Geologic material in a borehole is weakened by accelerating a projectile into contact with the material. A drill bit is then used to bore through the weakened material. To accelerate the projectile, an endcap is placed in a conduit using a source of gas. The endcap isolates the conduit from the external environment. A projectile is then positioned in the conduit above the endcap. Movable members within the conduit are operated in sequence to enable single endcaps and projectiles to be moved into the conduit. Gas from the conduit is evacuated into an annulus between the conduit and a surrounding conduit, and a propellant material is provided into the conduit. The propellant material applies a force to the projectile to accelerate the projectile into contact with the geologic material. A fluid is circulated down a second annulus outside of the surrounding conduit to contact the drill bit and remove debris.

A multivessel system is provided for drilling an ultra-deep borehole into the Earth's lithosphere. The system includes a plurality of gate valves, a first pressure vessel configured with a first vessel elevator that engages and holds a train section as the first vessel elevator moves in the first pressure vessel along a portion of a length of a drill train channel; a second pressure vessel configured with a second vessel elevator that engages and holds the train section as the second vessel elevator moves in the second pressure vessel along another portion of the length of the drill train channel; a third pressure vessel configured with a smooth cylinder bore and a burn gas ejection piston configured to hold and connect the train section to the drill train; an input-output separator configured to segregate an exhaust waste gas up-flowing from the borehole from a gas being supplied into the borehole; and a drill train clamp configured to engage and hold a drill train in a borehole.

A multivessel system is provided for installing a production train in an ultra-deep borehole into the Earth's lithosphere. The system includes a plurality of gate valves and a plurality of pressure vessels, including a first pressure vessel having a first vessel elevator configured to engage and hold a production train section as the first vessel elevator moves in the first pressure vessel along a portion of a length of a train channel, a second pressure vessel having a second vessel elevator configured to engage and hold the production train section as the second vessel elevator moves in the second pressure vessel along another portion of the length of the train channel, and a third pressure vessel, with all three pressure vessels being configured to be water cooled. The system includes a train clamp configured to engage and hold the production train in the borehole. Each of the first vessel elevator and the second vessel elevator includes a clamp configured to engage and hold the train section as the respective first vessel elevator or the second vessel elevator moves along the train channel.

Spherical projectiles may be used to form one or more holes in geologic or other material. These holes may be used for drilling, tunnel boring, excavation, and so forth.

A method and apparatus for controlled charging of blasting boreholes with a flowable/pourable explosive, in particular in open-cast mining, includes: providing a radar head with at least one radar unit operated in a non-rock penetrating frequency range; arranging the radar head on a pulling element; introducing the radar head into the borehole in that the radar head is lowered into the blasting borehole in an arrangement at the pulling means from an upper aperture opening of the blasting borehole; and detecting at least one measurement value comprising a base distance of the radar head from the blasting borehole base and/or a charge level distance to determine the charge level of the explosive in the blasting borehole; and/or comprising the shape of the jacket section over at least a portion of the depth of the blasting borehole by means of the operation of at least one of the radar units.

A blast hole measurement and logging apparatus, which generally comprises a housin configured to operatively house a solid-state LiDAR sensor array configured to transmit and steer pulses of light into a blast hole by shifting a phase of the pulses through the array to compile volumetric data of the sensor's field-of-view. Also included is a processor configured to receive the volumetric data from the LiDAR sensor, the volumetric data indicative of an internal volume of the blast hole which is useable in calculating an explosive charge according to a blast plan, the processor configured to store and/or transmit the volumetric data.

There is provided a method for well construction comprising the steps of: a first phase of the well construction, in which a bottom hole assembly, BHA, with a first drill is used for drilling, and a conductor casing is lowered into the well and cemented; a second phase of the well construction, in which a second drill is used for drilling, wherein a production adapter base, PAB, is installed in parallel with lowering a blowout preventer, BOP; and a third phase of the well construction in which a third drill is used for drilling, for the steps of landing and geonavigation inside a reservoir.

Systems for forming or extending a tunnel or shaft within a working surface may include a ram accelerator assembly for accelerating a projectile into geologic material to weaken a region of the geologic material. A cutting tool may then be used to remove the weakened material more rapidly, with lower energy use and less wear on the cutting tool than use of the cutting tool independently. A collection assembly may be used to move debris away from the working surface while the projectile and cutting operations are performed to enable generally continuous use of the system. The number of projectiles that are accelerated and the rate at which projectiles are used may be controlled based on characteristics of the geologic material and the rate at which created debris may be removed, allowing an operation to be optimized for speed, cost, stability, or other factors.

Methods for generating boreholes used for generating geothermal energy or other purposes include forming the borehole by accelerating a projectile into contact with geologic material. Interaction between the projectile and the geologic material generates an acoustic signal, such as vibrations within the formation, that is detected using acoustic sensors along a drilling conduit, at the surface, or within a separate borehole. Characteristics of the geologic material, such as hardness, porosity, or the presence of fractures, may be determined based on characteristics of the acoustic signal. The direction in which the borehole is extended may be modified based on the characteristics of the geologic material, such as to create a borehole that intersects one or more fractures for generation of geothermal energy.

One or more ram accelerator devices may be used to form one or more holes in geologic or other material. These holes may be used for drilling, tunnel boring, excavation, and so forth. The ram accelerator devices propel projectiles which are accelerated by combustion of one or more combustible gasses in a ram effect to reach velocities exceeding 500 meters per second. An endcap may be deployed within a tube of the ram accelerator device to prevent incursion of formation pressure products such as oil, water, mud, gas, and so forth into a guide tube of the ram accelerator. During operation the projectile penetrates the endcap and at least a portion thereof impact a working face. In some implementations a purge gas may be used to form a ullage between the endcap and the working face.