Underwater Drilling Probe With In-Situ Soil Data Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing underwater drilling methods are time-consuming and costly, particularly when conducted on high seas, due to the need to lift the drilling rig for sample extraction and analysis, and can lead to soil layer smearing during borehole creation, complicating the determination of the waterbed's structure.
Innovation Solution
An underwater drilling device with a detachable probe unit that records soil data autonomously and stores it internally, allowing for wireless data transfer and alternating drilling and probing without rotational movement, enabling efficient data collection and analysis without cable connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the entire drilling rig is lifted from the riverbed for sample extraction and analysis, then the drill cores can be examined in detail, but the process becomes very time-consuming and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the measurement and data storage functions from the main drilling rig by providing a separate probe unit that can be detached and lowered into the borehole. This probe unit independently records soil data using sensors and stores it in internal memory, eliminating the need to lift the entire drilling rig for sample analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe unit acts as an intermediary between the drilling rig and the soil samples. It is lowered into the borehole after drilling, performs in-situ measurements, and transmits data wirelessly or via cable to the surface, serving as a mediator that enables detailed analysis without moving the main rig.
2Measurement precision
If a sensor is moved along the borehole wall for measurement, then electrical conductivity and magnetic properties can be recorded, but soil layer smearing occurs during drilling and borehole creation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs the measurement action after the drilling is complete, rather than during drilling. The probe unit is lowered into the already-formed borehole and conducts measurements in the undisturbed soil, eliminating the smearing problem that occurs when sensors are moved along the borehole wall during active drilling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The measurement function is separated from the drilling process. The probe unit with sensors is detached from the drilling rig and independently lowered into the borehole to perform measurements, extracting the measurement function from the drilling operation to prevent soil disturbance and smearing.
3Productivity
If individual drill rod elements are fed from storage area to drilling axis to form drill rod, then drilling can proceed in steps, but the process requires complex handling and positioning mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines multiple functions into the probe unit: it serves as both the measurement device with sensors and the data storage unit with internal memory. This merging eliminates the need for separate handling mechanisms for samples and data, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an underwater drilling device for probing a body of water (5), comprising a base frame (12) which is designed to be lowered into a body of water and to be set up on the body of water, a drilling drive (20) for the rotational drive and axial advancement of a drill rod (30) which can be constructed from tubular drill rod elements (32), wherein the drilling drive is mounted so as to be movable vertically along a drilling axis (21) between a lower borehole opening and an upper reset position, at least one storage area (14) on the base frame for storing the individual drill rod elements for constructing the drill rod, and a handling device (38) which is designed to feed individual drill rod elements from the at least one storage area to the drilling axis to form the drill rod.According to the invention, it is provided that a probe unit (60) with a probe mandrel (64) for probing the water bed is provided, which is detachably arranged on the drill rod, that the probe unit is designed to record soil data when driven into the ground and to store it in an internal data memory, and that a readout unit (70) for reading out and storing the data stored in the data memory of the probe unit is arranged on the base frame.