Phoenix Boring

Phoenix Boring is hiring! We're seeking to hire both a Sr. Mechanical/Mechatronic Engineer and a Systems Integration Engineer (Hardware Development EE/ECE, basically). These positions will be working primarily on our in-progress government funded 3yr R&D contract for the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects (DoE ARPA-E). These positions will primarily work for our R&D department dedicated to "Aerospace Underground" ie advanced new non-contact thermal boring techniques (PyroHDD and JetBore), but will also support sustaining engineering for our large tunnel boring equipment. Message Thorin Tobiassen if you have questions or want to apply! Sr. Mechanical/Mechatronic Engineer role: ●hardware design for hazardous environments, useful experience coming from aerospace, robotics, mining, heavy equipment, etc ●systems architecture design and processes, including concept ideation, requirements authoring/tracking, and CONOPS/storyboarding of an overall field deployment tunnel boring system ●75% effort R&D hardware development for PyroHDD (small, complex, and challenging packaging of sensors, actuators, and fluid management) ●25% effort on sustaining engineering of Phoenix's existing ADB48 tunnel boring equipment (big forces, big projects, big structures) System Integration Engineer role highlights: ●Day 1: get up to speed and start designing electronics architecture to power and monitor a prototype driven by a transonic combustion device ●Specify, procure, and integrate control and data acquisition electronics and sensors to for the prototype and test apparatus using whatever electronics/microcontroller and code environment you prefer ●Assembly and test prototype harness, electronics, and data acquisition equipment for R&D ●Assist with strategy and direction of control architecture and hardware for our existing tunnel boring equipment linup, potentially including PLC automation tasks or other control environment https://lnkd.in/gJtHTkXe https://lnkd.in/gBg3i5Ex

In our last post, we discussed how Thermal Spallation Drilling (TSD) works, the fact that it has been around a long time, and that Phoenix’s patented combustion-based TSD method (JetBore) has performed actual testing in the field, proving itself ready to commercialize. But if TSD is basically just “heating up rock really fast”, why is Phoenix’s combustion-based technology the best TSD option out there? Maturity: We’ve already performed field testing (3 times!) and know what the system is capable of. This means many more costly field lessons and challenges exist in our past than in our future. Energy availability: Simply speaking, TSD is just heat energy delivered to the rock face, and you need LOTS of energy, which combustion is great at supplying. Our 2023 JetBore beta prototype delivered almost 3MW of energy directly to the bore face, and did so using readily available AND transportable diesel fuel. It could also just as easily use propane, hydrogen, biodiesel, etc. Energy efficiency: The JetBore converts fuel to delivered heat energy at 85-90% efficiency, and the total efficiency of our jobsite while boring is better than 75%, which is great even compared to the current US Power Grid (generation and transmission) average efficiency of 33%, so our method has a lower carbon footprint than even a grid-powered electrical TSD option. Jobsite Footprint: We only needed a 50kW generator on the jobsite during field testing to operate JetBore at nearly 3MW of power, which is already available at many jobsites. The only other items necessary are a compressor and a custom trailer (towed by a standard pickup) for fuel pumps and sensing/compute equipment. Torch Packaging Size: Because the business end of combustion TSD is so compact, you can take a ~6” diameter torch and articulate it to sweep around any arbitrary bore size between 18" and 48”, for example. This means you only need ONE torch to get full coverage, and your machine can be flexible for various conditions and diameters. Basically, electricity is great, but chemistry is awesome. Combustion based TSD (like JetBore) creates a more effective, more efficient, and more powerful non-contact boring technology than other methods. Video attached shows JetBore during initial testing at ~2.5MW (realtime) and performing bore-start operations as an integrated boring platform on granite in the field (60X timelapse, 36" starting bore size).

