Drilling has been an integral part of defense community weapons effects testing for over 40 years. Hard target defeat programs have required specialized drilling technology in the creation of test targets and in the monitoring of weapons tests, that can only be accomplished by directional drilling. Unfortunately the cost of conducting directional drilling, the typical use of large volumes of water during drilling and its subsequent impact on the test environment, and the detrimental effects of the movement of large drilling rigs over the test sites has resulted in the abandonment of the benefits that could be derived from accurately placed instrumentation. The proposed Light Autonomous Directional Drilling System is transportable by a pick-up truck, drills dry, is cost effective to use, and other than the air compressor, the hardware is man portable. The system builds on proven off-the-shelf pneumatic drilling technology and existing position location navigation technology. The key innovation necessary to prove the feasibility of this system is a downhole Pneumatic Advancing Rotational Steering System. A prototype design has been developed and described in this proposal. Phase I involves the refinement of the design, manufacture of the prototype and laboratory testing of its capabilities to prove feasibility. The proposed system (the Pneumatic Advancing Rotational Steering System) has direct application to the drilling of far reaching horizontal oil production wells. Horizontal, slim-hole, and coiled tube drilling started to pick up in activity in the late 1980's and have been on a steady increase of use ever since. Difficulties with coiled tubing include limitations on the amount of thrust and torque which can be transmitted from the surface and the size and expense of their rigs. The proposed systems eliminates these constraints. UTD will work with existing Oil and Gas company partners in the commercialization of this new technology.
