InnovaRig – The New Scientific Land Drilling Facility

Abstract

Deep drilling is becoming an increasingly important tool to study fundamental processes at depth, such as earthquake nucleation in fault zones or volcanic structures and eruption mechanisms or other basic Earth science research topics. At the same time, there are growing demands for new sustainable energy sources (e.g., geothermal energy) and for underground storage of carbon dioxide. Drilling for such missions often takes place in unexplored, structurally or geotechnically difficult environments that require special drilling,coring, and testing capabilities. Furthermore, continuous coring, deviated drilling, and complex testing are frequently required within these kinds of research projects. However, the worldwide market for drilling devices appropriate for this is small and currently is stressed by very high hydrocarbon exploration activity. Accordingly, scientific projects are often unable to contract the right drilling rig and service, or cannot get it for the planned timeframe or at an affordable price.

Keywords

• InnovaRig