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Well, the power requirements are just insane for one. I don’t understand how you generate that kind of power without just straight up being more expensive than

Well, the power requirements are just insane for one. I don’t understand how you generate that kind of power without just straight up being more expensive than an HDD drilling rig, which is the type of rig that’s used to drill these sorts of notes today. Drilling 1’ to 8’ “tunnels” underground is done every day for utilities. Check out the Horizontal Directional Drilling market. (We make tools for this industry as well) Another thing that just sort of seems silly about their concept is the treads. You’d think it would look a lot more like other boring machines and have treads that contacted the cylindrical wall of the bore at 3 or 4 points to maximize traction.

konschubert 4y ago
I just googled "HDD drilling" and I have to say - if I did not know that this exists, I would not have believed that this can work. Impressive.
- Ken_At_EM 4y ago
  Ha! That's cool. Why would you have not believed that it could work?
  - konschubert 4y ago
    I would have thought that the hole will just collapse onto the drill?! No way you’ll just wash out the rubble! And that there would be WAY too much friction to insert a long metal tube in the end. Also, that metal tube would need to bend while being pushed through?! That’s massive friction, impossible to overcome, I would have thought. Honestly I still think that I have not yet fully understood how this works and I am missing parts of the picture. Because it still seems impossible.
    - Ken_At_EM 4y ago
      Pressurized fluid is used to keep the hole or well from collapsing. The fluid equalizes the formation pressure and keeps the hole from collapsing. This is called "mud engineering," Yes, it's a real thing, look it up! :) Steel is really surprisingly flexible. You can press on a 30 foot length of 6" steel in the middle and it will deflect a lot. Modern drill strings can make 90' turn in as little as 100' to 200' feet and still rotate. Friction is an issue. Friction is combatted with lubricants in the fluid (mud) and devices that are called agitators. Basically big vibrating tools that break the friction with small physical movement. The drilling industry may not be the hot thing but there is literally 175 years of continuous innovation, A/B testing, and incremental improvement at work here.
    - Ken_At_EM 4y ago
      Check out this U-Zontal, this is an example of the shape of a well that a modern Oil and Gas well can drill. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidgibsonreports_gibsonreports-u-zontal-by-chk-in-south-texas-activity-6671148256828960768-fKUm/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidgibsonreports_gibsonrepo...

konschubert 4y ago

I just googled "HDD drilling" and I have to say - if I did not know that this exists, I would not have believed that this can work. Impressive.

Ken_At_EM 4y ago
Ha! That's cool. Why would you have not believed that it could work?
- konschubert 4y ago
  I would have thought that the hole will just collapse onto the drill?! No way you’ll just wash out the rubble! And that there would be WAY too much friction to insert a long metal tube in the end. Also, that metal tube would need to bend while being pushed through?! That’s massive friction, impossible to overcome, I would have thought. Honestly I still think that I have not yet fully understood how this works and I am missing parts of the picture. Because it still seems impossible.
  - Ken_At_EM 4y ago
    Pressurized fluid is used to keep the hole or well from collapsing. The fluid equalizes the formation pressure and keeps the hole from collapsing. This is called "mud engineering," Yes, it's a real thing, look it up! :) Steel is really surprisingly flexible. You can press on a 30 foot length of 6" steel in the middle and it will deflect a lot. Modern drill strings can make 90' turn in as little as 100' to 200' feet and still rotate. Friction is an issue. Friction is combatted with lubricants in the fluid (mud) and devices that are called agitators. Basically big vibrating tools that break the friction with small physical movement. The drilling industry may not be the hot thing but there is literally 175 years of continuous innovation, A/B testing, and incremental improvement at work here.
  - Ken_At_EM 4y ago
    Check out this U-Zontal, this is an example of the shape of a well that a modern Oil and Gas well can drill. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidgibsonreports_gibsonreports-u-zontal-by-chk-in-south-texas-activity-6671148256828960768-fKUm/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidgibsonreports_gibsonrepo...