassed.

·        DSR void detection capabilities aid drill-based mapping of old and abandoned mine workings, and confirm the integrity of barrier pillars.  Knowing where abandoned and possibly water-filled mine voids exist relative to current mining operations not only is important to the safety of underground miners, it has recently become heavily regulated by government agencies such as MSHA.  In most cases, mining operations must prove to MSHA that they can maintain a specific safe distance from old workings to continue mining.  This safe distance can only be verified if the location and extent of the old workings is known; this is difficult given the age of many old workings and the lack of mapping and documentation.  DSR can detect or locate any mine workings in proximity to the drill hole without having to directly intersect the void.  Without DSR hundreds of boreholes must be drilled in an attempt to pinpoint the location of the old workings where a few drill holes may have sufficed.