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Fatigue Of Drill Pipes Used In Horizontal Directional Drilling, Feibai Ma

Doctoral Dissertations

Fatigue is the most common cause of mini-HDD drill rod failure. It can occur at stress levels far below the normal operating stress in most drill stem components. Fatigue failures occur because the drill rod, after it has been forced into a curved path, undergoes a cyclic bending stress oscillating from tension to compression in concert with the other stress components caused by torque, thrust, or pullback.

When a rod breaks underground, there is considerable extra cost caused by the delay in “fishing” out the broken rod as well as the cost of replacing the rod. On the other hand, …

Trajectory And Window Width Predictions For A Cased Hole Sidetrack Using A Whipstock, Harshad Prakash Patil

LSU Master's Theses

The Trackmaster system manufactured by Smith Services consists of a multi-ramped whipstock and a trimill assembly used to perform a sidetrack from a cased well. Smith Services has observed evidence that the trimill assembly may prematurely leave the face of the whipstock and build excess inclination and dogleg severity or may fall into the original well immediately after leaving the end of the whipstock ramp thus creating a need to predict the borehole trajectory for sidetracking operations. The goal of this project was to predict the borehole trajectory and the window profile cut in the casing by the sidetracking equipment …

A Re-Evaluation Of Geopressured-Geothermal Aquifers As An Energy Resource, Jeremy Scott Griggs

LSU Master's Theses

The search for more efficient and economical forms of energy generation is a continual process. Natural gas production and electricity generation from geopressured-geothermal aquifers is an unconventional hydrocarbon source that has long been unproductive due to its marginal economics and lack of technological certainty. This thesis demonstrates that, based on modern technological competencies and economic constraints, geopressured-geothermal energy now maintains a viable future as an alternative domestic energy source.

Evaluation Of New Methods For Processing Drilling Data To Determine The Cause Of Changes In Bit Performance, Jaime Solano

LSU Master's Theses

Drilling operations represent the major cost in finding and developing new petroleum reserves. Poor drilling performance when drilling deep shale and strong rocks, as evidenced by slow rate of penetration (ROP), has a significant detrimental impact on drilling costs. Also, it has been concluded that bit balling is the main cause of low ROP when drilling deep, clay-rich shale with water-based mud. In addition, it is estimated that a potential saving in drilling cost of hundreds of millions of dollars a year can be obtained if bit balling is mitigated and ROP is improved. Several methods have been developed in …