Especially with regard to the environment and availability, PV technology offers numerous advantages:

A source of clean energy

By far the biggest advantage of PV technology is that it enables the production of clean energy, and in a world plagued with climate problems and lofty carbon neutrality targets, this advantage is king. Unlike traditional sources of energy, PV solar panels don’t emit harmful greenhouse gases and other pollutants when they create electricity. They also don’t deplete natural resources. This helps to protect the environment and help the Earth’s natural resources last longer.

Quiet and unobtrusive

PV technology and the solar cells they power produce zero noise while they’re generating electricity. This is a key distinction from other energy generation methods, i.e., backyard generators which produce lots of noise. Not only is PV technology quiet, but it’s also unobtrusive. As PV technology has become more advanced, solar panels have become smaller, flexible, and more discreet.

Available anywhere

There’s no place on Earth where the sun doesn’t shine; solar radiation is available anywhere. So, regardless of location, the sun’s light can be used to generate electricity anywhere in a decentralized way. And since the sun produces huge amounts of energy, there are zero scarcity concerns like those that exist with other energy sources like fossil fuels and wind.

In spite of the convincing advantages, there are also some disadvantages of PV technology that need to be considered:

It can be location-dependent

The term “location, location, location” doesn’t just apply to houses, it’s important for solar panels, too. The availability of solar radiation can vary dramatically depending on where in the world you are. A solar panel in Scotland, for example, is going to have much less exposure to strong sunlight than those based in California.

Solar energy is more expensive

The energy generated by solar PV panels is somewhat more expensive to produce than conventional sources of energy like fossil fuels. This is mostly due to the cost of manufacturing photovoltaic cells and the conversion efficiencies in the systems themselves, which can vary depending on the PV technology being used. As conversion efficiencies continue to increase and manufacturing costs fall with further research, however, PV technology is coming much more cost-competitive when compared with conventional energy sources.

Photovoltaic technology is at the mercy of the sun

All renewable energy sources—solar, wind, tidal—are variable, and energy production is entirely dependent on weather conditions. This means that photovoltaic cells might have days where almost nothing is produced, and this could lead to an energy shortage if too much of a region’s power is reliant on renewables.

The future of photovoltaic technology

Despite the challenges facing PV technologies, it’s clear that it has the potential to be a gamechanger when it comes to meeting our carbon-zero goals. According to recent studies, accelerated solar PV deployment could deliver 21 % of the CO₂ emission reductions (nearly 4.9 gigatonnes annually) by 2050, and solar PV could meet a quarter of the world’s electricity needs by 2050, becoming the second biggest generation source after wind. However, global capacity must reach almost 20 times current levels (more than 8,000 gigawatts) to achieve this.

What is photovoltaics?

The term “photovoltaic” comes from the Greek word “phos”, meaning “light”, and from “volt”, the unit of electromotive force, the volt. Voltaic is also a word that relates to electricity produced by chemical action in a battery.

Photovoltaic definition: As for what photovoltaics is, it’s the direct conversion of light into electricity as the result of a reaction that takes place at the atomic level. By leveraging materials that exhibit the photoelectric effect, it’s possible to create PV solar cells and deploy them on a large scale, i.e., on the roofs of residential housing or in industrial solar cell farms to generate clean, renewable electricity.

The photoelectric effect & history of photovoltaics

The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons in a material when it is exposed to light. It’s both a physical and chemical phenomenon with origins dating back almost two centuries. The photovoltaic effect (the generation of voltage and electric current in a material upon light exposure) is closely related to, but different from, the photoelectric effect.

The photovoltaic effect was first discovered by Edmund Bequerel, a French physicist, in 1839. Bequerel found that certain materials could produce small amounts of electric current when they were exposed to light.

Then in 1095, Albert Einstein’s Nobel Prize-winning research described the nature of light and the photoelectric effect on which photovoltaic technology is based.

It wasn’t until 1954 when the first photovoltaic module was built by Bell Laboratories as a “solar battery”, however. This is because it was far too expensive for the module to gain traction and be used in widespread applications.

Then in the 1960s, the space industry began to make use of the first serious photovoltaic technology for providing power to spacecraft. It’s during this period when the technology really took off (no pun intended!) and advanced. It became more reliable, the cost began to fall, and it started being used in more and more applications, especially during the energy crisis of the 1970s when photovoltaic technology gained widespread recognition as a source of power.

