Themes for MSc thesis relevant for Badger Explorer:
      Rotary Drilling; Drill bit design for the range of formations to be
      penetrated, low power, torque, RoP, WoB and circulation rate. Reverse
      circulation. Heating, wear life, balling. Optimal process control---
      e.g. Mean Specific Energy. Drilling cuttings - Size distribution,
      dependency, control and energy efficiency
   2. Circulation; Availability of water---will there be enough, will it be
      chemically balanced, can it be released from shales, what will happen
      in a gas sand, will it migrate through the fractured packed off
      borehole above
   3. Compaction; Transport of a sludge, effect of vibration on a particle
      pack - vibration devices, residual porosity versus formation types
      and size distribution.
   4. Borehole expansion; Elastic / Plastic / Fracturing of a borehole
      versus formation properties for the overburden and reservoir.
   5. Borehole Stability; Mechanical (thermal) / chemical---collapse
      limits, reactive shales

Best Regards,

Tom K. Steinskog
Research Director - Well Construction
IRIS - International Research Institute of Stavanger AS
Postboks 8046
4068 Stavanger

Direct line:  (+47) 51 87 50 69
Company:  (+47) 51 87 50 00
Mobile:        (+47) 913 73 879
Fax:              (+47) 51 87 52 00