Space Business

Oil, Gas and Asteroids

February 19, 2019

What The Asteroid Mining Corporation can learn from the oil and gas industry

Aim

To what extent can
technologies from the oil and gas industry be transferred to asteroid
mining?

Introduction

This report gives a
description of technologies from the oil and gas industry that could
be used for asteroid mining and identifies where they will have to be
adapted for the asteroid mining industry. This report is important
because asteroid mining is a completely new sector for both business
and science where there are many challenges that need to be overcome
which will require new technologies to be developed.

Although mining on an
asteroid is completely different from mining and drilling here on
earth there are many technologies that could be adapted and then
used. This report relates these technologies to The Asteroid Mining
Corporation’s current plan [1].

The technologies
examined in this report are as follows:

Seismic exploration – a method of detecting oil and gas from the surface without having to carry out any drilling.
Smart drill bits – drill bits that can adapt to many different situations such as changes in rock type and structure without interventions from engineers.
X-ray fluoresence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) – methods of detecting platinum and other rare earth metals from material samples.
S and L drill wells – the ability of oil and gas companies to turn a vertical well into a horizontal well.

Seismic
Exploration

Seismic exploration is
a technology which is used in the oil and gas industry to detect the
locations of oil and gas. There are several different ways seismic
exploration is carried out, however all of these methods require
extremely large and heavy equipment to enable them to detect oil and
gas 100s if not 1000s of metres down. An example of a small set up is
shown in Diagram 1. This diagram shows a set up which is around 200
metres long but when off shore oil prospecting is taking place, a
similar set up could be 10s of kilometres long.

Diagram
1

From
Mobile seismic exploration [2].

Oil and gas are
detected by the thumper truck creating vibrations in the ground which
reflect off the boundaries between the different rock layers. The
reflections are picked up from the geophones and passed on to the
data van which analyses the data to create a 3D image of the ground
with all its layers. A geologist currently working in the oil
industry expressed the view that in theory this method could be used
to detect platinum and other rare earth metals [3]. However, the
accuracy of a large prospecting mission in the ocean for example
accepts tolerances of a few metres. Greater accuracy would be
required for asteroid mining.

There are several other
problems with this technology. The equipment used in the entire
process is extremely heavy and requires a lot of power. Often the
data received from the geophones is passed to a super computer for
analysis. If seismic exploration was used for asteroid mining, then
either the craft would have to carry a super computer to analyse the
data or have an extremely high band width connection with earth to
transfer the data back. In addition, this method does not guarantee
the detection of oil or gas every time and, even when it does detect
oil or gas, the precise location and the quantity are not identified. Explosives are often used instead of the thumper truck,
particularly when exploring the ocean floor. This approach would have
the advantage of reducing the weight of the asteroid mining mission
but the potential issues with using explosives in any space mission
are obvious.

However, this is not to
say that this method is completely useless. If the challenges and
drawbacks outlined above could be overcome, this approach could have
potential. On earth oil and gas is often 100s if not 1000s of
metres down which means the equipment used needs to be much bigger
and more powerful than what would be needed when mining an asteroid.
The Asteroid Mining Corporation (AMC) are only planning on drilling
down a few metres for their first few missions. This opens up the
possibility of using seismic exploration in a very small and compact
way that is extremely accurate in detecting platinum and other rare
earth metals a few metres down to an accuracy of a few centimetres.
At first glance the power problem seems a major concern, however a
lot of the power used in the system in Diagram 1 comes from the
thumper truck and the computer. When observing the rock just a few
metres down less powerful vibrations will be required, and less data
will be collected. Therefore, the weight and power demands for both
collecting and analysing the data will be much less. This also
means that explosives are not required.

A highly accurate and
compact version of seismic exploration could be used on the surface
of an asteroid to understand the structure, identify any fractures
that could be exploited and ultimately locate any platinum or other
rare earth metals contained in the asteroid. However, the main
technological challenge will be developing equipment which is
sufficiently accurate.

Smart
Drill Bits

Smart
drill bits have the potential to be adapted to asteroid mining. Smart drill bits used in the oil and gas industry can recognize
different rock layers while drilling and can automatically adjust
without intervention from the surface. They recognise different rock
layers and types in two ways. The first is with sensors on the drill
bit itself and the second is in the change in resistance of the
spinning drill as it drills through different a material. For example
if the drill hits bedrock the resistance in the drill will increase
because bedrock is harder to drill through[4].