Solar photovoltaics

Solar photovoltaics (often referred to as “solar cells” or “solar panels”) is an electric power system which converts solar radiation from the sun (i.e., the sun’s light energy) into direct current (DC) electricity. A typical solar PV system will feature solar panels which absorb this sunlight and convert it into electricity, thus supplying clean and renewable energy, even when the sun isn’t shining bright.

Since the turn of the century, solar PV has been recognized as a promising renewable energy, and developments of all kind (scientific, technological, industrial, and logistical) have been on the rise, with production doubling every two years or so. This makes it one of the world’s fastest-growing renewable energy technologies.

And with more and more government-backed incentives being handed down to the owners of solar PV systems (e.g., tax breaks, payment for energy supplied to the grid, and feed-in tariffs), this trend is likely to continue.

In short, solar cells are thin wafers of crystalline silicon, the same element that’s used in virtually every electronic device in existence today. While these wafers were relatively big when PV solar cells were first developed, they’re now so small that they’re barely as thick as a human hair.

When these PV solar cells are exposed to light photons, they hit the negatively charged electrons inside the silicon atoms and knock electrons and knock them loose. When this happens, it leaves behind an empty, positively charged “hole” where the negative charge used to be.

In untreated silicon, electrons would just recombine with these holes to produce waste heat; no electricity would be generated. To get around this and make a working solar cell, the crystalline silicon wafers are treated (doped) with two other elements: boron and phosphorus.

When the boron and phosphorus meet, they interact with the silicon to create an electrostatic field just under the front surface of the cell. This field remains in the crystal structure permanently. Not, when sunlight photons hit the crystal, the negative electrons and positive “holes” are kept separate by this electrostatic field. This causes electrons to flow to the front of the cell while the holes flow to the back, creating a current.

The electrons that flow to the front of the cell are collected by grid lines printed onto its surface. They flow into what are known as “busbars”, which are basically metallic strips used for power distribution. The current then flows into a circuit where its voltage potential is given up as electrical energy while the electrons flow back into the back end of the cell where they recombine with the empty positive “holes” that were left behind.

As long as there is sunlight, no matter how weak, a PV solar cell will never “run out” of electrons; they’ll always be buzzing around the circuit, completing it over and over and over again.

The solar PV panel is the main building block of a PV system. While these systems all tend to look very similar, the PV technology at the heart of these panels can vary. These include:

• Monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic panels: Monocrystalline panels are made by using cells taken from a single cylindrical crystal of silicon. This is currently the most efficient type of mature PV technology (we’re not counting PV technologies still under research, such as organic PV) and typically converts around 15 % of the sun’s energy into electricity. However, the manufacturing process needed to produce monocrystalline silicon PV cells and panels is quite complex, thus resulting in a slightly higher cost.

• Polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic panels: Polycrystalline silicon PV panels, also known as multi-crystalline cells, are made up of cells cut from an ingot of melted and recrystallized silicon. These ingots are then cut into extremely thin wafers and built into complete cells. Polycrystalline cells are usually cheaper to produce than monocrystalline cells due to the much simpler manufacturing process. However, this comes at the cost of efficiency which sits at around the 12 % mark.

• Amorphous (“thin-film”) silicon photovoltaic panels: Amorphous silicon cells are made when silicon is deposited in a thin homogenous layer onto a substrate. Because this type of silicon absorbs light more effectively than crystalline silicon, the cells can be made much thinner. Amorphous silicon can be deposited onto both rigid and flexible substrates, making it ideal for curved surfaces or bonding onto roof materials directly. Although it absorbs light more efficiently, the actual efficiency of the cell is much lower than crystalline silicon, typically sitting at around the six percent mark. However, amorphous PV cells tend to be easier and cheaper to make.

Today, energy generated by solar PV cells serves people living in some of the world’s most isolated places, as well as those living in big cities, to pump water, keep the lights on, charge batteries, supply the grid with electricity, and more. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are, or what you do, PV technology will have already touched your life in ways that you might not know. These are some of the most important applications of PV technology:

• Stand-alone power applications: In urban areas, PV technology can be used to power everything from standalone devices and tools to entire homes and communities, including infrastructures like traffic lights, radio transmitters, and water pumps. For the most remote and rural locations, running power line extensions is not always convenient or cost-effective. And in some cases, it’s simply not possible. Here, PV technology is the solution.

• Power in outer space: From the very beginning, high-efficiency PV technology has been the primary power source for space applications like the International Space Station, Earth-orbiting satellites, and surface rovers such as those on Mars and the Moon.

