Submitted To. SEISMIC SOURCE Ray Engelke and Robert 0. Hedges
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Title: CHEMICAL ENERGY SYSTEM FOR A BOREFIOLE SEISMIC SOURCE Author(s): Ray Engelke and Robert 0. Hedges Submitted to. Los Alamos National Laboratory. an affirmative actionlequal opportunity employer. is operated by the University of California for the US. Oepartment of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36. By acceptance of this article. the publisher recognizes that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive. royalty-free license 10 publish or reproduce the published form of this contnbution. or lo allow others to do so. for U.S. Government purposes. The Los Alamos National Laboratory identify this article as work performed under the auspices of the US. Department of Energy. Form No. 836 A5 ST2629 la91 1 CHEMICAL ENERGY SYSTEM FOR A BOREHOLE SEISMIC SOURCE Ray Engelke (DX-IO) and Robert 0. Hedges (EES-4) Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N. M., 87544 Abstract We describe a detonation system that will be useful in the seismological examination of geological structures. The explosive component of this system is produced by the mixing of two liquids; these liquids are classified as non-explosive materials by the Department of Transportation. This detonation system could be employed in a borehole tool in which many explosions are made to occur at various points in the borehole. The explosive for each explosion would be mixed within the tool immediately prior to its being fired. Such an arrangement ensures that no humans are ever in proximity to explosives. Initiation of the explosive mixture is achieved with an electrical slapper detonator whose specific parameters are described; this electrical initiation system does not contain any explosive. The complete electrical/mechanicaI/explosive system is shown to be able to perform correctly at temperatures I 120' C and at depths in a water-filled borehole of I 4600 ft (i.e., at pressures of 12000 psig). DISCLAIMER Thii report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thcreof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsi- bility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Refer- ence herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recom- mendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. 2 1. Introduction In this report, we discuss the development of a detonation system that will be useful for the seismological examination of geological structures below the earth's surface. The methodology to be discussed is based on the detonation of a liquid explosive. This liquid explosive has the unusual characteristic that it is produced by the mixing of two other liquids that are classed, for some purposes, as non- explosive; e.g., for shipping purposes within the United States. Seismology is the science of characterizing the subterranean earth by interpreting the way in which known acoustic waves travel through the various strata and formations in the earth. Seismology is a major tool used by the oil industry to identify new reserves and to better characterize existing reserves. Since the inception of this technology there has been an ongoing search for acoustic sources, receiver/detector devices, and interpretive aids that will maximize the volume and resolution of the rock masses being imaged and minimize the cost and risk required in obtaining this information. The exponential increase in available computing power in recent years and, particularly, the acquisition of super computers by the major oil companies has vastly increased the ability of seismologists to process and interpret seismic data. This processing ability has also greatly increased the search for improved data and techniques. One of the improved techniques is crosswell tomography, which introduces a seismic source in an existing borehole and places receivers in surrounding boreholes at various depths. If multiple source pulses are then introduced at varying known depths, it is possible to obtain a two-dimensional picture of the earth's structure between the "source" borehole and a "receiver" borehole; if multiple receiver boreholes are present an approximate three-dimensional picture can be obtained. As the amount of acoustic energy available at the source is increased, the boreholes can be more widely spaced and the volume of earth that can be evaluated increases rapidly with an accompanying reduction in the unit cost of the information. Over the years, one of the important sources of acoustic energy for seismology has been explosives. While very effective sources of seismic energy, conventional explosives have a number of aspects that can cause concern. Some of these are: 3 (1) the administrative complexity of shipping and handling explosive materials, (2) the hazardous nature of accidental and untimely detonation due to careless handling, and (3) in the case of tomography, the difficulty of obtaining a large number of repetitive detonations at different known depths. Another salient problem with explosives is the perception that any explosive is generally dangerous and uncontrollable, no matter what the circumstances surrounding its application. In order to deal with these considerations, the “Los Alamos Explosive Seismic Source” concept was xnceived at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The realization of this concept would use the experience with high temperature, high pressure downhole tools obtained from the Los Alamos Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy Project coupled with the explosive technology and expertise that has been developed to support the nuclear weapons programs at Los Alamos. The basic concepts were that: (1) two or more non-explosive constituents would be stored in the downhole tool, (2) these constituents would be combined into an explosive mixture after being transported into a borehole, and (3) this explosive mixture would be detonated by the use of a non-explosive initiator; e.g., an electrical slapper detonator. Further, the constituents would be precisely mixed as a large number of small explosive charges which would each be detonated soon after being manufactured. This concept addressed all of the concerns arising from the use of conventional explosives, since explosives would only exist when the tool had been lowered into a borehole and operation was started. It was hoped that the materials to be mixed could be liquids, since the packing factor for liquids would be very efficient and because the mixing of liquid constituents would be much easier than the combining of solids. A disadvantage of a liquid organic-chemical explosive is that its mass density is lower than the best solid explosives and, thus, so is its energy per unit volume. In 1988, Los Alamos made a proposal to the joint DOElCrosswell Seismic Forum for funding to start conceptual design on a downhole seismic source that would provide a thousand or more repetitive explosive pulses for each excursion into a wellbore and that would use a liquid explosive obtained by mixing other non- explosive liquid materials. The DOE Bartlesville Project Off ice (BPO) provided the initial funding to begin a feasibility study for the design. Since that time, there has 4 been funding provided by the DOUBPO upon recommaodations by the Crosswell Seismic Forum. From the time of early discussions and proposal of this Explosive Seismic Source system, there has been a question of the possibility of damage caused by the explosions to existing, healthy wellbores, especially if they are producing wells. This was one of the first issues that was addressed during the early feasibility studies. Extensive computer analyses were performed which demonstrated that cemented casings in good condition would not be damaged by the detonation of charges of the size proposed for use in this seismic source.' In this report, we describe work on the properties of a detonation system that fits the above description. As noted above, a primary a-priori constraint on the form of the explosive in this detonation system was that it should consist of a mixture of non- explosive liquids and that this mixture should itself be a liquid: here we define a non- explosive liquid as one that the Department of Transportation treats as such. Earlier research at LANL and elsewhere2& suggested that liquid nitromethane sensitized by an organic (amine) base was a possible candidate material. The bulk of this report is a discussion of work which demonstrates that it is feasible to use such a liquid mixture in borehole seismic applications. There are several aspects to this demonstration. Among these are: (1) can a two-liquid mixture be found that will propagate detonation in a ize appropriate for use in a well-logging tool, (2) given item (1)--can the explosive mixture be initiated by some method, adaptable for use in a tool in a borehole, which itself does not make use of explosives, and (3) given items (1) and (2)--over what range of pressure and temperature characteristic of borehole environments will the liquid explosive mixture and its accompanying detonation system perform satisfactorily? Below,