Encapsulated explosives for drilling wellbores

Abstract

Systems and methods for drilling operations may use encapsulated explosives to complement the performance of downhole cutting tools. An exemplary method may include drilling a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a downhole cutting tool; circulating a drilling fluid in the wellbore, wherein the drilling fluid comprises a base fluid and an encapsulated explosive having an average diameter of about 10 nm to about 20 microns; triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive; and detonating the encapsulated explosive proximal to a portion of the subterranean formation adjacent the downhole cutting tool.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 drilling a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a downhole cutting tool;   circulating a drilling fluid in the wellbore, wherein the drilling fluid comprises a base fluid and an encapsulated explosive having an average diameter of about 10 nm to about 20 microns;   triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive; and   detonating the encapsulated explosive proximal to a portion of the subterranean formation adjacent the downhole cutting tool.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises irradiating the encapsulated explosive with electromagnetic radiation having a frequency of about 10 6  Hz to about 10 17  Hz. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises crushing the encapsulated explosive between the downhole cutting tool and the subterranean formation. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises introducing cavitation into the drilling fluid. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive is intermittent. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive occurs upstream of the drill bit in a drill string coupled to the downhole cutting tool. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated explosive comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a liposome, a crosslinked liposome, a nanoliposome, a polymeric vesicle, a dendritic polymer, a coated nanoparticle, a coated microparticle, an impregnated nanoparticle, an impregnated microparticle, and any hybrid thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated explosive comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of thermite, octogen, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, tetranitrotoluene, an explosive nitroamine, lead picrate, mercury fulminate, nitrogen triiodide, potassium perchlorate, ammonium perchlorate, and the like, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated explosive comprises a first encapsulated explosive and a second encapsulated explosive, and wherein the first encapsulated explosive has a higher sensitivity to detonation than the second encapsulated explosive. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated explosive is a binary explosive comprising two components that are each encapsulated individually. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the two components comprise at least one pair selected from the group consisting ammonium nitrate/fuel oil, ammonium nitrate/nitromethane, ammonium nitrate/aluminum, and nitroethane/physical sensitizer. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encapsulated explosive has an average diameter of about 10 nm to about 500 nm. 
     
     
         13 . A method comprising:
 drilling a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a downhole cutting tool operably coupled to a drill string and a reservoir being coupled to at least one of the downhole cutting tool and the drill string, wherein the reservoir contains a plurality of encapsulated explosives;   circulating a drilling fluid in the wellbore;   releasing at least a portion of the encapsulated explosives from the reservoir and into the drilling fluid, the encapsulated explosives having an average diameter of about 10 nm to about 20 microns;   triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosives in the drilling fluid; and   detonating the encapsulated explosives proximal to a portion of the subterranean formation adjacent the downhole cutting tool.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein releasing the at least a portion of the encapsulated explosives from the reservoir is intermittent. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises irradiating the encapsulated explosive with electromagnetic radiation having a frequency of about 10 6  Hz to about 10 17  Hz. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises crushing the encapsulated explosive between the downhole cutting tool and the subterranean formation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises exposing the encapsulated explosive to cavitation. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein triggering detonation of the encapsulated explosive comprises contacting the encapsulated explosive with a chemical trigger. 
     
     
         19 . A method comprising:
 drilling a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation with a downhole cutting tool operably coupled to a drill string and a reservoir being coupled to at least one of the downhole cutting tool and the drill string, wherein the reservoir contains a plurality of first encapsulated components;   circulating a drilling fluid in the wellbore, the drilling fluid comprising a base fluid and a plurality of second encapsulated components, wherein the first and second pluralities of encapsulated components form part of a binary explosive;   releasing at least a portion of the first encapsulated components from the reservoir into the drilling fluid;   triggering detonation of the binary explosive by comingling the first encapsulated components with the second encapsulated components; and   detonating the binary explosive proximal to a portion of the subterranean formation adjacent the downhole cutting tool.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein releasing the at least a portion of the first encapsulated components from the reservoir is intermittent.