It’s sometimes difficult to explain to people what Phoenix Borings’s patented JetBore non-contact boring method really is. Let’s clear that up. The key things to know are: •By quickly heating the surface of hard rock, you cause it to grow compared to the rock behind it, which leads to weakening, cracking, and separation of the rock in chips or flakes that are easy to remove. This is called Thermal Spallation Drilling (TSD). Diagram and TSD in action in video. •TSD doesn’t require contact with the rock, so mechanical wear is minimized •Decades of studies have shown that TSD works, but commercialization has lagged both because approaches vary (plasma, combustion, etc) and because technology (software, sensors, manufacturing) has lagged behind research •Our JetBore tech is a combustion-based TSD method, meaning we use fuel (not electricity) to both generate hot gas to heat the rock face AND provide a high flow rate. •TSD is “real”, and we have proof (data and video) from 3 fields tests to prove it. See video below for a chronological visual history of our field testing: -24” diameter, 20ft bore in Quartzite, <1MW proof of concept in 2021 -30” diameter, 26ft bore in Granite, 1-1.5MW alpha prototype in 2022 -42” diameter, 35ft bore in Granite, 2-3MW beta prototype in 2023, integrated test with our ADB platform TSD R&D at Phoenix Boring is on its way to revolutionizing microtunneling and HDD, and JetBore specifically has already seen integrated testing with our ADB platform, where it can used for Auger Boring and Pipe Jacking deployments when jobsite “surprises” like unexpected boulders and ledges occur, given us a further competitive edge.

After our previous post (https://lnkd.in/gBr4TCgK) introducing Phoenix Boring’s ADB-48 multi-modal platform, we wanted to showcase a real-world deployment to demonstrate the competitiveness of the platform. In Spring 2024, the ADB-48 platform successfully installed 480 ft of 16” casing beneath the I-280 freeway at Wolfe Rd, half a mile from Apple Park in Cupertino CA. The project was completed on budget, ahead of schedule, and at 40-50% of the cost quoted by competing bidders. The first two-thirds of the drive encountered soft, wet "bay mud"—too soft to support the weight of conventional hard-ground cutting tools that would be required for the final third, where ground conditions transitioned suddenly to cobbles (up to 12” in size) embedded in a hard, non-displaceable clay matrix. This type of soil variation presents significant challenges for traditional jack-and-bore systems, especially for smaller casing sizes, where personnel cannot enter the pipe to clear obstructions like cobbles/boulders. Other bidders requested upsizing the casing to at least 24” or even shifting to microtunneling (mTBM) to manage the risks posed by these changing conditions—options that would have dramatically increased costs. mTBM in particular is an extremely costly method, involving more time, footprint, and specialized equipment and expertise. So, how did we stick to the original specs and complete the crossing efficiently? The ADB-48 platform’s unique capability to switch boring mechanisms in real-time was the key. The namesake method “Assisted Dynamic Boring” (ADB), patented and award-winning, involves pipe ramming combined with conventional auger boring. This proprietary option of the ADB-48 platform represents an “insurance policy” against difficult and/or changing ground conditions, allowing us to adapt to geological challenges that stymie other methods. This flexibility allowed us to mitigate risk and keep the project on track. In partnership with Precision Directional Boring (PDB), who performed the HDD pilot bore, our ADB-48 platform >$3M project for just ~$1.4M. The ADB-48 platform's ability to tackle tough ground conditions without resorting to expensive microtunneling is opening new doors for cost-effective trenchless solutions. Check out this video from PDB showcasing the ADB-48 in action, featuring our CEO Roberto Zillante and our Field Engineering Geologist Thomas Egan operating the ADB-48 platform in the field.

