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Application Of Plasma In Oil & Gas Industries

Conference Paper · November 2020

DOI: 10.3997/2214-4609.202053013

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Application Of Plasma In Oil & Gas Industries
A. Khalilnejad1, R. Lashkari1
1
Sahand University of Technology

Summary
Efforts have been made to increase efficiency and reduce costs in all industries, especially in the oil and gas
industries. Today, the use of modern technologies to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of work in all parts
has been welcomed. One of the discoveries of recent decades is the discovery of the fourth phase of the matter
called Plasma and its use in various industries. In this paper, we will discuss the plasma-derived technologies in
the oil and gas industry and researches in this field. Considering the wide application of plasma in different parts
of the oil and gas industries, this paper focuses on the research and operational work carried out in the areas of
creating protective coatings on metals, cutting and milling of the casing and tubing, wettability changes,
wellbore stimulation, perforation & EOR. Significant progress has been made in many of these parts and is
expected to affect a large part of the oil and gas industries in the near future.

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Introduction

Plasma is the fourth state of matter. Inside plasma there are electrons,ions of various charge
states,neutral atoms and molecules. These particles move around inside the plasma with kinetic energy
& exchange energy when they collide with each other. The collision can be either elastic or inelastic
[11]. Two major types of plasma exist, thermal and cold plasma.The (thermal) hot plasma is generated
at high pressure by providing energy to the gas with AC or DC current and can reach a temperature of
about 100,000 °K . The cold plasma is produced at low pressure and low temperature [10,8].

With the discovery of plasma by Sir William Crookes in 1879 and use it in industrial in recent decades
to produce fluorescent lamps (1927, General Electric Co), the production of diamonds (1953, Werner
Schmellenmeier), and etc . Efforts for application of plasma in the oil and gas industries was increased.
[2,3]. Drilling of rocks is a costly and time-consuming process, and must use heavy-weight and high-
strength drill collars for drilling. Choosing the right method without the physical touch of the bit with
the formation and drilling it without the need to overcome the mechanical strength of the rock can be a
suitable method for drilling these formations. When using the heat generated from the plasma, one of
the three modes of crushing, melting, or vaporizing the rock occurs, that any of these methods can be
used for drilling.

Due to the need for near the vacuum pressure to create cold plasma and high pressure of wells, the use
of cold plasma is not possible and the use of hot plasma is a suitable method for drilling. In the drilling
discussion, a plasma torch is used to create a hot plasma. In a plasma torch, the plasma can also be
produced by passing a high-speed gas (200-800 m/sec) through two electrodes and ionizing it.

The plasma torch itself is also transferred and non-transferred .In the non- transferred plasma torch, the
electrodes are placed inside the body of the device, and plasma arc is formed inside the device, but in
the transferred plasma torch, the material that should work on it, replaces one of the electrodes within
the body of the plasma torch, causing a plasma arc creats outside of the device.

Fig1. Plasma torch

One of the problems that leads to lower plasma efficiency is the need for water to cool the electrodes
because the temperature of the plasma is higher than the melting temperature of the electrodes (3600-
3000 ° C). The advantage of using the transferred plasma torch is the formation of a plasma arc outside
the body of the device and decreases of heat losses by the cooling water of the electrodes, and lowered
use of electrodes. Usually this method is used in cutting metal plates or creating protective coatings, but
in well drilling , due to the low electrical conductivity of the rocks, the non-transferred plasma torch is
used. As a result we can use hot plasma generated with a non-transferred plasma torch, in order to heat
the rock & drilling formations [5].

The plasma is produced at a voltage between 10-500V and 100-1000 Ampere (in the 2006 Zhukov
experiment, the highest average plasma temperature reached 20,000 °K at a pressure of 200 bar).
according to the specification of Caterpillar generators that installed in the drilling rig, or on the trucks
of the well Service Companies, one of them can supply the energy needing to operate the plasma torch,

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Saint Petersburg, Russia, 6-9 April 2020
and it can run in the hole for drilling by coiled tubing or wire line without the need of drilling rig [7].
Generally, the electrodes metal are copper, tungsten, graphite, silver and molybdenum, and the used gas
is oxygen, nitrogen, argon, helium and air [4]. Diatomic gases such as oxygen and nitrogen can store a
significant amount of energy when heated, but with the rapid consumption of electrodes in diatomic
gases, inert gases such as helium and argon are often used [7].

Fig2. transferred (a) & Non transferred (b) plasma torch

In 1964, Mr. Bouche was able to make a plasma torch and test it for melting and spallation various
rocks. In this test, the plasma had the best performance in granite drilling [7]. Today, few companies
are working on making a plasma bit, one of the most successful of which is the GA drilling company
in Slovakia. In the drilling with plasma method, thermal characteristics such as the melting point,
boiling point and the thermal conductivity of the rock are determinants for penetration rate, not
mechanical properties as by mechanical drilling . due to melting or vaporizing of rock particles in this
method conventional sampling methods to determine formation characteristics can not be used. 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 called Real time data acquisition (RTDA). after
determining the type of rock the tool set optimal heat output for the plasma torch [6].

Fig3. Spectra analysis hierarchy

In this section, discussed several studies that have been carried out on the application of plasma for
drilling.

