An electrocrushing drill bit, comprising a bit body, an electrode coupled to a power source and the bit body, the electrode having a distal portion for engaging with a surface of a wellbore; a ground ring coupled to the bit body proximate to the electrode and having a distal portion for engaging with the surface of the wellbore, the electrode and the ground ring positioned in relation to each other such that an electric field produced by a voltage applied between the ground ring and the electrode is enhanced at a portion of the electrode proximate to the distal portion of the electrode and at a portion of the ground ring proximate to the distal portion of the ground ring. wherein the ground ring further includes a fluid flow port; and an insulator coupled to the bit body between the electrode and the ground ring.

Disclosed herein are various embodiments of systems for drilling and operating a well which may have dual uses. The well may be drilled and operated as a geothermal well using a hybrid approach where a heat transfer fluid is injected into a hot rock formation but is not removed, and heat is extracted using a closed loop method. The geothermal well is then evaluated for use as a carbon dioxide sequestration well. In other embodiments, the well is drilled as a carbon dioxide sequestration well and then evaluated for its potential for generating geothermal energy using a hybrid approach where supercritical carbon dioxide is injected into a hot rock formation but is not removed, and heat is extracted using a closed loop method. Both horizontal and vertical wells are disclosed, in sedimentary rocks and in basement granite.

Disclosed herein are various embodiments of systems for drilling and operating a well which may have dual uses. The well may be drilled and operated as a geothermal well using a hybrid approach where a heat transfer fluid is injected into a hot rock formation but is not removed, and heat is extracted using a closed loop method. The geothermal well is then evaluated for use as a carbon dioxide sequestration well. In other embodiments, the well is drilled as a carbon dioxide sequestration well and then evaluated for its potential for generating geothermal energy using a hybrid approach where supercritical carbon dioxide is injected into a hot rock formation but is not removed, and heat is extracted using a closed loop method. Both horizontal and vertical wells are disclosed, in sedimentary rocks and in basement granite.

A method for designing lithology-specific drill bits. The method creates an experimentally verified multiphysics model to predict drilling into site-specific rock formations. A physics-based, Eulerian-Lagrangian computational modeling framework to predict particle flow and tribological phenomena. The method uses this multiphysics model to generate virtual drilling data and then generates a machine learning enabled surrogate model of the physics-based model using the data from virtual drilling to provide design charts for drill bits.

An apparatus comprises a sub-section of a pulse power drilling assembly including a transformer encircling a center flow tube. The transformer comprises at least one primary winding that encircles the center flow tube and a core that encircles the at least one primary winding. The core comprises an insulative material and an electrically conductive material, wherein the insulative material is positioned relative to the electrically conductive material to create at least one break to prevent an electrical path for current within the electrically conductive material during operation of the transformer. The transformer comprises a secondary winding that encircles the core.

An apparatus comprises a sub-section of a pulse power drilling assembly including a transformer encircling a center flow tube. The transformer comprises at least one primary winding that encircles the center flow tube and a core that encircles the at least one primary winding. The core comprises an insulative material and an electrically conductive material, wherein the insulative material is positioned relative to the electrically conductive material to create at least one break to prevent an electrical path for current within the electrically conductive material during operation of the transformer. The transformer comprises a secondary winding that encircles the core.

Based on measurements of forces and rotational velocity experienced by a drill bit during drilling, drilling behavior is detected and identified. Measurements of forces on a drill bit including torque on bit (TOB), weight on bit (WOB), etc. and measurements of rotational velocity (rotations per minute or RPM) are acquired in real time at the drill bit. Various measurements are correlated to produce related combinations of measurements, such as WOB-RPM, TOB-RPM, and RPM-time. Based on fitting between the combinations of measurements and curves corresponding to predetermined torsional behavior trends, torsional, axial, and rotational behaviors are classified as functional or dysfunctional. A dysfunction identifier then identifies drill bit dysfunctions, such as high-frequency torsional noise, cutting-induced stick-slip, friction-inducted stick-slip, pipe-induced stick-slip, three-dimensional (3D) coupled vibrations (including subsets high-frequency torsional oscillations and low-frequency torsional oscillations), low-frequency torsional vibration, high-frequency torsional vibration, etc.) based on the functionality of the torsional, axial, and rotational behaviors. Based on drill bit dysfunction identification, dysfunctional drilling behavior can be mitigated.

Methods of forming a polycrystalline diamond compact for use in an earth-boring tool include forming a body of polycrystalline diamond material including a first material disposed in interstitial spaces between inter-bonded diamond crystals in the body, removing the first material from interstitial spaces in a portion of the body, selecting a second material promoting a higher rate of degradation of the polycrystalline diamond compact than the first material under similar elevated temperature conditions and providing the second material in interstitial spaces in the portion of the body. Methods of drilling include engaging at least one cutter with a formation and wearing a second region of polycrystalline diamond material comprising a second material faster than the first region of polycrystalline diamond material comprising a first material. Polycrystalline diamond compacts and earth-boring tools including such compacts.

A drill bit for directional drilling includes a main body and a wear component. The main body is unitary and formed of a first material. The main body includes opposed outer surfaces and a periphery extending between the opposed surfaces. The wear component is unitary and is formed of a second material that is harder than the first material. The wear component comprises a retention portion and a wear portion. The retention portion is positioned within the first material of the main body. The retention portion includes opposed retention surfaces that, moving in a direction inward from the periphery of the main body, taper apart from each other toward the opposed outer surfaces of the main body. The wear portion extends outward from the retention portion relative to the periphery of the main body. The wear portion is substantially planar and is configured to form an outer wear edge.

Systems and methods for visualizing data from radially-oriented look-ahead sensors coupled to a drill bit are disclosed herein. A system comprises a processor, a memory, and a data analysis module. The data analysis module is operable to receive formation information from each of a plurality of formation sensors coupled to a downhole drilling system, the formation information being associated with one or more properties of a formation at a depth in front of the downhole drilling system, receive angular information from one or more orientation sensors coupled to the downhole drilling system, the angular information being associated with the formation information, compile sensor data based on the formation information and the angular information, and generate a visualization based on the sensor data.