Physics-based limiter designs help Utah FORGE geothermal project achieve performance gains

Over the past four years, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has funded an effort at Texas A&M University to adapt physics-based limiter design workflows into geothermal drilling. These workflows, which help operating teams mitigate the limiters that lead to downhole dysfunction, have been in use since 2020 at the DOE-funded Utah FORGE, a demonstration project aimed at developing and testing enhanced geothermal systems.

In this video interview with DC from the 2024 IADC/SPE International Drilling Conference in Galveston, Texas, Fred Dupriest, Professor of Engineering Practices at Texas A&M, explains how a physics-based approach can provide an effective framework to mitigate and address drill bit, geologic, trajectory and downhole tool challenges. He also explains how the team learned from issues seen in the first three wells drilled as part of the project and applied them to the design of the FORGE 16B (78)-32 well, drilled in 2022. Specifically, he discusses how the team was able to reduce the large decline in ROP observed in early footage of the first three wells.