The workshops were designed to educate attendees about recent advancements in equipment used in the industry with speakers from Vermeer, Baroid and Digital Control updating their product ranges.
Jack Core and Jim Reeves spoke on behalf of Vermeer. Both Jack and Jim are based at Vermeer’s headquarters at Pella, Iowa in the United States.
Jack’s presentation focused on good drilling practices and also provided an update on new products now being offered by Vermeer. In doing so Jack spoke of the transition from chain/cylinder drills to rack and pinion drills. Jim’s presentation, “Cutting edge drill tooling and reamers” highlighted the range of drillheads, mudmotors, air hammers and reamers, among other tools, offered by Vermeer.
During their presentations, Jack and Jim both actively facilitated conversation among attendees regarding the equipment they use, practices they have found to be successful and/or unsuccessful and various problem solving methods applied when – as is sometimes the case in the HDD industry – a drill doesn’t exactly go as planned.
Some of the key issues facing the industry that were raised by audience members included the speed of drills, the trade-off between speed and torque, how to deal with types of mud and soil not seen before and how to safely and economically dispose with mud.
Mark Galucci from Digital Control USA spoke on locating and tracking drill heads with the Digitrak range of locating equipment, highlighting the differences between the “÷Mark’ and “÷Eclipse’ ranges and demonstrating effective use of the trackers.
Frank Cannon from Baroid provided a comprehensive overview of the use of drilling fluids and muds. The key message of Frank’s presentation centred on the fact that there is no universal soil – meaning that there is therefore no universal drilling fluid, volume of fluid, or equipment, such as bits and reamers, that can be used in different drilling operations. Frank emphasised the fact that all drills are unique and individual factors must be addressed to ensure a successful operation.
The HDD schools were held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and were well attended by a range professionals who rely on HDD in their day-to-day operations. Outside of “÷school hours’, attendees were able to network with colleagues and take a closer look at some of the products discussed during the day which were on
display.