posted by the Epiroc Exploration & OreBody Solutions team
October 16, 2019
Subscribers who have been reading this blog for a while know that I am a big fan of drilling additives. When you are drilling in difficult conditions, drilling fluid additives can really help improve drilling performance. There are additives that are great for most conditions and other that were developed for specific ground conditions like sand or clay. So I am happy to say that we have a new option for drillers facing difficult core recovery in tough ground conditions. Core Wrap is a new powdered polymer that prevents the core sample from crumbling and breaking by wrapping it in a protective film.
That same film also sticks to the walls of the bore hole making the hole more stable. Core Wrap joins our line of drilling additives from Matex.
Testing and results
We tested Core Wrap at a couple of drill sites with great results. At one site in Western Canada, we encountered tough drilling conditions. The ground had garnets mixed in with competent rock of medium hardness. Garnets are extremely hard on core bits and the drill team was only getting bit life of 20 to 30 meters. They were doing directional drill cuts and deep holes, and torque was pretty high. As with other drilling additives, we mixed it with Torqueless and chose an appropriate core bit.
We decided to compare Core Wrap to one of the leading competitors. The team noticed right away that the product mixed very easily and provided an average viscosity of 42 compared to the competitor’s 34. Even better was the fact that less product was needed, about 18% less Core Wrap to get the same result. You should also note that core recovery increased by 24% and that the number of inner tube down-the-hole trips was reduced by 19% for the same number of meters drilled. The high torque that the team had been experiencing also went down as soon as the Core Wrap and Torqueless were introduced.
We continued our testing, this time at a site in South America. Again, we found Core Wrap provided improved viscosity, 42 for the Core Wrap product and 34 for the competitor’s product. This time, we used the same amount of product and found that the drill team was able to drill 12% more meters with the Core Wrap. The rate of penetration was also better with Core Wrap, with 3 meters per hour compared to only 2.5 meters per hour with the competitor.
We are continuing our testing and are happy with the results we have received so far. It has a good price point for a premium product, making it a good alternative to existing products on the market. It is also ideal for drilling operations in areas with environmental restrictions. It is environmentally friendly, non-toxic and non-hazardous.
Our technical team is happy to share their knowledge and experience with this product. If you want to learn more, contact them for more information. Our goal is to improve drilling performance and to make drillers’ lives easier, and this product does both.
