In modern petroleum exploration, the performance and reliability of the utilized materials constitute one of the crucial factors determining the success rate of exploration. As a traditional material, stainless steel has consistently held an important position within the petroleum industry. Nevertheless, with the continuous advancement of science and technology, a novel material—sapphire glass—has begun to gradually supplant stainless steel and plays a significant role in petroleum exploration. This article will present the properties of sapphire glass and its application in petroleum exploration.

Stainless steel is a kind of material with high strength and corrosion resistance, which is widely used in the petroleum industry. Nevertheless, stainless steel also has certain limitations, including those pertaining to its tensile strength, yield strength, thermal expansion coefficient and other properties. The development of petroleum exploration has led to an increased focus on deeper drilling, necessitating more robust materials with enhanced properties. In this context, sapphire glass materials are emerging as a novel alternative solution.

Sapphire glass is a crystalline material. It possesses a multitude of distinctive attributes, including high hardness and wear resistance, exceptional transparency, low thermal expansion and contraction coefficients, and notable chemical stability. These properties render sapphire glass material suitable for an extensive array of applications, particularly within the domain of petroleum exploration.

In petroleum exploration, sapphire glass materials are extensively used for the purposes of fracture detection, permeability measurement and acoustic transmission. Firstly, with regard to fracture detection, the high hardness and wear resistance of sapphire glass materials render them more resilient to the abrasive effects of rocks and sand within the stratum, thereby ensuring the long-term stability of fracture detection. Secondly, in terms of permeability measurement, the low thermal expansion and contraction coefficient of sapphire glass material makes it consistently  stable under high temperature and high pressure, thus improving the accuracy of permeability measurement. Ultimately, in relation to acoustic transmission, the high transparency exhibited by sapphire glass minimizes the refraction and scattering of sound waves during their internal propagation, thereby enhancing acoustic transmission efficiency and transmission distances.

Generally speaking, the application of sapphire glass materials in petroleum exploration holds broad development prospects. Its outstanding physical, chemical properties and excellent performance enable it to better meet the requirements of petroleum exploration in fracture detection, permeability measurement, acoustic transmission, and so forth. In the future, with the continuous evolution of science and technology, the value of sapphire glass in other fields of application is also anticipated to be further explored.