This
could be extremely beneficial for asteroid mining as all operations
will occur at least a few light minutes away from Earth and it is
essential that the craft can carry out as much of the work
automatically as possible. This means that the software and hardware
for this technology has already been developed and it is possible
that very little adaptation for this technology would be required.
The range of bit designs available from the oil and gas industry is
vast and when the asteroid geological structure and content are
identified through offsite observations, the perfect drill bit can be
selected for the job. Potential problems such as over-heating, speed
and durability concerns would require less testing and analysis
because of the extensive testing already carried out by oil and gas
manufacturers. Therefore, there is much to be gained from exploiting
the extensive expertise and knowledge of drilling through different
materials which already exists in the oil and gas industry.

Once
again, however, weight, size and power requirements are major
drawbacks with this technology. For example, drill bits alone can
weigh from a 10s of kilograms to well over a tonne for one drill bit
as shown in Diagram 2.

Diagram
2

From:
Directional Drilling [5]

Diameter
of the drill bit is also a possible problem because the oil and gas
industry drill extremely wide wells compared to what the AMC are
going to want to do, at least initially, when mining asteroids. This
will limit the off the shelf options available.

However,
power requirements are reduced because a smaller drill bit comes with
a lower power requirement. If the power requirement is still too
great, then the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the drill could be
reduced to combat this issue but this obviously increases the risks
of the drill not being able to penetrate the asteroid. If the drill
bits employed by the oil and gas industry are too big and heavy, a
drill bit would have to be designed especially for the asteroid
mission but the same design principles could be used.

Smart
drill bits from oil and gas could have many benefits for the asteroid
mining industry. They could be used to create anchor points for
machinery atop the asteroid to stop the equipment from getting
kickoff because of the extremely low gravity, except where the
structure of the asteroid is not suitable for anchoring. The smart
drill bits could also be used to follow rich concentrations of
platinum material as the concentrations of platinum change throughout
the asteroid. To maximise the impact of this technology, research on
the structure of the asteroid would need to be carried out to ensure
that it is stable enough to add anchors.

X-ray
Fluoresence and X-ray Diffraction

X-ray fluoresence (XRF)
and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are similar technologies that could be
adapted to asteroid mining. They both use X-rays to excite electrons
in the first shell/level of an atom in an element. As a result, the
excited electrons are ejected, and this creates a vacancy for other
electrons in higher electron levels/shells to fill. When the electron
moves from the higher shell into the lower shell this causes a burst
of energy to be released, and this burst of energy can be detected
with a sensor. The energy released has a unique value and every
element has corresponding energy value that is unique to every
electron jump. As a result, the two values can be matched up and the
element can be identified as well as the percentage quality presence
or the number parts per millions (ppm) in the sample.

Diagram
3

From XRD
Mineralogy & XRF Analysis Presentation [6]

Diagram 3 represents a
typical XRF spectrum which shows the elements present with the
percentage quantity and its uncertainty.

X-ray diffraction (XRD)
is very similar to XRF however the X-rays are rotated around the
sample and the changes in diffraction are calculated. Because the
X-rays diffract different amounts depending on the element, the
element can be identified. The quantities measured can also be
detected because of the rotation of the X-rays.

The main difference
between XRD and XRF is that XRF can only identify the quantity of
platinum presence in a sample whereas XRD can identify exactly which
compounds of platinum are present and in which quantities. This is
important because, as shown in Table 1 below, there are many
different platinum compounds and when mining an asteroid, it might be
in the company’s best interest to target those with the greatest
economic value.

Table 1

List of the most common compounds of Platinum

Platinum(IV) Hydroxide Pt(OH)4
Platinum(II) Fluoride PtF2
Platinum(IV) Phosphate Pt3(PO4)4
Platinum(II) Nitrate Pt(NO3)2
Cisplatin (cis-platinum(II) Chloride Diammine]] PtCl2(NH3)2
Platinum(IV) Sulfate Pt(SO4)2
Platinum(IV) Carbonate Pt(CO3)2
Platinum(III) Oxide Pt2O3
Platinum(II) Sulfide PtS
Platinum(II) Selenide PtSe
Platinum(IV) Cyanide Pt(CN)4
Platinum Dioxide PtO2
Diamminedichloroplatinum(II) Pt(NH3)2Cl2
Platinum(II) Hydroxide Pt(OH)2
Platinum(IV) Perchlorate Pt(ClO4)4
Platinum(IV) Dichromate Pt(Cr2O7)2
Platinum Iodide PtI2
Platinum(II) Carbonate PtCO3
Platinum(II) Phosphate Pt3(PO4)2
Platinum(IV) Fluoride PtF4
Platinum(II) Arsenide Pt3As2
Platinum(II) Cyanide Pt(CN)2
Platinum(IV) Chloride PtCl4
Platinum(IV) Nitrate Pt(NO3)4
Platinum(IV) Iodate Pt(IO3)4
Platinum(IV) Phosphide Pt3P4
Platinum(IV) Nitride Pt3N4
Platinum(II) Chlorite Pt(ClO2)2
Platinum(III) Oxide Trihydrate Pt2O3.3H2O
Platinum(IV) Sulfide PtS2
Platinum(IV) Chromate Pt(CrO4)2

From
Endmemo [7]

The main use of XRD and
XTF technologies could be to analyse the material already mined while
drilling is going on. This analysis would allow the AMC to establish
whether the material that is being mined is platinum rich or not. They could then decide to store platinum rich material and eject the
rest of the material into space. XRD and XTF technologies would also
allow them, with the help of S and L shapes wells (see below for a
discussion of this technology) to follow high rich platinum material
in the asteroid if it follows a vein like structure.

