Laser Rock Drilling by a Super-Pulsed CO(sub 2) Laser Beam.

Xu, Z. ; Reed, C. B. ; Parker, R. A. ; Gahan, B. C. ; Figueroa, H.

Technical Information Center Oak Ridge Tennessee

关键词: Rock drilling;    Carbon dioxide lasers;    Cutting;    Laser beams;    Excavation;   

RP-ID  :  DE200343913

学科分类：工程和技术（综合）

美国|英语

来源: National Technical Reports Library

【 摘 要 】

High power carbon dioxide lasers have successfully been used in drilling or cutting engineering materials such as metals, polymers and ceramics over the years. Can a carbon dioxide laser be used to efficiently drill different rocks in a deep gas well. Research sponsored by US Department of Energy has been carried out to answer this question. This paper will report the study results of using a super-pulsed CO(sub 2) laser beam to drill rocks. A 6 kW CO(sub 2) laser operated at superpulse mode was used to carry out the tests. Both linear tracks and deep holes were produced on the rocks. The energy required to remove a unit volume of rock, specific energy, was determined. Test results show that superpulsed CO(sub 2) laser beam can be efficiently used to drill deep, large diameter holes in petroleum rocks with the assistance of purging gas.