LANDSLIDE – Next Generation Well Bore-Hole Equipment for Geothermal, Oil & Gas Industries.

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£1,826,990

Sept. 30, 2022

March 31, 2024

Project _Landslide_ will pursue a world-leading innovation for global drilling operations as employed in oil, gas, and geothermal. Such operations involve the drilling well bore holes, the hole is then lined with a tubular steel casing. The casing needs to be centralised within the bore and fixed in position by pumping cement into the void between the casing and the hole walls. An essential requirement is to assure the casing is kept central to the bore hole during this operation, and this job is done by "casing centralizers"- a cage-like steel apparatus that keeps the casing from touching the sides of the bore-hole. This gives the drilling team a complete 360-degree space around the casing for applying cement. The drilling industry uses two kinds of centralizers:

**The bow-spring centralizer** **.** Slightly larger than the borehole, the spring mechanism holds the casing in place by applying pressure against the sides of the wellbore. They are often used in vertical wells as less deviance in annular space about the drill.

**The rigid blade Centalizers**. These have no give and are more commonly used in deviated or horizontal well bores where weight of the casing would cause a bow spring centralizer to crush. Casing centralization ensures complete cement flow around the casing. Without this, gas/fluid migration can severely compromise well integrity leading to costly downtime due to necessary rework or worse, be life threatening & impart severe long lasting environmental damage as observed in Gulf of Mexico Deep Water Horizon disaster. Additionally to keeping casings away from the bore-hole in the high-pressure environment, centralizers are expected to assist in quicker run-in hole of casing. However, centralizers typically made from steel offer significant frictional resistance against the casing run-in hole. Various paint--on low-friction coatings and other engineering solutions have been tried, but wear off almost immediately or provide no advantage. Project _Landslide_ will explore an entirely new and untried concept of utilising solid low-friction linings ( similar to the technology used in car braking pads) to provide a controlled friction surface that is tough, with excellent compressive strength but also able to cope with the high temperatures and immense shear forces. _Landslide_ will unite a world-leading maker of centralizers, with leading experts from the brake and friction industry to transfer technology to create a new set of low-friction products offering clear cost, performance, safety, and environmental advantages in a highly competitive £500M global market