Disposable Fibers Improve Drilling.(Brief Article)

A technique using an inexpensive disposable fiber optics telemetry system to relay real-time information about the drilling process is capturing the attention of the oil and gas industry. "We have come up with a unique system using throwaway fiber optics that relays information about what is going on at the end of the drill string as it is happening," says David Holcomb, a researcher at DOE's Sandia National Laboratories, who devised the technique. "Information is instantaneously sent to the surface about ternperatures, pressure, chemistry, and rock formation--all obtained without stopping the drilling operation."

Traditionally, drilling would have to be stopped so …