Abstract
Abstract
This paper presents the industry's first successful high-power laser field deployment and the strategy that led to this success, including lab-to-field transformation. This paper will also give an overview of the intensive research conducted over the past two decades, recent field deployment and plan forward.
Laser technology is used widely in almost every industry, from medical to the military, due to its unique features, such as precision, reliability, control and accuracy. The oil and gas industry capitalized on low-power laser applications such as sensing and measurements, but high-power laser applications remained beyond the realm of upstream. The program described in this paper aims to resolve it. To reach this goal, a strategic plan was designed around four pillars: laser-rock interaction, optomechanical design, energy delivery, and sustainability. The first pillar focused on developing a comprehensive experimental database of laser-rock interactions, which included tests on all types of rocks under different conditions. The second and third pillars concentrated on tool development and energy transmission via optical fibers. The last element analyzed how high-power laser applications enable sustainability in subsurface applications. The result is a comprehensive experimental database with thousands of tests and a robust field unit that can withstand harsh field environments. The system's design is enclosed, providing a safe and risk-free operation. The system consists of a laser energy generator, nitrogen tank, vacuum truck and tool.
The success of the intensive research conducted over the past two decades led to the development of the first high-power laser system for field applications and unlocked several upcoming applications.
All rock types have been successfully tested under different conditions, including in-situ tests in liquid and gas environments. The experimental plan was designed systematically and divided into phases, from fundamentals to advanced. Prototype tools were designed, tested, and upscale for field deployment. The tools combined optical and mechanical components. Several iterations, modifications, and improvements to the tools were applied until the optimized version was achieved. The laser source generates the laser beam (energy) at the surface. The power is transmitted via protected and shielded fiber-optic cables to the downhole tool, which is designed to control the geometry of the beam. High-power laser technology has been proven to effectively penetrate and drill in all types of rocks regardless of their strength and composition
High-power laser technology is an innovative alternative to current methods such as perforation, descaling and drilling. It is cost-effective, compact and environmentally friendly, providing sustainable operations. The advantage of the technology is that several applications can be performed with a single energy source (the laser), and only the tool needs to be changed for different applications.