Well Drilling

Well drilling, which is often also referred to as casing drilling, is used in making water and thermal wells in broken overburden conditions. The process is principally the same as when looking to extract other natural resources, such as oil or natural gas, from the ground. It involves drilling a hole into the ground using a rig outfitted most commonly with a top hammer (TH) or a down-the-hole hammer (DTH), although sometimes also rotary drills may be used.

For water well drilling, the drill bit is driven through the soil until the ground water table, and then below that to make sure that the well has enough water to work with and will continue to provide water for a long time. When drilling a geothermal well, the end of the pipe is driven deep into the bedrock to extract the heat from it. The bit is followed by a steel casing that will stay in the hole, ensuring its straightness and supporting its walls. In softer rock, the casing is a vital part of the construction, as it prevents the collapse of the hole during drilling and protects the water below from contamination or the blockage of the heat distribution. In hard enough rock, such as the one mostly found in Scandinavia, the casing is drilled only 2-3 meters into bedrock, after which no extra support is needed, and the drilling continues with a standard DTH drill bit. Once the drilling is done, either a water pump or a heat pump system is installed.

Robit® Casing Systems allow easy driving of the casing tubes into the ground with relatively low torque demand. The casing is left in the ground as a protection pipe of the water or thermal well. The WH Series Hammers offer excellent performance in a variety of rock conditions.

To see Robit drill bits and casing systems in action, watch these videos from ProDrill’s energy well project in Kirkkonummi, Finland: DTH WH TL Hammer and ProDrill testimonial.

Robit® Casing Systems mostly used in drilling water and thermal wells are DTH-RoX+(+) and DTH Nova.

For more Robit drilling consumables, please visit our Products page.