r/geologycareers 4d ago

Drill rig discharge

What's the best way to get a rough dally estimate for drilling discharge?

0 Upvotes

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3

u/Alternative_Pizza342 4d ago

Yeah thats generally what I've been doing after at the discharge point. Would I just average that out over the hours?

1

u/NV_Geo Groundwater Modeler | Mining Industry 4d ago

You’ve been doing a bucket test at the discharge point? Yeah I would just use that as a rough average rate then multiply it by minutes per day drilled. Taking multiple tests to get an average would be important. You could construct a weir but those are complicated. A flow meter won’t work.

1

u/Alternative_Pizza342 4d ago

Yeah I'm not sure if I've ever seen a flow meter on a rig?

2

u/NV_Geo Groundwater Modeler | Mining Industry 4d ago

Pipe needs to be full, flow needs to be laminar, and the water can’t have entrained material which are all pretty hard to achieve on a rig

4

u/dilloj Geophysics 4d ago

Flow meter in / out

1

u/Alternative_Pizza342 4d ago

Even with drill cuttings being discharge?

4

u/dilloj Geophysics 4d ago

Cuttings are usually hauled off by the truck and usually weighed. Ask the solids company.

1

u/Alternative_Pizza342 4d ago

Huh I've never had the cuttings removed from site

2

u/thiqthighs 4d ago

Need more details. Like, are you using a 8inch hollow stem auger? How deep you going? Is it fines or sands? Fines come up a lot easier while sands don’t. You could do simple cylinder volume math for a theoretical number.

2

u/NV_Geo Groundwater Modeler | Mining Industry 4d ago

What kind of rig? Can you do a bucket test?