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www.cafetinnova.org ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 09, No. 03 June 2016, P.P. 921-926

Experimental Application on Reverse Circulation Drilling

Technology with DTH Air Hammer in an Open Pit Mine in
Sichuan
DAJUN ZHAO, ZIHANG S UN, HUANAN LIU, XIN GAN AND HANG YU
College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, No. 938 Ximinzhu Street, Changchun 130021, PR CHINA
Email: liuhuanan112517@163.com

Abstract: The technology of reverse circulation drilling with DTH air hammer which has shown lots of peculiarities such
as high drilling efficiency, good quality of borehole and unique adaptability of complex formation has been .widely used in
developed countries. In the paper, we have carried out analysis and research on the flow field model inside the holes of
reverse circulation bit without bottom injection hole and double hole reverse circulation bit. The research shows: reverse
circulation bit without bottom injection hole is 21% higher than reverse circulation bit with bottom injection hole in respect
of flow speed injected from the interior injection hole. In the central channel beneath the interior injection hole, the upward
flow speed of reverse circulation bit without bottom injection hole is higher than that of double hole reverse circulation bit,
and its speed remains constant. So it shows than reverse circulation bit without bottom injection hole has an advantage over
double hole reverse circulation bit. In order to test effect of reverse circulation with different drilling assembly, the
technology of reverse circulation drilling with DTH air hammer is adopted to carry on a series of field tests in an open pit
mine in Sichuan. Finally, the conclusion of this paper from onsite test is: the average drilling speed of drilling machines with
reverse circulation bit without bottom injection hole is 8.83m/h, and has very good reverse circulation results.
Keywords: DTH hammer; reverse circulation drilling; open pit mine; complex formation

1. Introduction circulation and continuous core (sample) acquisition

without pulling out the drilling bit, the process
With the rapid development of the society and ever-
principle is shown in figure 1: delivered by air
increasing population, people’s demand on mineral
compressor 1, compressed air passes air container 2
resources is constantly increasing. Since open pit
and high pressure blowing rubber tube 3 into dual
mines and shallow deposit resources are gradually
channel air/water hose 7, enters the circular channel
drying up, it is necessary to ascertain the deep mineral
of double wall drilling rod 11, driving the feed
reserve [1]. Currently, there are several aspects in
through down-hole hammer 13 at the hole bottom, the
open pit mine drilling exploration: (1) it is difficult to
piston inside the down-hole hammer reciprocate in
drill with ordinary methods; (2) severe hole
high frequency to impact the reverse circulation bit
expansion; (3) drill stems are easily broken; (4)
13, achieving the drilling of the down-hole hammer
difficult to get samples; (5) severe damage on drilling
by smashing rocks. Exhaust after work is vented via
bit head gear; (6) long construction cycle; (7)
the bottom ejection hole on the bit, carrying broken
prominent safety problems of operators, construction
rock core (sample) 12 into the central hole of the bit
equipment. Aiming at the aforementioned problems in
via the pressure boosting groove, through the run-
open pit mine drilling exploration, reverse circulation
through hole of the down-hole hammer and central
drilling technology is widely used in developed
channel of the double wall drilling rod, via the
countries; the percentage of geologic exploration
gooseneck pipe 5 and deslagging rubber tube 8 to
work load finished by this technology is close to 80%
enter the swirling flow sampler 9, air and extremely
of total work load in USA, it is more than 80% in
fine particles media is discharged from the top outlet
Australia. This research work uses down-hole air
on the swirling flow sampler, while the rock core
hammer reverse circulation drilling technology in the
(sample) drops to the rock sample bag 10 through the
exploration works in an open pit mine in Sichuan,
bottom outlet on the swirling flow sampler under
China to solve the technical problems of “hard to drill,
gravity, thus completing the reverse circulation of
hard to form a hole, hard to get samples” etc.
dynamics and fluid media as well as continuous core
encountered in complex strata.[2].
(sample) acquisition without pulling out the drilling
2. Drilling Technology Principles bit.
2.1. Working Principle of Down-Hole Hammer 2.2. Down-Hole Hammer Work Parameters
Down-hole air hammer reverse circulation drilling When the reverse air circulation down-hole hammer is
technology integrates multiple drilling technology working, compressed air enter the dual channel
such as[3]: rock-breaking by down-hole hammer air/water hose via rubber tube, then enter the circular
impact & rotation, entire whole media reverse channel of the double wall drilling rod, the piston

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 922 D AJUN ZHAO, ZIHANG S UN, HUANAN LIU , X IN G AN AND H ANG YU

N ps 
moves in the chamber under the force of high pressure Qin 60 (1-3)
air, and the air will have reverse flow before the 2Vol DTH
piston moves to the top of the chamber[4].
In the equation (1-3):
Nps——the impact frequency of air hammer piston,
min-1; Qin——air flow volume in the air hammer,ft3/s
(m3/s) ;
Time of one air hammer impact:

 ts 
60 (1-4)
N ps

In the equation (1-4):  ts ——Time of one air

hammer impact, s.
The moment when the piston impacts the top of the
drilling bit, the equation of the piston speed is

  pin AP  WP  
 p  2 es LS 
  WP g  
0.5
(1-5)

