Core Sample Tube Coupling for Continuous Deep Drilling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The inefficiency of core sample recovery in deep drilling operations is limited by the short length of inner tubes, which necessitates frequent stops to retrieve and reposition the tubes, reducing drilling time and productivity, especially in fractured ground formations.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a clamp and coupling mechanism that allows for the extension of inner tubes by uncoupling and separating them at the surface, enabling longer core sample recovery without interrupting drilling, using a positioning apparatus to align and manipulate the tubes for efficient handling and cutting or breaking the core at the joint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the inner tube length is increased to reduce retrieval frequency, then drilling productivity improves, but handling and safety difficulties increase
Solution Approach 1:
The inner tube system is segmented into multiple sections that can be coupled together to form strings of desired length. The coupling mechanism allows tubes to be connected and disconnected at the surface, enabling the drilling operation to use longer tube strings for deep drilling while still allowing manageable handling by working with individual tube sections at the surface.
2Loss of time
If the inner tube length is increased to reduce retrieval frequency, then drilling time increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inner tube is divided into multiple separable sections with standardized coupling mechanisms. This segmentation allows the system to achieve the benefits of long drilling runs (reduced retrieval frequency) while maintaining manageable complexity through modular components that can be independently handled and assembled at the surface using the coupling device.
3Manufacturing precision
If the inner tube length is increased to reduce retrieval frequency, then core sample quality improves, but handling challenges increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the inner tube into couplable sections, the system enables longer drilling runs that improve core sample quality and continuity, while the coupling mechanism allows these long tubes to be assembled and handled in manageable sections at the surface, thus resolving the handling challenges associated with extremely long single-piece tubes.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A device for handling core samples during a core sample drilling operation. In use the core sample is received in a string of inner tubes within a drill string. The device comprises a clamp and a coupling mechanism. The clamp is configured to grip a lower inner tube below a joint between the lower inner tube and an adjacent upper inner tube of the string of inner tubes, with the lower tube received in the drill string and with the joint exposed above a top end of the drill string. The coupling mechanism is configured to engage the upper inner tube and/or the joint and operate to uncouple the upper inner tube from the lower inner tube.