South Korean drilling machine manufacturer Hanjin D&B has successfully drilled to a depth of 3 502 m, a world-record, with its 8" water hammer in a project in Kwangju, South Korea.
This exceeds the previous record of 608 m held by a Swedish company’s water hammer system.
“Hanjin’s water hammer has deep-hole drilling capabilities unlike DTH [down the hole] compressed air-driven hammer drilling, which has limitations in the depth it can drill,” said Eddy Mathe, MD at Pacific Mining, distributors of Hanjin D&B in Africa.
The water hammer drilling technology can be used for exploration and development drilling of geothermal, oil and gas, groundwater and mining applications.
“It is a new drilling method with a penetration rate of over 15 times greater than conventional rotary-wash drilling, reducing drilling costs by more than 30% to 50%,” he said.
“Hanjin D&B’s drilling rig can be used for rotary wash and DTH hammering applications for both air and water, making it suitable for all rock mass conditions, not only soft rock,” Mathe added.
Hanjin D&B, Gwangju City and the Chinese government plan to invest this year in a $22-million construction project - a geothermal power generation facility - involving more than 5 km of drilling.
“In the near future we can expect a huge market to develop for deep-depth drilling by using water hammer drilling systems comprising water hammers and water particle settling and recycling systems,” said Mathe.
Hall 0 Stand A2