MD DESK
The month has brought a change to the weather, business, and country. Let us support the nation in this battle against corona, by restricting our travels, maintaining social distancing and masks at all times when in public, as the rains are creating change with greener pastures. We are getting customized to the new normal. We are expecting to generate higher productivity in the months to come.
At PRD RIGS INDIA, a training programme arranged by Team ELGI equipment’s PVT LTD they explain their new product range in the diesel portable compressors division. At PRD, we should work on new projects in terms of getting market shares in the different verticals. The factors influencing this push is definitely with the support government’s action, who have opened vast opportunities in INDIA. Through FDI and ownership of Mines and also lifting all restrictions on the extraction of metal and minerals. We can see the countries foreign reserves rising to its record values of 780 trillion, which makes it the right time to shift an intensive focus on mining in the new future.
The International markets are stabilizing, contemplating the more considerable risk of community and business Bankruptcy. The governments are getting accustomed to the new regular of business to reopen in the respective zones, allowing us to partner new opportunities in different verticals. We are Piling up enquires for new and advanced machines to service the market demands. Like the PRD OZ RC drilling rig which made for the West African market. We are also working on NPD for a new venture which has just cleared the G1 review processes. Looking to make a quick time for the developments of these products.
Let us keep this up as we are walking the incline on all graphs. “Stay home Stay Safe everyone.”
DOMESTIC NEWS
Dealer – M/s. Adhi Vinayagar Enterprises:
We are pleased to inform that PRD Rigs India has appointed M/s. Adhi Vinayagar Enterprises as Authorised representative for the purpose of Marketing & Distributing PRD PC 500 (DTH & TH) and its spares throughout Tamilnadu and Kerala from this Financial QTR.
About Adhi Vinayagar:
M/s. Adhi Vinayagar has decade of experience & authorised deals for ELGI Air Compressor, Voltas Material handling, ENI Lubricants, KOEL Gencets, SMC Pneumatic Spares etc, having office setup around 10 places in Tamil Nadu.
Speedstar to PRD Autoloader 2020 (Alteration Project):
AL2523 is the most preferred truck for Autoloader Rig Mounting in Domestic Market. Bit due to present change in Emission Norms – the truck manufacturers has to be optional for BS VI Standards. However BS VI AL Trucks are not yet available for purchase for Rig owners. Since there is a delay in production due to Covid 19Lockdowns.
Now Customers are interested to modify/ alter their manual rig to Autoloader with the existing chassis. It is an opportunity for us where we need not to wait for new truck chassis/mounting and we have started taking orders also.
AROUND THE GLOBE - IMPACT OF COVID IN EAST AFRICA
COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. It has upset our travel, the way we study, connect socially and even work. New norms such as social distancing, wearing facemask, washing hands have introduced a sense of safety but it cannot be ruled out that businesses have been impacted tremendously. Many have lost their jobs and companies that were very successful had to closed down. This is surely not a very rosy picture.
To look at the economic impact of COVID-19 in East Africa, it may be important to consider the national responses to the emergency. Kenya put in place partial lockdown of major cities, nighttime curfew, strict social distancing measures in public utility places and public transportation, and closure of educational institutions among other measures. Ugandan national strategy was a complete lockdown for 40 days. Tanzania took a very different path of no restrictions. Everything is normal, including the country being opened for tourism, just that no airlines are flying in. The Tanzanian President encouraged the citizens to pray harder and announced there is no COVID in the country. Tanzania doesn’t provide any official figures of COVID infections or deaths. Whatever the national strategy has been, it is imperative to note that each industry has been challenged uniquely and significantly.
