Development status and prospects of key technologies for ultra-deep continental drilling equipment

Abstract:

As drilling depths extend to the 10000-meter level and beyond， factors such as high temperature， high pressure， high in-situ stress， ultra-long drill strings， and long-period continuous operations are coupled. The principal challenge facing ultra-deep continental drilling equipment has shifted from improving individual equipment performance indicators， such as load capacity and power， to the synergistic enhancement of comprehensive operational capability and system reliability under complex and extreme working conditions. From the perspective of equipment system evolution， this paper analyzes the development requirements of ultra-deep continental drilling equipment and systematically reviews the state-of-the-art of key technologies， including automated drilling rigs， pipe handling and storage， energy saving and storage， and intelligent safety operation and maintenance， while also addressing the special requirements of high-quality coring equipment for scientific drilling. Currently， ultra-deep continental drilling equipment has gradually evolved from stand-alone performance enhancement， such as high load and high torque， toward automation， complete-set configuration， and intelligence. However， for drilling at 10000 m and beyond， prominent problems remain， including insufficient multi-equipment collaboration capability， weak capability for continuous handling and condition monitoring of ultra-long drill strings， and inadequate dynamic energy optimization. Looking ahead， ultra-deep continental drilling equipment should shift from "stand-alone capability improvement" to "system capability reconstruction." Targeting full-process efficient， safe， continuous， and low-consumption operations， priority should be given to developing high-efficiency drilling equipment systems centered on "one-button" multi-equipment collaborative control， software-hardware modular integration， automation-intelligence fusion， and downhole autonomous driving technology. This will promote the evolution of ultra-deep continental drilling from "surface-equipment-dominated， stepwise operation" to "surface-downhole collaboration， full-process closed-loop control， and autonomous continuous operation，" providing a reference for the system construction and key-technology breakthroughs of future ultra-deep continental drilling equipment.