Patent 7147064 was granted and assigned to Gas Technology Institute on December, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A drilling apparatus for well-boring having a drill bit assembly which includes a laser cutting assembly and a vacuum assembly. The vacuum assembly is adapted to intake vapors generated by the laser cutting assembly proximate the drill bit assembly during operation of the drilling apparatus. The collected vapors may then be processed by a chromatographic analyzer to determine the characteristics of the rock formation being drilled.