Kenya being a very tourism-centric economy has been particularly prone to the devastating effects of COVID-19. Travel, tourism and hospitality have been badly hit. Fortunately, in Kenya, borehole drilling for water was classified as an essential service. This meant water drilling services could continue even during the partial lockdown period. The borehole drilling industry is not greatly affected and the demand for drilling has gone up as the government and various NGOs have stepped up to provide clean water to the citizens, which is the basic necessity in the fight against Corona. This has been the silver lining for the drilling industry. But overall the Kenyan GDP growth has declined to 1% from the earlier estimate of 5.7% due to reduced tourism activities, reduced export earnings and disruption in supply chain. The disruption in supply chain has posed various challenges in material movement to other countries due to border closures, shipping delays, delays in clearing due to reduced staff at work, increased shipping cost and increased exchange rates against USD.
That’s the picture of drilling in Kenya so far and as we hope and wait for the world to return to normal, let’s stay safe by following the recommended protocols.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE FACTORY - LEAN MANUFACTURING EXERCISE
During this pandemic lockdown, we had a wonderful opportunity to grow our knowledge as the management had organized various and plenty of training programs for the benefit of our staff.
However, as opening our mind to advancements in our factory where we have acquired a thirst for knowledge. This has enabled our HR department to plan a forth nightly training program for the interested. And being physically present and face to face programs are made much more efficient and engaging.
This July Mr.Thejeshwar – GET Manufacturing Engineer presented Lean manufacturing thorough learning of the concept which was complimented by the partial exercise (the plug game). Representation of an interesting lean manufacturing game which explains the 8 wastes and the importance of process flow in Quality manufacturing. This training was continued on forth nightly bases with Mr.Saravanan – APM (Assistant Production Manager), with an engaging section on Basics – Thermodynamics.
Looking forward to training requests for branches, managers, and colleagues. Which our HR Department will be ready to facilitate on-demand.
SERVICE. SUPPORT. SATISFACTION - DOORSTEP SERVICE AT MALI
Our service is the real deal, PRD Rigs Mali provides doorstep service even during the pandemic, as in many nations the pandemic had bought travel and logistics to a standstill. Yet our passionate team is always happy to help their customers, traveling 1188km from Bamako deep into the Northern Sahara desert to Gao (North Mali), which is considered a perilous part of Mali To service our rigs.
Our service is the real deal, PRD Rigs Mali provides doorstep service even during the pandemic, as in many nations the pandemic had bought travel and logistics to a standstill. Yet our passionate team is always happy to help their customers, traveling 1188km from Bamako deep into the Northern Sahara desert to Gao (North Mali), which is considered a perilous part of Mali To service our rigs.
Working the extra hours (05-07-2020), PRD RIGS MALI team delivered spares for our privileged customer. They already have 4 rigs of PRD. After this visit through this experience of customer service, Now they have placed an order for a 5th PRD MAX drill rig. “PRD Rigs Mali providing excellent aftersales service not only in Mali but also in West Africa”.
PRD family recognizes the efforts of our customer-focused engineers and service technicians who put their limbs at risk to bring the best to customers, community, and PRD.
TECH FUTURE - 5G NETWORK
Super-fast phones. Self-driving cars. Smarter homes. Streaming movies, music, and games with zero lag. These are just some of the technologies we can expect to see in our lives, tying them all in a next-generation cellular network known as 5G. It is a new global wireless standard after the 4G network. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.
5G has been deployed in 35+ countries and counting. 5G network has a faster rollout and adoption when compared with 4G. Consumers are very excited about the high speeds and low latencies. But 5G goes beyond these benefits by also providing the capability for mission-critical services, enhanced mobile broadband, and massive IoT.
Enabling a broad set of industries
In 2035, when 5G’s full economic benefit should be realized across the globe, a broad range of industries – from retail to education, transportation to entertainment, and everything in between – could produce up to $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services enabled by 5G mobile technology.
Supporting a thriving value chain
The 5G mobile value chain alone could generate up to $3.6 trillion in revenue in 2035, and support up to 22.3 million jobs.
Driving global GDP growth
Over time, the total contribution of 5G to Real Global GDP growth is expected to be equivalent to a country the size of Italy. Italy currently ranks as the eighth largest economy in the world.
