The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 31, 1977
Filed:
Apr. 29, 1976
Applicant:
Inventor:
Lowell Z Shuck, Morgantown, WV (US);
Assignee:
The United States Energy Research and Development Administration, Washington, DC (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
E21B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
166259 ; 175 11 ; 166245 ;
Abstract
The method of the present invention relates to providing controlled directional bores in subterranean earth formations, especially coal beds for facilitating in situ gasification operations. Boreholes penetrating the coal beds are interconnected by laser-drilled bores disposed in various arrays at selected angles to the major permeability direction in the coal bed. These laser-drilled bores are enlarged by fracturing prior to the gasification of the coal bed to facilitate the establishing of combustion zones of selected configurations in the coal bed for maximizing the efficiency of the gasification operation.