One of the disadvantages of using a plasma torch is the thermal expansion of the rock and the formation
of thermal fractures in the wellbore, which can reduce the wall strength considerably. In an experiment
conducted by Mohsen Bazargan, Agust Gudmundsson, 2015,it was found that 7 to 10 second plasma
torch traction with cylindrical specimen of granite and limestone sharply reduced the elasticity modulus
of them and visible cracks generate on their surface, and further thermal expansion causes these
fractures to be expanded . In addition, effective stresses in high pressure layers can change the wellbore
shape from its original to be buckled shape. One of the proposed solutions is the use of foam drilling

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Saint Petersburg, Russia, 6-9 April 2020
fluid. The main feature of using such foam is based on the low thermal conductivity of this drilling
fluid. A large thermal conductivity can easily transfer the plasma torch temperature to the wellbore and
this can creat some problems including fracture propagation, melting the rocks around the wellbore and
increasing the skin effect.however the temperature invaded zone may bring advantages such as
reduction of the rock strength. Therefore controlling the heat propagation in the desired direction is a
main challenge which can achieve by optimum selection of drilling foam and synchronization of plasma
torch interaction with rock textures in order to improve the rate of penetration in hard rocks [1].
In a study conducted by Paul Rivenberg (2016), the use of gyrotron as a generator of plasma was
investigated using radio frequency (RF) to melt rock (basalt and granite) and well drilling. With this
technology the high temperature melted rock will seal the walls of the borehole,and the high pressure
from the increased temperature will prevent collapse. Another advantage of this device is the ability to
shape the beam to respond to local pressure and create elliptical hole with the major axis corresponding
to the anisotropy of the forces, essentially recovering the stregth of a round hole in a symmetrical force
field [9].

Research teams are now investigating the creation of in-situ casing during drilling operations by
deposition of metal powder on the walls of the well in order to enhance its stability. It can 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 [6].

Fig4. Granite under plasma arc during 9 seconds

Methods & Procedures

Using the plasma drilling method with all advantages has been done only in laboratory experiments
over the past years. there are many operational problems that need to be solved before it can be used
for drilling a well. Here we presents the advantages & operational problems of using this method:

• Plasma drilling advantages

1. High drilling efficiency (70%)

2. No need to change BHA
3. Reduced trips
4. High ROP
5. Reduce total well drilling time
6. Decrease total well Cost
7. Reduce string friction & erosion
8. Decrease enviromentally issues
• Plasma drilling operational disadvantages

1. Small borehole
2. Explosion possibility in hydrocarbon content formations
3. Rapid consumption of plasma torch electrodes

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Saint Petersburg, Russia, 6-9 April 2020
 4. Due to Plasma temperature exceeds electrodes melting temperature and need to cool electrodes,
drilling efficiency decrease
5. High consumption of water due to vaporization
6. Instability of wellbore due to forming thermal fractures & changing its original shape
7. Incapability of using LCM to control loss due to thermal destruction of LCM additives
8. Possibility of Complete loss due to formation of thermal fractures
9. Change cement program to main job & top job Due to possibility of cement loss in fractures in
conventional cement job
10. Restriction in using oil based mud due to evaporation, danger of explosion & high cost of making
mud in lost zones
11. Incapibility of control mud rheology because of thermal destruction of mud material aaditives
12. Possibility of forming caving or partially fusion & evaporizing in the wellbore in mixture
formations
13. formation damage due to melting of rock minerals in the thermal invaded zone
14. Incapibility to use cold plasma in high pressure wellbores due to need for very low pressure or
vacume conditions
15. Restriction in using wireline or coiled tubing for drilling due to instabillity of wellbore & possibility
of stuck or fishing.

Conclusion

Considering the operational issues that inconter in plasma drilling method and acceptable results that
have been achieved by the use of plasma in oil and gas industries. This technology could be used only
in well services such as perforating, casing & tubing milling and EOR. This method has many problems
in drilling deep wells with a variety of lithological structures. Currently, wells that have a stable
formation with using air, foam or water as drilling mud (complete loss in these wells is not an issue and
control loss or mud rheology characteristic control is not as important as conventional wells ) might be
a good choice for application of the plasma for drilling. However, drilling other types of wells with this
method is not possible yet.

References

[1] Bazargan, M. [2015] Wellbore instability during plasma torch drilling in geothermal reservoirs,
ARMA 15-0214
[2] Gajdos, M et al. [2001] Plasma technology Process Diversity + Sustainability, federal ministry of
education and research germany, november.
[3] Gajdos, M. [2015] Use of plasma-based tool for plug and abandonment, SPE-175431-MS
[4] Gomez, E. et al. [2009] Thermal plasma technology for the treatment of wastes: A critical review.
Journal of Hazardous Materials. 161 (2–3).
[5] Guivan, T. [2013] Arc Discharge, plasma torch (different approaches) contribution of M.Guivan to
Teregeo intermediate report, Celim Slovakia.
[6] Kocis, I. et al. [2015] Utilization of electrical plasma for hard rock drilling and casing milling,
SPE/IADC.
[7] Maurer, W C. [1968] Novel Drilling Techniques
[8] Minaev, A N, et al. [2014] Functional plasma electrolytic oxidation coating for offshore structures,
ISOPE
[9] Rivenberg, P. [2016] Plasma Science and fusion center, Rock, drill bit, microwave: a new path
through the earths crust.
[10] Tendero, C. et al. [2006] Atmospheric pressure plasmas: A review, Spectrochimica Acta PartB,
61, 2006, 2-30.
[11] Wong, C S. Mongkolnavin, R. [2015] Elements Of Plasma Technology book , springer,pages
1-2 .

Saint Petersburg 2020. Geosciences: Converting Knowledge into Resources

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