5G mobile technology – Like electricity or the automobile, benefit entire economies and benefit entire societies. This is because the global 5G standard (5G New Radio) will advance mobile from largely a set of technologies connecting people-to-people and people-to-information to a unified connectivity fabric connecting people to everything.
“5G will lift mobile into a technology that changes the world.”
TECHNICAL CORNER - HOW A ROCK BIT DRILLS
ROCK FAILURE
Rock cutting, abrasion – very small cracks, insert grinds surface.
Abrasion
This is an illustration of the first phase of rock failure, called the abrasion phase. This is the result of insufficient weight on the bit. The inserts are contacting the rock under very low weight and the resulting action is very similar to placing a knife blade against a grinding stone. The driller can very easily tell when he is in the abrasion phase because the cuttings coming out of the hole will be fine dust.
Rock cutting, spalling starts – enough weight applied to hard rock deeper. Cracks connect. Chips will come free with air blast.
Spalling
Here, rotation speed (RPM) is still the same but sufficient weight has been applied to the bit for most effective insert penetration into the formation. Note that the shell of the bit is not against the formation.
Rock cutting, deeper abrasion – deeper cracking, but does not connect. Next cone must crack rock between these teeth.
Fatigue
Here, more weight has been added to the bit with RPM the same as in the previous illustration. The additional weight has caused some penetration of the inserts into the formation, but not actual failure of the rock. This is called the fatigue phase and again, the driller can easily recognize this phase by checking the returns. Small chips and a high percentage of dust will be coming out of the hole.
It should be pointed out that rock failure can be accomplished with this type of loading and insert penetration. However, it may require many impacts on the formation to cause the rock to fail. The penetration rate will be considerably less than desired.
Rock cutting, deep spalling – cracks connecting at deeper levels. Cracks connect between teeth and between rows
In this second illustration, the inserts are loaded under the proper weight to cause the formation to spall. Chips are removed by the circulating air, allowing the cutting structure to advance. Under “load” condition, the bit will drill at maximum efficiency. The driller will note a large amount of chips with very little dust or fines in the returns.
CUTTING EFFICIENCY
Excess weight
Once the spalling phase has been achieved, applying additional weight to the bit will only be harmful to drilling efficiency. The additional weight will cause the inserts to bury themselves in the formation. The result is a decrease in penetration rate.
Maximize ROP
With the bit drilling in the spalling phase, it is possible to increase the penetration rate by maintaining the proper weight, while increasing the rotation speed (RPM).The amount of increase possible in the penetration rate is variable and will be determined by the experience of the driller, the capabilities of the drill and the formation characteristics.
Maximum cut efficiency
With rotation speed (RPM) fixed, this illustration shows the effect of weight increases on the rate of penetration. After the formation has been “spalled” additional weight will reduce or not increase the drilling rate.
Maximum drilling efficiency
The preceding charts illustrate: spalling weight plus rotation speed equals penetration rate. Therefore, optimum drilling efficiency may be reached as follows:
At a set RPM, determine best weight on bit (WOB) to produce maximum cut efficiency.
At the WOB that gives maximum cut efficiency, RPM should be determined to produce best rate of penetration.
Note: High rotary speeds do not necessarily produce high penetration rates.
Penetration occurs only when the tooth pressure exceeds the rock strength.
Bit force for drilling: Experience has shown that every formation requires a minimum bit force before it will drill. Some formations require much higher drilling pressures than others. For example, clay requires a very small bit pressure for drilling to start. Bit force must be sufficiently concentrated. A large force can be applied to a bit without sufficient pressure being available to exceed the crushing strength of the rock. The force must be concentrated over a small area so that the tooth pressure equals/exceeds the rock strength.
a) LARGE ‘CONTACT AREA’ LOW PRESSURE. ENERGY DISSIPATED AND WASTED
b) SMALL ‘CONTACT AREA’ HIGH PRESSURE. CONCENTRATED ENERGY BRINGS CRUSHING AND MAKES CHIPS