• Transportation: PV technology can be used to provide auxiliary power for electrified vehicles such as cars, boats, and even aircraft. Some automobiles even come with PV cells fitted to the sunroof to power so that the vehicle is provided with a source of power while on the move, i.e., by trickle-charging batteries. Many electric vehicle charging points are also powered by solar, either entirely or partly.

• Solar farms: When deployed at scale over several acres, PV panels can provide utility-scale amounts of power, producing amounts well into the gigawatts. These large-scale systems tend to use fixed or sun-tracking panels which follow the sun as it moves across the sky, feeding power directly into municipalities and regional grids.

Our solution for optimum water pressure. Wherever and whenever.

The new Wilo-Isar BOOST5 for domestic water supply always delivers constant water pressure at all extraction points. Thanks to its highly efficient hydraulics and noise blocking covers, the system runs smoothly and quietly. With its compact, modern design, it fits perfectly into the customer’s environment. Furthermore, its high-efficiency hydraulics make it an energy-efficient and cost-effective system. The Wilo-Isar BOOST5 system offers even greater user convenience: thanks to the ready-to-plug design, the system is easy to install. The LEDs and simple button control means that the Wilo-Isar BOOST5 is user-friendly and simple to operate. Comprehensive built-in protection features guarantee safe operation. The system is made of corrosion-resistant technopolymer, which guarantees a long service life.

Your advantages

Easy installation, thanks to ready-to-plug design

Perfect integration into the customer environment owing to compact and modern design

User-friendly operation due to LED display and push buttons

Low-noise operation thanks to noise-blocking covers

Built-in frequency converter for a comfortable constant pressure control and a soft start

Low power consumption thanks to needs-based supply

Safe operation thanks to extensive integrated protection functions

Heat recovery ventilation (HRV), also known as mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR), is an energy recovery ventilation system which works between two sources at different temperatures. Heat recovery is a method which is increasingly used to reduce the heating and cooling demands (and thus energy costs) of buildings. By recovering the residual heat in the exhaust gas, the fresh air introduced into the air conditioning system is pre-heated (pre-cooled), and the fresh air enthalpy is increased (reduced) before the fresh air enters the room or the air cooler of the air conditioning unit performs heat and moisture treatment.[1] A typical heat recovery system in buildings consists of a core unit, channels for fresh air and exhaust air, and blower fans. Building exhaust air is used as either a heat source or heat sink depending on the climate conditions, time of year and requirements of the building. Heat recovery systems typically recover about 60–95% of the heat in exhaust air and have significantly improved the energy efficiency of buildings

Radiant heat flooring also known as underfloor heating (UFH) is an innovative heating process that provides warmth and comfort to your home from the ground up by being installed under your floors. The use of floor heating systems was first engineered by the Romans to heat their marble floors. Underfloor heating is a viable solution to traditional heating and is energy efficient as well as a great space saver compared to alternative home heating units.

pipes of under floor heating in construction of new residential house

Types of Radiant Floor Heating

Homeowners can choose between two of the most common underfloor heating systems which are the wet underfloor heating system or electric radiant heating systems.

Wet Underfloor Heatings:

The first of the radiant heating systems is the hydronic, or wet UFH system. The benefit of the wet system is its use of warm water generated by your home’s central heating system that may include a boiler or water heater. As the water runs through plastic pipes installed between the sub floor and the finished floor, it heats the surface to a comfortable temperature between 21 degrees and 22 degrees. An added benefit of the wet system is its use of water at low temperatures resulting in cost effective water heating.

Installing a heat pump will save you money, especially on future energy bills. Since heat pumps do not use electricity to create heat they operate at a much higher energy efficiency. Each heat pump type saves you money at different rates anywhere from 20% to 80% in savings on energy bills which we will discuss below:

Air Source Heat Pump Energy Savings

If you live in an area with mild climates, air source heat pump can be extremely helpful in lowering energy bills. You can expect to save up to 40% on your energy bills if you are used to utilizing a central air conditioner or furnace cooling and heating system.

Mini Split Ductless Heat Pump Energy Savings

A ductless heat pump can will save you anywhere from 25% to 40% on your regular energy bills if you do not require utilizing an alternative heating source when temperature drops below a certain point.

Geothermal Ground Source Heat Pump Energy Savings

A geothermal heat pump, though the most expensive to install, is the most energy efficient heat pump installation option. A ground source heat pump can save you up to 80% on your future energy bills and can operate fully in even the coldest temperatures.

heat pump energy savings

What Size Heat Pump Do I Need for My Home?

