In 2016, it was estimated that the United States sat on top of the largest untapped oil reserves in the world.  The estimates indicate that the U.S. has more oil reserves than Russia and Saudi Arabia, more than half of that oil exists in shale deposits under the earth’s crust.  Through the process of drilling down into the earth, we can extract this oil and refine it to use for everything from the gas used to heat homes, to the gas used to cook food, and of course the gas used to fuel automobiles.  The problem is that these deposits vary in depth from just a few feet, to over a mile down into the earth, and extraction can be difficult. Oil and gas drilling motors must be built to withstand these extreme conditions.

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One of the reasons extractions of this oil is challenging is the amount of stress put on the equipment is not typically normal for these products.  That’s why many of these products have become specialized for work in this application so they can undergo extreme amounts of pressure, higher temperatures, and perhaps most importantly, they must be resistant to water. However, even with the increased technological advances to combat these factors, motors still fail, costing the companies money and rig time.

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In reality, precautions must be taken to operate these tools below certain levels of power output which can hinder drilling from going at maximum speed, slowing production, and limiting the overall volume.  Unless a motor was created with a magnet wire that was engineered to be crucially more resistant to failures due to ambient water content and maintaining consistent output all while being run at hotter temperatures.  A wire like this would allow the motor to drill deeper, run longer without slowing down or losing insulation resistance.  This motor would be able to invariably run hotter, drill deeper, and maintain a steady output keeping production moving at an optimal pace.  Now they do.

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DuraCORE™ motors are Windings latest innovation in providing downhole drilling motor solutions for the oil & gas industry.  Thanks to a partnership with W.L. Gore & Associates™, in an effort to create a more durable and resilient motor for the oil & gas industry, Windings engineers were able to utilize GORE Magnet Wire.  GORE magnet wire has capabilities that far surpass that of polyimide insulated wire like durability under high pressures, the ability to survive in high temperatures, and a resistance to hydrolysis and corrosive chemicals.   What they created is now known as DuraCORE, a motor that far surpasses the durability wires for downhole tooling were previously expected to achieve.  GORE Magnet Wire’s greatest advantage is its revolutionary insulation, and superior environmental performance in contrast to the industry standard which use the polyimide insulated magnet wire.

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Through testing to replicate the downhole tooling environment the DuraCORE motor was tested against the industry standard NEMA 1000, Section 3.54 at 200⁰ C, 30Kpsi, and 4% ambient water content.  At these harsh variables which simulate the more extreme conditions in downhole tooling, the DuraCORE motor reaching was able to reach 34Kpsi and 200⁰ C.  In contrast the motor made with polyimide shielding insulated magnetic wire, did not even reach the simulated downhole environment conditions failing at 195⁰ C & 22Kpsi, as demonstrated in the graphs below.