Monitoring While Drilling Presents Comprehensive Data Adapted from Information by Royal Eijkelkamp An independent engineering company FugroSuhaimi has been working in Saudi Arabia, doing a geotechnical assessment for a project. They brought in a sonic rig when they encountered some very challenging soil materials, for better recovery and better quality core and Royal Eijkelkamp offered to equip it with a monitoring while drilling (MWD) system. Project Manager Evert Van Wyk and Site Manager Sean Van Der Wath traveled to the Royal Eijkelkamp headquarters in the Netherlands to commission their rig and learn more about this new system. To work more efficiently, operators can check the data in real time and change their drill bits according to the hardness of the soil. After the shift or project, drill operators or supervisors can use the information to change or improve their approach next time around. “Working with MWD has taught us a lot,” said Evert. “You can see what different ground formations you’re drilling through, how you can set your pressures, how you can set your sonic vibrations. The drillers as well, they’ve learned a hell of a lot from it and it’s made it easier for them to understand what type of formation they’re drilling.” The system shows the strata information, because parameters such as rotation and sonic pressure change based on whether you’re drilling sand, cobbles, or clay. Another useful feature for Fugro was borehole planning in the online platform. Managers can plan boreholes in advance using software, so the on-site team knows exactly where to go and what to drill. Fugro’s clients on this project, base their foundation designs on the results of the geotechnical assessment. This makes it extremely important to share as much data as possible with them. With MWD, they can track the progress of the project online and also receive an overview of all the information once drilling is finished. The more data they have, the more data they can give to clients. In addition, there’s always proof they did exactly what was agreed on: the number of boreholes, depth drilled, you name it. Sean explained: “It helps us to be able to show the client the data from the monitoring system if they ask about it, to see the pressures, for example.” There are some features still in development. The MWD solution’s soil recognition in particular will be very useful. Fugro compared the data from the system to their geologist’s analysis, and found the results were in the same range. GEOTECH Booth 1118 24 NOVEMBER 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource®
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