To determine the size of heat pump you should install in your home, you will want to know the square footage of the areas that need to be heated or cooled.

Gas is one of the most popular forms of energy for a wide variety of uses in your home, on your property, or for your business. When you have appliances that use gas or need gas lines installed for any number of

reasons, the expert team at Greentherm Ltd. is here to serve you. Whether you are installing new gas lines or repairing old systems, Greentherm Ltd. has the experience and technical know-how to help. Gas can be a very powerful source of energy but can also be misused, potentially to a very dangerous effect. Let the trained

and professional experts at Greentherm Ltd. help with your next project that requires gas. .

Air Source Heat Pump Installation

Air source heat pumps can be either mounted onto a wall or positioned on the ground.

First of all you need to find a suitable place to situate the main unit. This ideally needs to be in a sheltered and safe place where it won’t be subjected to heavy rains and winds or be tampered with by anyone passing by. You also need a reasonable clearance around the unit (about 200mm for some wall mounted units, more for bigger, floor systems).

The installation will involve an outdoor section and an indoor section, so make sure there is enough space inside as well. Once both units are fitted onto their mountings, refrigerant and drain hose pipes are connected and then insulated, both inside and out. The whole system can then be connected to your indoor heating system such as the boiler or underfloor heating or fan coils.

First with mud rotary drilling, it of course has advantages and disadvantages, just like all drilling types. So the advantage is, while we’re drilling, we are keeping the borehole full to the brim, full to the land surface, with drilling fluid, also called drilling mud. So what does that do? That stabilizes the borehole. It keeps it from caving in on us, even if it’s loose, unconsolidated material. And we can adjust the properties of this drilling fluid to make sure that that happens. And so that also means that we’re going to collect good, reliable cuttings and other data from the borehole as we go. That’s important.

And we can address problems with, like I said, adjusted drilling fluid. If we have swelling clays, if we have lost circulation where our drilling fluid is seeping into a porous formation. If we have hard drilling and all these different things, if there’s different properties in the formation, which there will be, we can just change the drilling fluid to address them.

So what are the downsides? The downsides is, these drilling fluids are not given away for free, they cost some money. So as long as we can manage that, the overall cost will not be exorbitant, but it is an additional cost because it’s a consumable material that we require during the drilling in mud rotary. And the other thing is we can’t tell where the water table is because the borehole’s full to the brim, not until we’ve completed and isolated a portion of the aquifer from the land surface.

So that’s okay. Here’s a cartoon of the drilling fluid circulation. So you can see that we have a mud pump shown on the back of this truck, and of course the silly colors on the truck are just so we can point out different parts of the rig. I don’t think anybody would ever paint a rig like this. But we can pull the drilling mud up through the mud pump, up through the stand pipe, the Kelly hose, and down to the drill bit. And then as it circulates up the borehole outside of the drill pipe, it’s going to carry the cuttings with it which can be deposited in that mud pit.

Now the mud pit can be below ground as shown, or it can be above ground. Either way, it’s the same difference. So this means that we can control our properties and collect our cuttings and really have a lot of good information as we go. So the big part of this though, is the drilling fluid, being able to control that and change it.

So let’s consider what that drilling fluid does. If we look close there’s in, at the microscopic level, there’s a bunch of platelets that are like little tiny sheets of paper, that are the bentonite clay. They’re not shaped like a little ball, they’re shaped like a little sheet of paper. And so if they’re dispersed, they’re floating around in the fluid mixture, in the water, and there’s a little bit of soda ash and things like that mixed in there with other chemicals perhaps.

But then when they flocculate, they stick together. And that means that the thickness, the viscosity, of the drilling fluid can be higher, even though we didn’t add additional bentonite, that’s cost some money. So that means that we can carry cuttings out of the borehole better and things like that. So that’s, when you hear people talking about the benefits of flocculation of drilling fluid, this is what we’re talking about. It had the property where it can pick it up, so at the same uphole velocity we can carry more cuttings out of the borehole, which is what we want to do.

The other thing that happens with drilling fluid is some of the water seeps out of the drilling mud and leaves behind these clay partlets stuck to the borehole wall, and this is how we form a wall cake. What we like is to have a little bit of water, not too much flow out to their formation, and make a relatively thin and hard wall cake. If we have a thin, hard wall cake, it’ll be very stable and easy to remove later on when we’re going to develop the well and finalize it. If it’s a thick, fluffy wall cake, it’s the opposite. It won’t be as stable and it’ll be more difficult to remove.

