All geologists know that letdown: spending hours drilling, only to pull up broken core fragments—or even an empty barrel! Core Drilling rig intact cores doesn’t have to be like “holding eggs with a heavy hand”—get the parameters and tools right, and perfect cores are within reach.

Don’t rush with hard rocks! Granite, limestone, and other hard formations have high cutting resistance. Fast drilling causes intense impact on the core, leading to breakage. For soft rocks like sandstone, maintain a steady speed. Especially in fractured zones or weak interlayers, adopt the “advance 3, retreat 1” method to reduce disturbance. Steady progress for hard rocks and constant speed for soft rocks—this keeps cores continuous and intact.

More fluid isn’t better! Around 5L/min works for hard rocks, while 3-5L/min is ideal for soft rocks. Too much flow scatters soft cores; too little fails to cool the bit or remove cuttings, causing jamming or bit damage. Stable, formation-matched flow balances core protection and drilling efficiency.

Prioritize a double-tube (single-acting) barrel! The outer tube rotates for cutting, while the inner tube stays fixed—avoiding core disturbance from rotation. Flushing fluid flows through the gap between tubes, not directly hitting the core. This drastically reduces breakage and loss, boosting core recovery rate far more than a single-tube barrel. Match the barrel length to drilling depth; use extensions for deep holes to collect full core sections.

Master these three tips, and you’ll improve core quality even in complex formations! Drop a comment about your core drilling struggles—we’d love to hear them!