Mud Rotary / Washbore Drilling

Drillpower QLD and SJ Drilling has the capability to carry out mud rotary / washbore drilling to depths of up to 400m. Mud rotary is commonly used in geotechnical and exploration drilling.

Mud rotary drilling uses blade, PCD or tricone drill bits with 'mud' circulated through the drill rods to lubricate and cool the drill bit and lift drill cuttings out of the borehole.  The term 'mud' refers to water with various drill additives. The drilling mud is circulated in a closed system from a surface tank or pit down the drill rods and back up between rods and the borehole sides.  The drill cuttings can be logged and sampled as they exit the borehole into the surface tank where they drop out of the water allowing the mud to be recirculated.

Drilling additives are used to aid the drilling process by increasing the mud weight and viscosity. There are a variety of different muds / polymers that can be used depending on the type of formation that is being drilled. In some cases when difficult ground conditions are encountred such as very granular material such as loose sands and gravels, high plasticity clays and when circulation is lost muds and polmers are also added to help the drilling process and hopefully fix the problem.

The drilling muds added are all environmentally friendly and biodegradable. SDS's are held for all muds with the drill rig.