So this is a property of the drilling mud, not a property of the formation, so we can control it. And so it’s one of the things that we measure, one of many things. And I’ve got photos of how we measure things. In the upper left is a mud scale, so we’re just measuring the weight of the drilling mud. Usually, of course, water weighs about 8.3 pounds per gallon. Drilling mud might weigh 8.8, maybe nine pounds per gallon. But if we get it real heavy, like 9.4, 9.5 pounds per gallon, unless we’re intending that, and sometimes we are, but unless we’re intending that, that means that what we’re doing is recirculating solids. Fine solids that are the native silts and clays from the formation, and we’re not getting them removed as we recirculate and recirculate this drilling fluid.

That’s bad because that means our wall cake, for one thing, will be getting not as thin and hard as we’d like it. To measure that amount of water that goes out, called filtrate or water loss, that’s what’s shown in the device in the center there with the green frame. That’s a filter press, so we’re just measuring how the drilling fluid responds. And then on the right, you see the young lady with a marsh funnel measuring the viscosity or thickness of the drilling fluid.

So the mud engineer can come to the drilling site, as you see on the lower left, with a pickup truck or some sort of a vehicle to check all these things and some others too. In addition to the weight and viscosity, the mud engineer can look at chemical properties, such as pH, maybe calcium content, chloride content, things like that. They have titration devices and so they can measure these things. They can measure the rheology, the flow properties called plastic viscosity, yield point, gel strength, things like that. So there’s a lot of stuff that’s kind of exotic, but the mud engineer can tell all the folks and the parties involved whether that’s a problem or not.

And then the filtrate, that’s what we’re measuring with the filter press in the middle of the screen. And the solids content can be directly measured with a small Imhoff cone, but also is reflected by how heavy the drilling mud is. So all that stuff is good, that means we have control to some extent, as we interact with mother nature as we’re drilling in the well. And that’s a good thing, so this is a good … That’s why direct mud rotary is a very commonly used approach and it’s very successful.

But there’s other alternatives with almost the same drilling rig, such as direct air-rotary. What if we’re drilling at a place where we want … We’re going to have a stable borehole, no matter whether we have drilling fluid or not, and we’d like to give the advantages of air rotary. So with air rotary, we have a very rapid penetration rate compared to other drilling types, and we have quick bottoms-up time.

So that means, to the geologist, that when we drill cuttings at say a thousand feet, they will be at the land surface almost immediately, very quickly. So we don’t have to wonder how long it’ll take or calculate how long it’ll take for the drilling fluid to bring them to the surface. This happens very fast with compressed air. And we can identify where the water table is as we drill, can’t do that with mud rotary but we can do it air rotary.

And of course the wall cake in this case, it’s only really there because of some soap and because of natural formations, not because of any introduced material. And so it’s thin and basically minimal. So the disadvantages, I’ll show you in a cartoon that’s coming up next why it’s not feasible in some unconsolidated or unstable formations. We have to switch to mud in some cases. Or if the borehole makes water faster than the air compressor can remove it, well, then it keeps the bit from adequately turning on that formation rock. And so it makes it a problem called water logging or flooded out bit where we’ve got too much water coming in. Good problem to have, but it can be a limitation to this type of drilling.

So here’s what the cartoon looks like. Very similar to the mud rotary rig you noticed, except that instead of being … Once we label things are a little bit different. This brown device on the back of our drill rig is now an air compressor instead of a mud pump. So we blow compressed air through our stand pipe and Kelly hose, directly down the bit to remove the cuttings. And they come up and now, instead of we’re calling our discharge line a flow line, we just rename it as the blewie line.

And so notice that the borehole is not full of fluid to the land surface. This is the water table somewhere down here. And so we can fill this with foam, but we can’t fill up with water because we’re drilling with compressed air. So that means that if the upper borehole is wanting to cave in on us, that’s when we might have to switch to mud. But there are a number of things we can do to generally stabilize the bore hole while we drill, and it is a good and efficient way. And of course, I’m showing a rotary tricone drill bit cartoon on the bottom, but we can also use a down-the-hole hammer and have a pneumatic hammer type drilling, which in a hard or brittle formation is really effective.

So here’s what we can do. We can add water, just a little bit of mist, and that’s going to keep the dust down. And if you think of compressed air as a fluid, which it actually is, it’s a compressible fluid, then you’re raising the viscosity of that fluid. So you’re cleaning the hole a little bit better when you add a little water.