The key advantage of
XRD and XTF technologies is that the analysis of the material can be
done onsite which is essential for asteroid mining. In addition,
these technologies are already available in small compact units.

However, there are also
two main drawbacks. The first is XRD and XRF combined do not replace
laboratory tests, they only complement them. This could be a major
problem because if the oil and gas industry are not using these
technologies as a replacement for laboratories then this might be a
warning that the asteroid mining sector. This is where further
research and testing should be done to test the accuracies of
reliability and the XRD and XRF methods.

The other major
drawback of the small compact systems is that they both require an
engineer to be onsite. This is not an option for asteroid mining,
certainly in the industry’s infancy. This means that software will
have to be developed so that these technologies can be controlled
remotely.

If these disadvantages
can be overcome, this technology could be used as the main tool for
detecting the platinum concentrations while drilling. This will add
reassurance to the mission so that the material that is brought back
from the asteroid is rich in platinum. Further research should be
made into how accurate these methods are and if they can be carried
out remotely.

S and L
Drill Wells

Diagram 4 illustrates
clearly the development of the oil and gas industry in the past 70
years. This development of capabilities and experience is why the oil
and gas industry provides such a strong model for the asteroid mining
industry.

Diagram 4

From
vertical and directional drilling
technologies [6]

Ever since the 1980’s
the oil and gas industry has been able to drill L shaped wells as
this is the most efficient way of drilling for oil and gas. This
technology could be extremely beneficial for asteroid mining
especially when the asteroid mining industry is more mature. If the
high rich platinum material is close to the centre of an asteroid
using this technology means that the same well can be used to drill
into this material at different angles. This saves time and money
because new well would not have to be drilled every time and it was
for these reasons that the oil and gas industry developed this
technology.

It is the ability of
different parts of the drill bit to rotate at different rates which
allows the L shaped wells to be drilled e.g. the left part of the
drill can programmed to drill faster or slower than the right and as
a result the well direction can be changed from vertical to
horizontal. There is no real limitation on how fast it can change
direction, however too sharp a turn could make the well extremely
unstable and the collapse of a well will have major financial
implications in terms of lost or damaged equipment and the need to
redrill the well.

S shaped wells can also
be created using the same principle and these could be extremely
beneficial when mining for rare earth metals because they could
follow the veins of platinum material. However, the oil and gas
industry avoid creating too many bends because this weakens the
strength and stability of the well.

This technology could
be adapted for asteroid mining because the S and L shape wells
combined with XRF and XRD could allow the drill to follow platinum
veins in the asteroid. The drill can also break off from the main
vertical well to drill into possible extremely rich pockets of
platinum. Because very little is known about the content structure of
asteroids, it is possible that there could be large concentrations of
iron close to the platinum deposits. The S and L shaped wells
approach would permit the circumvention of these iron deposits to
enable the mining of the platinum. This would avoid the mining of
uneconomical iron and prevent any unnecessary shortening of the life
of the drill bit.

Of course, this
technology would have to undergo significant testing and adaptions
before it could be used for asteroid mining. However, the fact that
the drill diameter required for asteroid mining would be much smaller
than that used for drilling for oil and gas could lead to some major
benefits. e.g. there could be many more bends in the well without
threatening its stability because of the smaller diameter and depth.

S and L shape wells
could be used for following high concentration veins of platinum
throughout the asteroid which would save time drilling a new well.
They could also allow branches off the main well to be made which
could help find the location of the platinum in its highest
concentration. The main problem that will have to be solved will be
the stability of the well if branches or curves are added although,
as stated above, the smaller size could mean that this is not an
insurmountable issue.

Conclusion

This report has
established that the oil & gas industry has the potential to be
an excellent source of technologies that could be adapted to asteroid
mining. Four major technologies have been identified and described
and their potential applications and challenges analysed. Seismic
exploration, smart drill bits, XRF & XRD and S and L shaped wells
have all been shown as worthy of further research and analysis to
determine their effectiveness in the context of asteroid mining. It
is still unclear if asteroid mining will be in our near or distant
future, however this report provides an insight into how this
monumental but exciting innovation can be made easier.