Recently, according to the notification from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Professor Liu Qingyou, Secretary of CDUT’s Party Committee and Vice Director of the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, has been granted special fund for the research on National Major Research Instrument. The research is titled Development of an Intelligent Downhole Robot Drilling and Well Completion Simulation Experiment System, with Grant No. 52327803 and a direct cost of 8.83 million yuan. According to the reports, it was the first time that CDUT has been granted the special fund for research on National Major Research Instrument by NSFC. For Professor Liu Qingyou, it represents a significant breakthrough in the field of intelligent drilling and completion since the approval of the Key Project Fundamental Research on Safe and Efficient Drilling of Deep Shale Gas in the Sichuan Basin in 2019 by NSFC (Grant No. U19A2097).

The Key Project aims to develop devices such as Continuous String Coiled Tubing Unit, Downhole Robot, Smart Drill Bit and Large-Sized Core Sample Loading System. It will focus on the research and development of a complex structure well downhole robot for drilling multi-branch wells, along with an explosive fracturing and well completion simulation experiment system. This system will simulate intelligent drilling and completion functions for deep unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, considering multiple factors and working conditions, including “4000-meter depth, 150°C temperature, 70MPa pressure and Φ139.7~238.0-mm variable wellbore.” The goal is to address two scientific challenges, “dynamic characteristics of multi-branch well drilling and completion systems” and “mechanism of the safety control on sealing and explosion of high-temperature, high-pressure, and large-sized wells.” Additionally, it aims to overcome two technical challenges, “real-time transmission and control underground” and “development of key devices,” thereby achieving a fundamental breakthrough from nothing to something in the field of intelligent drilling and well completion experimental systems in China. The system is mainly composed of the following five modules:

1. Continuous Tubing and Data Transmission System;

2. High-temperature and High-pressure Simulated Multi-branch Wellbore;

3. Explosive Fracturing;

4. Key Devices (such as smart drill bits and downhole robots);

5. Auxiliary Module.

Intelligent Downhole Robot Drilling and Well Completion Simulation Experiment System