A special water well drilling rig in Western Australia has doubled the drilling rate and halved fuel consumption, according to local sources.
The rig was designed by Well drilling specialist DP’s Drilling’s ‘Lorry’ Della Polina for air and rotary mud drilling for farmers and domestic ‘bores’ within 150 km of its base in Pickering Brook, some 30 km east of Perth in the Darling Ranges.
Pickering Brook is predominantly agricultural land and orchards, which in 2000 experienced a severe drought, resulting in Lorry drilling a total of 10 bores on his 25 acre apple, pear and nectarine orchards in the search for water.
“I had always been interested in water, treating it almost as a hobby,” said Lorry, continuing, “It therefore seemed natural boring my own holes, down to depths of 100 m.”
The exercise proved a success and soon by ‘word of mouth’, neighboring farmers were seeking his drilling services.
Today farmers generally account for around 80% of business with domestic homesteads making up the balance.
Ground conditions tend to be a mix of clay, rock and gravel for the first 20 m with granite and diorite formations below. Around the country town of Gin Gin it changes to sand and limestone to depths of 100 m.
“Since taking delivery of the latest drill rig in 2004, we have recognized the trend for deeper bores beyond 100 m and faster drilling rates,” said ‘Lorry’, elaborating further, “This meant the need for a larger on-board compressor.”
Opting for Atlas Copco’s ORV 10 compressor, the new on-board OEM compressor ensures a free air delivery of 1000 cfm at 360 psi.
“In addition to doubling the drilling rate, the new compressor has also halved the fuel consumption compared with the previous unit|” reckons Lorry.
“The old unit tended to use 3 liters per drilled meter but this has now been reduced to just 11/2 liters,” he elaborates.