Foro 3000 Drill

Description

Status

Final control system testing and troubleshooting was completed in PY 2022. IDP is currently conducting an inventory of all tools contained within the MECC (Mobile Expandable Container Configuration) machine shop, a 20-foot shipping container with expandable wings, that will be used with the drill system. The drill system is now ready for issue and is slated for use on the next U.S. deep drilling project at Hercules Dome, Antarctica. The drill will likely be shipped to Antarctica in 2024 or 2025, with drilling operations currently anticipated to begin no sooner than the 2025-2026 field season.

Background

The IDP Science Advisory Board identified in the Long Range Science Plan 2016-2026 a need to investigate adaptation of an existing drill to minimize logistical requirements and time on site for deep ice coring. The first requirements were finalized on April 20, 2017. In consideration of replicate coring capability for the Foro 3000, from discussions organized by IDP-Dartmouth with iterative discussions between IDP and scientists, the following are the science requirements for the Foro 3000 drill.

Science Requirements

Science Requirements

  1. Target depths: from the surface to 3,000 m depth
  2. Ice core diameter: 98 mm ± 3mm
  3. Minimum core length: Core length per run should be designed to facilitate drilling to 3,000 m in three field seasons (assuming 40 drilling days each season with 24-hour operations)
  4. The drill should be operable in ice temperatures down to -53°C to 0°C
  5. The surface equipment should be operable in ambient temperatures from -40° to +5°C
  6. Transport type: prefer Hercules LC130 or ground traverse
  7. Drill should be compatible with existing fluids Isopar K and Estisol 140; compatibility of other fluids would be vetted by the science community prior to use
  8. Core quality requirements:
    • Core recovery over the entire borehole, as close as possible
    • Ice pieces to fit together snugly without any gaps
    • In non-brittle ice, the packed core should have no more than 12 pieces of ice per 10 m section of core
    • In brittle ice, there may be a lot of pieces in a single core segment, but the pieces must fit together, retaining stratigraphic order; more than 80% of the ice volume must be in pieces that each have a volume > 2 liters
  9. Absolute borehole depth measurement accuracy: 0.4% of depth
  10. Borehole inclination should be less than 6 degrees
  11. Drill design and electronics should be forward-compatible with a future replicate coring and deviation system capable of deploying a removable and oriented whipstock to preserve the full borehole logging record.
  12. The drill will be a complete system which includes a drilling structure and ice-core processing equipment. The drill structure will be appropriate for moderate accumulation rate sites (<15 cm per year), recognizing that specific sites may require additional specifications. Additional logistical equipment is permissible for drill site set-up and tear-down, for example a tractor with 3,000 lb. fork capacity for moving equipment and bucket or snow blower for drill trench excavation and site maintenance.

Scientific Features desired but not required

  1. Ability to break multiple 1-m sections during a drill run to reduce the need to cut brittle ice at the surface.
  2. Ability to measure inclination of borehole and azimuth of drilled cores
  3. Ability to replicate core with a removable or drillable whipstock. Deviation drilling would preferably occur on the uphill side of the borehole to allow passage of logging tools in the main borehole.

Discussion

  • This drill is part of a family of drills of similar design, including the Foro drill, the Intermediate Depth Drill (1800 m), and this Foro 3000 would be a version optimized for 3,000 m depths.
  • The maximum drilling duration of 3 years for 3,000m assumes 120 total drilling days (estimated 40 per season), and does not include site set up, drill installation, take out, etc.
  • It is desired that the Foro 3000 drill could be used at a different deep site using most if not all of the existing components, and without need for a major re-design.
  • For consideration for deeper drilling: Extending the winch capacity from 3,000 to 3,500 m will add an estimated 400 lbs to the system, of which 250 lbs. is for the extra cable. The winch drum would need to be 4" wider, going from 24" between flanges to 28", to hold the extra 500 m of cable. At 3,000 m depth there is 11.9 kN pulling force available for breaking the core and that drops to 11.1 kN at 3,500 m. This is currently limited by the breaking strength of the cable. For drilling to depths of ~3,500 m, only the winch and the cable would need to be changed for the Foro 3000.
  • For the logistical equipment needed on site, a tractor with forks capable of lifting 3000 lbs. is required for movement of pallets and drill fluid. A tractor with a bucket or snow blower attachment is needed for excavation of the drill trench and core storage area. The drill system could be installed and maintained with lesser equipment, however it will increase the setup and take down time and put people at a higher risk of injury. How ice core pallets are handled and loaded on aircraft, and in general how cargo is going to be loaded and off loaded from aircraft, may be a bigger determining factor on what size piece of equipment is required.
  • Core packaging materials (tubes, boxes, straps) and transportation materials (pallets, blankets) shall be provided by the logistics provider.

Questions or Comments

Questions or comments should be sent to Mary Albert.

 

Equipment Details

Name Foro 3000 Drill
Type
Type
Ice coring
Number in Inventory
Number in Inventory
0
Max. Practical Depth
Max. Practical Depth
3000 m
Ice Core Diameter
Ice Core Diameter
98 mm
Ice Core Length
Ice Core Length
3.0 m
Rock Core Diameter
Rock Core Diameter
[NA]
Rock Core Length
Rock Core Length
[NA]
IDP Driller Required?
IDP Driller Required?
Yes
Drill Fluid Required?
Drill Fluid Required?
Yes
Trench Required?
Trench Required?

Yes

Documents

Citation Year
Eric J Steig, Sarah Shackleton, Robert Hawley (2021) Science Requirements: Replicate Coring for the Foro 3000 Drill. 1-3. 2021
U.S. Ice Drilling Program, Paul Cutler, Mary R Albert, Kathleen Wendt, Edward Brook, Heidi Roop, Joerg M Schaefer, John W Goodge (2021) Presentations: AGU Town Hall TH010 - Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions. AGU Fall Meeting 2021, 2021
Mary R Albert, Kristina R Slawny, Grant Boeckmann, Chris J Gibson, Jay A Johnson, Keith Makinson, Julius Rix (2020) Recent Innovations in Drilling in Ice. Chapter 6 of Advances in Terrestrial Drilling: Ground, Ice and Underwater, Bar-Cohen and Zacny, eds., 157-220. https://www.routledge.com/Advances-in-Terrestrial-Drilling-Ground-Ice-and-Under… 2020
IDDO (2018) Foro 3000 Drill Design Review - September 25, 2018. 1-34. 2018
Eric J Steig, TJ Fudge, Ryan Bay, Robert Hawley, IDPO (2018) Science Requirements: Foro 3000 Drill. 1-3. 2018
Kyle Zeug (2018) Replicate Coring System for 98mm Electromechanical Drill - Whipstock Conceptual Documentation. 1-16. 2018
IDDO (2017) Foro 3000 Drill Conceptual Design Review. 1-25. 2017
Jay A Johnson, Matthew J Kippenhan (2017) DISC Drill vs. Foro 3000 Drill Analysis. 1-24. 2017
Jay A Johnson, Grant Boeckmann (2017) Foro 3000 Drill Concept Overview. 1-14. 2017

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