drilling & miscellaneous tools
Air Drilling Associates provides a complete solution for all its projects, from downhole tools such as Air Hammers, Float Valves and Jet Subs to surface equipment such as rotating heads and separators.
Air Hammer can be used to drill very hard and dry rock, using air, mist and/or foam as the circulating medium. The hammers are similar to pneumatic percussion hammers used in civil and mining applications, with the main difference being that oilfield hammers partially rotate with every impact and also require special bits. If use of air hammers can result is as much as three- or four- fold improvements in the rate of penetration. Air Drilling Associates can provide hammers from the following brands : Atlas Copco, Cubex, Ingersoll-Rand and Numa.
Float Valves (also called no-return or check valves) are placed in specially-designed subs at intervals inside the drillstring. Their main purpose is to prevent from having to bleed off the air pressure inside the drillstring when making connections, and the subsequently spending more time to repressurize the drillstring to regain circulation. Another purpose for these valves is to prevent steam and/or gas from travelling up the drillstring and affecting the crew working on the rig floor.
Jet Subs are sometimes used to bypass small amounts of the injected air into the drillpipe-casing annulus to help lift the drill cuttings to surface. These are named jet subs since the air is bypassed through a small threaded hole in a sub, which can be sized by screwing in appropriatly sized bit jets.
Geothermal Separators are used to take hot returns of water and rock from geothermal wells. As the hot water enters the atmospheric separator it flashes into steam, resulting in significant expansion. The separator "absorbs" the energy released in the expansion, and keeps it at a safe distance from the rig and personnel. The separator underflow (water and rock cuttings) are piped to the shale shakers.
