Auto Indexer Auto-Indexer for Percussive Hammers: Vane Motor Dynamometer Testing

Objectives Options associated with geothermal drilling operations are generally limited by factors such as formation temperature and rock strength. The objective of the research is to expand the "tool box" available to the geothermal driller by furthering the development of a high-temperature drilling motor that can be used in directional drilling applications for drilling high temperature geothermal formations. The motor is specifically designed to operate in conjunction with a pneumatic down-the-hole-hammer. It provides a more compact design compared to traditional drilling motors such as PDMs (positive displacement motors). The packaging can help to enhance directional drilling capabilities. It uses no elastomeric components, which enables it to operate in higher temperatures (greater than 250 degrees F). Current work on the motor has shown that is a capable of operating under pneumatic power with a down-the-hole-hammer. Further development work will include continued testing and refining motor components and evaluating motor capabilities.

Targets/Milestones Complete testing current motor - 12/31/2010 Make final material and design decisions - 01/31/2011 Build and test final prototype - 04/31/2011 Final demonstration - 07/31/2011 Impacts The development of the motor will help to achieve program technical objectives by improving well construction capabilities. This includes enabling high-temperature drilling as well as enhancing directional drilling.

A key component in the auto indexer is the drive motor. It is an air-driven vane motor that converts the energy stored in the compressed air to mechanical energy. The motor is attached to hammer-like components which impart an impulsive load onto the drive shaft. The impulsive force on the drive shaft in turn creates an indexing action.

A controlled test was performed to characterize the performance of the the vane motor for a given pressure. The Sandia dynamometer test station was used to determine the performance of the motor for a given input pressure.

Data and Resources

Field Value
DOI 10.15121/1150314
accessLevel public
bureauCode {019:20}
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dataQuality true
identifier https://data.openei.org/submissions/3027
issued 2012-01-01T07:00:00Z
landingPage https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/178
license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
modified 2021-08-19T19:21:04Z
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programCode {019:006}
projectLead Greg Stillman
projectNumber FY13 AOP 3.4
publisher Sandia National Laboratories
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Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • air-driven-vane-motor
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • auto-indexer
  • ckan
  • directional-drilling
  • down-the-hole-hammer
  • drilling
  • dynamometer
  • geo
  • geoss
  • geothermal
  • high-temeprature-drilling
  • high-temperature-drilling-motor
  • high-temperature-tools
  • national
  • north-america
  • percussive-hammer
  • united-states
isopen True
license_id cc-by
license_title Creative Commons Attribution
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
maintainer Jiann Su
maintainer_email jsu@sandia.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-21T19:55:37.907888
metadata_modified 2025-11-21T19:55:37.907893
notes Objectives Options associated with geothermal drilling operations are generally limited by factors such as formation temperature and rock strength. The objective of the research is to expand the "tool box" available to the geothermal driller by furthering the development of a high-temperature drilling motor that can be used in directional drilling applications for drilling high temperature geothermal formations. The motor is specifically designed to operate in conjunction with a pneumatic down-the-hole-hammer. It provides a more compact design compared to traditional drilling motors such as PDMs (positive displacement motors). The packaging can help to enhance directional drilling capabilities. It uses no elastomeric components, which enables it to operate in higher temperatures (greater than 250 degrees F). Current work on the motor has shown that is a capable of operating under pneumatic power with a down-the-hole-hammer. Further development work will include continued testing and refining motor components and evaluating motor capabilities. Targets/Milestones Complete testing current motor - 12/31/2010 Make final material and design decisions - 01/31/2011 Build and test final prototype - 04/31/2011 Final demonstration - 07/31/2011 Impacts The development of the motor will help to achieve program technical objectives by improving well construction capabilities. This includes enabling high-temperature drilling as well as enhancing directional drilling. A key component in the auto indexer is the drive motor. It is an air-driven vane motor that converts the energy stored in the compressed air to mechanical energy. The motor is attached to hammer-like components which impart an impulsive load onto the drive shaft. The impulsive force on the drive shaft in turn creates an indexing action. A controlled test was performed to characterize the performance of the the vane motor for a given pressure. The Sandia dynamometer test station was used to determine the performance of the motor for a given input pressure.
num_resources 1
num_tags 19
title Auto Indexer Auto-Indexer for Percussive Hammers: Vane Motor Dynamometer Testing