Geothermal drilling is becoming increasingly popular as we all look for ways to reduce fossil fuel use and find new, renewable energy sources. Geothermal drilling involves borehole drilling into the earth to extract the residual heat.
Geothermal drilling is becoming increasingly popular as we all look for ways to reduce fossil fuel use and find new, renewable energy sources. Geothermal drilling involves borehole drilling into the earth to extract the residual heat.
Geothermal drilling mainly uses open hole drilling methods. Boreholes are drilled between 45m -170m. A 6” temporary steel casing is used to sleeve the borehole to protect any loose material or drift from entering the borehole. This event can cause the borehole to collapse and backfill. Steel casing helps stabilise the borehole to keep it open. This maximises the chance of getting a geothermal loop to the drilled depth of the borehole.
A 5 3/4” drag bit, rock roller/tri-cone or PCD drill bits are used to drill through overburden and rock to the specified depth. Once open hole drilling for geothermal is complete, drill tools are removed from the borehole. Once drill rods are pulled from the borehole, the geothermal loop can be installed to the drilled depth.
Either water flush open hole drilling techniques or compressed air open hole drilling can be used. The flushing medium is usually determined by how much land and space the client has.
Compressed air with water for geothermal drilling is preferred where cuttings aren’t an issue and the client has a lot of land or space. This is a more cost-effective drilling method than using water flush, and drilling is often completed a lot quicker. Drill cuttings are usually deposited around the drill floor or can be diverted away from the borehole, depending on space and location of borehole positions.
Water flush open holing for geothermal drilling is preferred where space is restricted or limited, such as in a householder’s back garden. Drill cuttings are contained in water tanks and later disposed of from site in a professional manner in line with British Drilling Association standards.
Drill mud polymers, or pure bore performance powders, are added to water flush for cleaner drilling. Both additives are environmentally friendly, non-damaging, next-generation drilling fluid technologies which can be used in a wide variety of drilling and completion applications. Drill mud polymers and pure bore powders enhance both shale encapsulation and fluid loss to the borehole by forming a unique membrane characteristic. This minimises additional viscosity to water.
This is by far our most common method of drilling. This can be carried out using either air mist or water/mud flush.
This is an increasingly popular technique of drilling for obtaining windowless samples in soil, over burden and made up ground.
This is an effective method of drilling which can be carried out using air mist or water/mud flush and is commonly used for tasks such as detecting coal or even historically mined coal.
Our Putzmeister SP11 mixer is a single axle, road towable, stand alone high pressure grouter.
A typical water well can vary from 30m to 80m but can go much deeper depending on water tables.
An integrated system, offering an innovative solution to undisturbed soil core sampling, groundwater sampling and monitoring.
Site investigation is the initial process we carry out to collect and assess data.
Drilling is required to the suitable depth of the specific site. Typically raging from 100m – 150m.
Our diamond drilling services cut holes quickly and cleanly from 50mm to 300mm diameter and to various depths using barrel extensions. We can core through reinforced concrete, brickwork, stonework, block and asphalt. We use Xcalibre core machines and also hand held which are also ideal for confined spaces, all with a water feed to ensure a clean, dust-free environment.
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