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A High Temperature Microelectro-mechanical Inclination Sensor for Geothermal Drilling--Silicon Designs, Inc., 1445 NW Mall Street, Issaquah, WA 98027; 425-391-8329
Mr. John C. Cole, Principal Investigator
Mr. John C. Cole, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82885
Amount: $749,224
Directional drilling, commonly used in oil and gas production, uses magnetometers and inclination sensors to measure the azimuth and inclination of the drill bit. However, for
geothermal wells, the drilling equipment must be capable of operating at much higher temperatures than for oil and gas. No miniature inclination sensor is now available to accurately measure the direction of earth gravity at such temperatures. This project will develop a family of high temperature accelerometers for measuring inclination and vibration at operating temperatures up to 300oC. With these accelerometers and other digital components, temperature-compensated inclination sensor units will be built for geothermal drilling. Phase I consisted of developing a preliminary design for a high temperature integrated circuit (IC), evaluating the performance of accelerometer sensing elements at high temperature, identifying suitable packaging methods, and designing a high temperature test system. Phase II will consist of developing the high temperature IC and building the necessary equipment for calibrating and testing the high temperature accelerometers. Single and three axis accelerometers will then be assembled and tested.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The high temperature accelerometers and inclination sensors would be available to producers of directional drilling equipment for geothermal and oil and gas drilling. They also should be useful in other high temperature industrial applications, as well as in space and military applications where high radiation dose rates are present.