Launching during the summer of 2024, the Wells for the Future Consortium will seek to develop the tools to design and deliver the wells needed for today’s and tomorrow’s energy systems safely and efficiently. The consortium will focus on developing the open-source tools to design and deliver the wells needed for today’s and tomorrow’s energy systems safely and efficiently, training the drilling engineers of tomorrow and enabling a future where wells can produce for centuries. The consortium will help oversee and contribute models to the Open Source Drilling Community (OSDC), and then utilize these and other models to develop estimation, identification, and control methodologies to optimize the drilling process.
M.Sc. and Ph.D. students in the consortium will:
- develop reduced order coupled models for real-time utilization and high fidelity coupled models to understand higher order dynamics. Model validation with field data provided by consortium members and public data sets.
- develop robust estimation techniques to improve real-time understanding of the subsurface. Development of prototype tools to enable testing with field applications.
- collaborate on industry and international projects to explore integration of novel drilling technologies including new bit body designs and hybrid bit technologies.
- address industry challenges in drilling operations through robust identification and development of mitigation strategies and systems.
- conduct lab scale testing and demonstration of new bit-rock technologies and fluids.
- apply industrial data to developed models, estimation techniques and control systems.
If you are interested in learning more and being added to the mailing list, please email Dr. Roman Shor at roman [dot] shor [at] tamu [dot] edu with your name and affiliation.
Events
Biannual Research Update (Spring 2025): A half-day research update will be planned for the spring of 2025 to bring together interested industry partners and students for a collaborative feedback and ideation session. Details will be shared in early 2025.
Research Symposium (October 4th, 2024): In early October, a half-day research symposium and consortium meeting were held, with all industry members who were in contract research negotiations in attendance. The event included a summary of relevant past research and research proposals for near-term projects. A summary, slide decks, and a recording of technical talks are available upon request for industry members considering joining the consortium. Please get in touch with Dr. Shor for more information.
Announcement Webinar (May 3, 2024): This webinar occurred on the morning of Friday, May 3, 2024. If you would like a copy of the welcome package, which includes the consortium by-laws and proposed initial projects, or if you would like to request a link to the recording, don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Shor.