Check out the September 2024 edition of Trenchless Technology magazine for the first public announcement of Phoenix Boring’s new DoE ARPA-E funded R&D project and future product: PyroHDD, capitalizing on years of experience with Thermal Spallation Drilling technology (and associated patents) and targeted at accelerating deployment of new electrical grid infrastructure conduit. Once developed, PyroHDD would add advanced HDD-like capabilities (small diameter, <12”, steerable) to Phoenix Boring’s existing capabilities using our ADB48 platform (medium diameter, 4-72”). The Principal Investigator for this project will be our Lead R&D Engineer, Thorin Tobiassen Excerpts from article: “ARPA-E is sort of a moonshot technology idea incubator under the DOE… These moonshot ideas, if we can realize them, could bring a huge impact [to the trenchless industry].”  - Dr. Philseok Kim, ARPA-E Director “Phoenix Boring Inc. is developing a small-diameter multi-modal drilling head for ultrafast trenchless deployments in heterogeneous and changing ground conditions, especially where challenging hard rock exists. Building on 12- to 72- in. diameter multi-mode Phoenix Boring machines in the market, PyroHDD aims to simplify and accelerate deployments by seamlessly switching to the most efficient boring method for the ground conditions encountered. PyroHDD will use combustion-based Thermal Spallation Drilling (TSD) to efficiently flame-weaken and remove hard materials. Combining [features of a] conventional HDD head with TSD technology in a hybrid thermal-mechanical head will allow switching modes without tool removal from the borehole, a smaller surface footprint, and lower power/thrust requirements than conventional HDD methods. PyroHDD is intended to tackle both typical and conventionally impossible small diameter undergrounding jobs with the same dynamism, efficiency, and decreased downtime [as Phoenix’s other machines].” https://lnkd.in/gcVkMEUE

What is Phoenix Boring's ADB48 platform? Phoenix Boring’s founder, Roberto Zillante, invented a new tunneling method called Assisted Dynamic Boring in 2018, utilizing 5 years as a trenchless machine technical sales engineer and then 3 years as a project engineer for a national-scale tunnel boring GC. During that time, he noted the difficulty that both Jack-and-Bore and Microtunneling systems have in mixed soils and especially in highly unstable conditions like flowing sands, cobblestone in loose matrix, and wet mud. The ADB operating mode handles these conditions easily and economically. However, the patented and award winning ADB mode is just ONE of SIX operating modes the ADB48 platform can utilize, and TWO of those modes are patented. Operating modes and/or diameters can be switched quickly, where many machines are capable of ONLY a single diameter and/or a single mode. Many tunneling contractors don’t own, or have expertise in operating, more than one type of technology, resulting in lost profits and heavy delays when ground conditions aren’t what they were supposed to be. The ADB48 platform is a proven field asset, not a prototype, and the current units represent the 3rd generation of this multi-modal platform. Because our platform is robust and cost effective to build and maintain, AND we are both the machine builder and service provider, we can perform competitively on jobs, whatever the difficulty. Our ADB platforms have: •performed over 30 crossings •installed more than 2 miles of product pipe, mostly in 2021-2023 •rescued machines for other contractors who got stuck underground •demonstrated modular compatibility with combustion-based non-contact boring for hard rock (partial rock encountered mid-job, or homogeneous hard rock) in 2023, tunneling into solid granite. …And because the platform is all electric, worksite noise levels and worker safety are prioritized and grid power (if available) can be used to decrease worksite carbon footprint. Phoenix’s 3rd gen ADB48 platforms are ready to perform tunneling services. Please reach out about any 4-48inch tunneling jobs you want quoted. The platform was recognized with an award by the International Society for Trenchless Technology in 2023. https://lnkd.in/gutegvGU

Phoenix Boring Inc is excited to announce ourselves as a deeptech-enabled construction devices and services company in the undergrounding & trenchless-technology industry, helping to accelerate installation of the much-needed infrastructure of our modern era. We are an engineering and R&D organization that manufactures our own revolutionary equipment and then uses it to perform tunneling operations. Though Phoenix is a months-old “new” hardware startup, we are unusual in that we are “starting” with: •Years of experience manufacturing and operating tunnel boring equipment on real job sites, not just laboratory tests •Existing, tested, and ready-to-run construction equipment, with past jobs completed and current contracts-in-progress •Mature R&D products being converted to viable field-operating equipment •New R&D efforts funded by the Department of Energy •A large family of diverse patents protecting our tech and methodologies Any of these items, individually, are what hardware startups take multiple years and millions of dollars of investment to achieve, and we have them from day one. If you are interested in getting a bid on a construction job or in participating in our current capital fundraising round, reach out to Roberto Zillante for more information.