Page 213 - Air and Gas Drilling Manual

Chapter 5: Shallow Well Drilling Applications 5-55
82 7 .
=
= 12 2 . gal/hr
q
f
0 8156 8 33)
(.
)( .

Figure 5-14: Drill string injection pressure (same as compressor output pressure) for
Illustrative Example 5.3c.

Using the data in Figure 5-14 and similar calculations as those given above the
diesel fuel consumption rate as a function of drilling time (or drilling depth) can be
obtained. Figure 5-15 shows the diesel fuel consumption rate as a function of
drilling time (or drill depth) for each of these reciprocating piston compressors. The
approximate total diesel fuel needed (for one compressor unit) to drill the borehole is
given by the integration of the area under the curve in Figure 5-15. This is
approximately 281 gallons. It is standard practice to assume a 20 percent additional
volume of fuel for blowing the hole between connections and other operations on the
drill rig. Therefore, the approximate diesel fuel needed for a compressor unit is