Laser rock drilling by a super-pulsed CO2 laser beam

Abstract

High power carbon dioxide lasers have successfully been used in drilling or cutting engineering materials such as metals, polymers and ceramics over the years. Can a carbon dioxide laser be used to efficiently drill different rocks in a deep gas well? Research sponsored by US Department of Energy has been carried out to answer this question. This paper will report the study results of using a super-pulsed CO2 laser beam to drill rocks. A 6 kW CO2 laser operated at superpulse mode was used to carry out the tests. Both linear tracks and deep holes were produced on the rocks. The energy required to remove a unit volume of rock, specific energy, was determined. Test results show that superpulsed CO2 laser beam can be efficiently used to drill deep, large diameter holes in petroleum rocks with the assistance of purging gas.High power carbon dioxide lasers have successfully been used in drilling or cutting engineering materials such as metals, polymers and ceramics over the years. Can a carbon dioxide laser be used to efficiently drill different rocks in a deep gas well? Research sponsored by US Department of Energy has been carried out to answer this question. This paper will report the study results of using a super-pulsed CO2 laser beam to drill rocks. A 6 kW CO2 laser operated at superpulse mode was used to carry out the tests. Both linear tracks and deep holes were produced on the rocks. The energy required to remove a unit volume of rock, specific energy, was determined. Test results show that superpulsed CO2 laser beam can be efficiently used to drill deep, large diameter holes in petroleum rocks with the assistance of purging gas.