Further yet, if you add foam, so water plus detergent, that’s what’s shown in the upper right, then you get slugs of cuttings coming out a little bit better. So you’re cleaning the hole. And remember that it doesn’t matter how much you pulverize rock, unless you get it out of the hole you haven’t advanced the borehole at all. And then if you need higher viscosity, yet you can do stiff foam, and that’s detergent plus water, and then add a little polymer to it. And that’s what’s shown on the left.

So we have these different levels of viscosity, even in air-rotary drilling, that we can do. And once we’ve added some foam, some detergent, we’re going to have a little bit of a surfactant surface on that borehole wall. It’s going to slightly stabilizes. We have some help there, and so if it’s a hard rock formation, no problem. But if it’s a unconsolidated formation, depending on the nature, we may or may not be able to drill.

I’ve had experience where I could draw pretty deep in unconsolidated formations within a rotary, but I think it wasn’t anything that I did right it was the luck of the draw that the formation was just behaving itself. So it can be good or it can be not so good. Either way, we of course have the discharge at the land surface. That can be very high velocity as we see here, or it can be slow, little flow out. Really variable, depending on a lot of things. The nature of the borehole, the nature of the air package, all kinds of different things. And so it can just be different situations, depend from a hole to hole.

The air rotary and down-the-hole hammer drilling systems are similar in design and function with the main difference being the ladder system, having the additional cutting action of the air-driven hammer.

First, we will profile the air rotary system followed next by the down-the-hole hammer. The air rotary drilling system is primarily designed for drilling and consolidated formations, offering good penetration rates and quick cuttings removal. This system usually consists of a truck mounted drill and separate support vehicle, which carry supplies required for the drilling process, such as water in welding equipment.

If the horsepower requirements for the truck are similar to the horsepower requirements of the drill, one engine can be used for both by utilizing a transfer case. This rig’s equipment includes an air compressor and both water and mud pumps to help facilitate the removal of cuttings, depending on the geology encounter.

Please note for demonstration purposes, no surface casing is being used to better illustrate these processes. Air rotary drilling systems can utilize a number of cutting actions, rotary crush, rotary cut, or rotary percussion. Shown here is rotary crush action. The flushing media used is dictated by the geology and options include air alone, air and water combined, or with the addition of drilling foam and polymers to further enhance cutting removal.

First air alone. Please note the quality of the cuttings. They are a very clean representative samples of the formation. Water is added to enhance the air’s ability to remove the cuttings. Utilizing the supply truck’s reserves and a direct circulation system. Water is pumped by the injection pump from the truck down the hole, through the drill string and up the annular space between the screen and the borehole. Removing cuttings out of a hole and onto the adjacent ground.

Notice how the quality of the cuttings has changed. The addition of water has masked the cuttings, making it more difficult to identify the formations and record them accurately.

Drilling foam can be added to the water which helps fill voids and suspend the cuttings in the annular space. Operators must mix carefully to ensure foaming action occurs down the borehole, as opposed to in the mixing tank. Manufacturer’s guidelines and recommendations must be followed closely to ensure optimum performance and safety when using these products. The foam fills the annular space, further enhancing the removal of the cuttings. Once the foam has dissipated, you can clearly see the cuttings again.

The drill string sections are threaded together to enable drilling advancement.

Penetration rates are dictated by the geology. For consolidated material, slow penetration rates requires slow rotation speeds, and lower volumes of flushing media. As the material becomes less consolidated the rotation speeds and penetration rates increase as do the demands on the flushing medium.

The drill string is then tripped out of the borehole to facilitate casing installation.

By utilizing a rib stabilizer on the drill string, the resulting borehole is smooth, straight and true. Best facilitating the grouting operations to follow them.

The steps involved with the casing installation may include initially welding a casing shoe on the first section of pipe. This shoe protects the end of the casing during hole construction and enables the casing to be properly seated with the rock. The shoe must be welded to provide a watertight seal around the pipe. Care should be taken to collect. spent welding rod ends.

Additional sections of casing may require centralizers to be welded onto the casing to assist with uniform ground placement as per regulation 903. A casing elevator’s are fixed to one end of the casing and is hoisted into the air and into position, safely and securely.

Two technicians are required to safely install the casing as one person operates the hoist while the other assists by using a rope sling. Additional sections are welded or threaded together as the casing installation occurs.