CHAX Drill pipe designed and manufactured only for one purpose

The year was 2008 and this was the start an interesting project for Driconeq when they met with Major Drilling Australia to discuss the problems they were having with drill pipe failure. The type of drilling discussed was CBM (Coal Bed Methane) Directional drilling.

The drill pipe requirement was very unusual as the physical dimensions of the drill pipe were a critical requirement by the client. Consider this - an upset drill pipe with 95mm OD joints with 60mm ID, torsional strength to drill 1800m, this was huge request in a directional application.

After gathering all these specifications along with expected bend radius Driconeq went home to Sunne, Sweden and started design of a new type of pipe. The main goal was to produce a drill pipe that contractors could rely on, without any pipe failure.

Three months passed before production of the first pairs of tool joints. They were then friction welded to suitable tube material and sent to KTH (Royal Technical University) in Stockholm for destruction tests.

When Driconeq received the report from KTH it was evident. The new CHAX pipe would easily do the job for Major Drilling. The confidence in Driconeq was confirmed by Major Drilling when an order for a total of 5000 meters of 9 meter and 6 meter pipes resulted. The order was despatched to Australia and the CHAX pipes have now been use for over 16 months. The drilling crew state that they have doubled the amount of drilled meter / pipe compared to other pipes that were used previously.

Major Drilling have achieved production rates of up to 660 meters in a 24 hour period and not encountering any drill rod failures has led to consistent production rates.

Periodic non destructive testing results have also been favourable with not one pipe showing any of the cracks that were previously part of the lottery associated with this type of drilling.

Chax drill pipe have also found to be suitable on vertical holes not only for strength and large watercourse. Weight of 76kg per 6m length is an advantage in many applications.

Driconeq lead the way with Chax Drill Pipe and this product is now added to their extensive range of Drill pipe.