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Drilling is a process of creating the holes in the surface of

the land.
These holes are made with drilling rigs.
A drilling rig is a huge equipment and are powerful enough
to dig the water, gas and oil wells.

Drilling Methods
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1. Auger Drilling Auger drilling

Auger drilling is a method for installing auger piles and is usually
done for drilling in minor depths through loose rock.

Installing the piles via auger drilling helps in balancing the load of a
construction in deeper soil layers.

Auger drilling is largely free from vibration and noise, which is why
the technique can also be used in urban areas.

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Bucket Auger drilling

Auger Drilling continued….
The bucket auger is used primarily on unconsolidated material, for
The drilling auger – which is hollow from the inside – is screwed in constructing large-diameter boreholes ranging from 24 inches to 48
inches.
the ground and the drilling is initiated.

The drilling system consists of a truck-mounted drill with a separate deck-

Upon reaching the target depth concrete is pumped through the mounted engine, which must be capable of generating enough torque to
bore hole. overcome the friction associated with drilling such a large-diameter hole

Ultimately, this presses the drilling auger back up. If something The cutting action is rotary cut. The bucket is rotated and advanced until it is
other than steel fiber concrete is used, the starter bars need to be full of cuttings, at which time it is tripped out of the hole, swung to one
side, and a trip is released, emptying the cuttings onto the adjacent
vibrated into the concrete. ground.
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Cable tool drilling

Cable tool drilling also known as percussion drilling, cable tool, churn drills, sputter, or
pounders is the oldest drilling method.

This involves lifting and reducing a string of solid steel drilling tools suspended from a
wire rope to hit the bottom of the hole.

This process drives the cutting bit, fracturing or pulverizing the formation.
This system is still used today because of its own unique advantages, which include
one person operation, low equipment cost compared to other systems.

Simple, rugged design requiring minimal maintenance. Low horsepower requirements

of this rig, and finally cable tools have proven to be virtually indestructible

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Cable tool continued…..

These machines are mainly used today for drilling in unconsolidated
materials and soft rock formations where relatively shallow depth wells are
required approximately 100 feet or less.
Slow penetration rates are characteristic of this drilling system.
Support equipment required for this drilling process are basic, a small truck
with welding equipment, torches and a small amount of makeup water.
In cable tool or percussion drilling there are three major operations:
Drilling the hole by crushing the rock or clay by the impact of the drill bit.
Removing the cuttings with a bailer as cuttings accumulate in the hole.
Forcing the bore casing down into the hole as the drilling proceeds.

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Rotary air drilling

Advantages of percussion drilling:
The air rotary drilling system is primarily designed for drilling and
consolidated formations such as sandstone or shales that are self-
• Simple to operate and maintain.
• Suitable for a wide variety of rocks. supporting, offering good penetration rates and quick cuttings
• Operation is possible above and below the water-table. removal.
• It is possible to drill to considerable depths.

This system usually consists of a truck mounted drill and separate

Disadvantages of percussion drilling:
• Slow, compared with other methods.
• Equipment can be heavy.
• Problems can occur with unstable rock formations.
• Water is needed for dry holes to help remove cuttings.
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support vehicle, which carry supplies required for the drilling
process, such as water in welding equipment.
The cuttings that this process produces are cleared by circulating air,
which is resulting from a compressor and fed down the drill pipe to
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Rotary Drlling
Air rotary drilling systems can utilize a number of cutting actions,
rotary crush, rotary cut, or rotary percussion.

The flushing media used is dictated by the geology and options

include air alone, air and water combined, or with the addition of
drilling foam and polymers to further enhance cutting removal.

Penetration rates are dictated by the geology. For consolidated

material, slow penetration rates requires slow rotation speeds,
and lower volumes of flushing media.
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Down-hole hammer method Down-hole hammer method

The down- the-hole hammer uses the rotary percussion cutting action
Down-hole hammer drilling is the fastest method of penetrating through the use of a button bit.
hard rock.
This system is best suited for well consolidated formations, offering
This method is mostly used for hard rock drilling and to enable excellent penetration rates.
water bores to be established from fractured hard rock aquifers.
Compressed air provides the percussive energy to power the
However, it is not operative for drilling loose, unconsolidated hammer. The resulting exhaust removes the cuttings.
materials.
Note the quality of the cuttings. They are large, clean, and unmasked,
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Direct Rotary Mud

The borehole is drilled by rotating either a drag or a tricone rotary drill
bit.
The drill cuttings are removed by means of either air circulation (air
compressor) or direct mud flow (mud pumps).
The returning materials and their medium move between the annulus of
borehole and the drill string to the surface.
Samples can be taken using this method as desired. Boreholes at
diameters from 6” – 24”

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Rotary Mud Drilling Sonic drilling

Sonic drilling is a one of the newest techniques of Borehole
Rotary mud drilling uses drilling mud (mixes of water, bentonite
Drilling Methods.
clays, polymers, and additives) as the circulation medium.

This technique is relatively continuous and uninterrupted

In the rotary mud system, drilling mud is pumped down through
geological samples are obtained without the use of drilling
the drill pipe and out through nozzles in the bit.
fluids or other potential contaminants.

Such Borehole Drilling Methods are useful for drilling operations

The technique is best suited to drilling unconsolidated
in soft, deep bores, and pressure bores.
formations, but its depth capability is limited by current
technology.
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Reverse Rotary Circulation System

The drilling fluid flows from the mud pit down the borehole outside the
drill rods, then passes upward through the bit into the drill rods after
entraining the cuttings.
Drilling fluid can be mixed when gravel and boulders are encountered
by means of the mud pit.
This method has been used specifically for clients who want minimal
formation damage when drilling well completion zones 8” to 24”.

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Reverse Circulation with Drag or Rock bit (CSR)

This is primarily used in the overburden where the sample
collected for a given interval is accurately collected from the
sampler (eg. coals, speckled shales, tills, etc.) 6 ¾” – 9 7/8”.

This method has been also used when bulk sampling kimberlite
(diamond exploration)

The large 8” dual wall drill string can handle large diameter holes of
up to 24” and beyond.
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