1-air compressor; 2- air container; 3- high pressure
blowing rubber tube; 4-power head; 7- dual channel
air/water hose; 8- deslagging rubber tube; 9- swirling
In the equation (1-5):
flow sampler; 10- rock sample bag; 11- double wall
drilling rod; 12- rock core (sample); 13- feed through vp—— piston speed, ft/s (m/s) ;
down-hole hammer; 14-reverse circulation bit Pin——the flow pressure when air enters the air
hammer, 1bf/ft2 (N/m2) ;
Figure 1 Reverse circulation drilling schematics
Wp—— Piston weight, 1bf (N);
The length and interior diameter of the chamber can g—— gravity, 32.2ft/s2 (9.81m/s2).
be used to calculate the chamber volume. And is
When air is drilling, the carrying capacity of the air
given by the following equation:

flow is in proportion to the air density and square of
 2
Vol    D pc Lc
(1-1) the circular gap speed. The lag speed of rock debris in
4  the air flow in the circular gap can be expressed as[5]:

 4 gD p  p 
vs   
0.5
In the equation (1-1):

 3CD  a 
(1-6)
Vol— total piston chamber volume, ft3 (m3);
Dpc——interior diameter of piston chamber ft (m);
Lc ——length of piston chamber ft (m); In the equation (1-6):
Equation 1-1 can be used to describe the stroke of the g—— gravity;
piston top between when the piston chamber is filled Dp——rock debris particle diameter
with air and when it is in contact with the top of the ρp——rock debris particle density
drilling bit. So, from equation 1-1 we can get the ρa—— air density
maximum substitution volume of air hammer. CD——friction coefficient
Generally, it is difficult for the piston inside the air The equation of the kinetic energy generated when the
hammer chamber to move to the top of the chamber, piston impacts the top fitting of the drilling bit is:
1  WP  2
so it is possible to define the actual substitution
KE ps   V p
2  g
volume of air hammer in the shaft with effective (1-7)
coefficient of the chamber. The actual substitution 
volume equation of the hammer is:
  2
In the equation (1-7):
   D pc
4
Vol DTH Lc es (1-2) KEPS——kinetic energy, 1bf • ft (N•m).
g—— gravity, 32.2ft/s2 (9.81m/s2)
In the equation (1-2) Wp—— Piston weight, 1bf (N);.

VolDTH—— the actual substitution volume equation of
the hammer, ft3 (m3);
es——effective coefficient of the piston stroke
The air flow volume in the crest of down hole air
hammer is known, so equation of the number of
impacts per minute of the piston is:
3. Simulation, Comparison, Analysis of Bit Reverse
Circulation Results
3.1. Modeling
Establish the flow filed model (as shown in figure 2)
inside the hole of double hole reverse circulation bit
without bottom injection hole in 3D drawing software

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 03, June, 2016, pp. 921-926
 Experimental Application on Reverse Circulation Drilling Technology with DTH
Air Hammer in an Open Pit Mine in Sichuan
Solidworks in accordance with the dimensions of
double inner injection hole reverse circulation bit
model (as shown in figure 3). The goal is to boost the
rolling-sucking effect of rock debris at hole bottom by
the high speed flow injected from the interior
injection holes to suck the rock debris at hole bottom
into the central channel more thoroughly [6]. To save
calculation time for numerical simulation, make
adequate simplification on the flow field model, and
ignore some elements which have no effects on the
simulation results, such as: bevel, spherical teeth on
bit, fit clearance etc. In figure 1, a- reverse circulation
bit flow field entrance; b- central channel exit; c-
exterior ring gap exit.
Figure 2 3D modeling of double reverse circulation
bit
Figure 3 Bit flow field model of the original double
hole bit without bottom injection hole
A Existing double hole bit flow field model
B Flow field model without bottom injection hole
3.2. Analysis Results
3.2.1. Speed distribution on the cross-section of the
central channel
In this paper, we conducted analysis and research on
the morphological characteristics of the local flow
field of multiple fluid injected from the interior
injection holes on the reverse circulation bit inside the
central channel, using the top outlet on the interior
injections hole’s longitudinal channel, take cross-
sections in the vertical direction of the fluid flow at
intervals of 20 mm. From figure 4A, 4B we can see,
under the rolling-sucking effect, multiple fluid
streams inside the central channel will generate
exchange of momentum, energy and transportation of
mass around the fluid, and the speed of multiple fluid
streams will decrease gradually because of energy
consumption in the process of returning to the top[7].
Since the interior injection holes of double hole
reverse circulation bit and holeless reverse circulation
bit are both deployed in counterclockwise spirals, so
the proliferation area of upward injection flow on the
International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering
ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 03, June, 2016, pp. 921-926
923
cross-section of the central channel clings tightly to
the hole wall of the central channel asymmetrically
and rotates counterclockwise, and spreads slowly
towards the center during the lifting procedure, the
central area of the central channel is always in the low
pressure zone, area close the hole wall of the central
channel is always in the high pressure zone.
Figure 4 A. Chorisogram of speed distribution on the
cross-section of central channel of current double
hole bit B. Chorisogram of speed distribution on the
cross-section of central channel of current double
hole bit without bottom injection hole
From the comparison of the chorisogram of speed
distribution on the cross-section of figure 4A and
figure 4B we can tell the maximum speed of the fluid
injected from the interior injection holes on the double
hole reverse circulation bit without bottom injection
hole is about 570m/s；while the maximum speed of
the fluid injected from the interior injection holes on
the double hole reverse circulation bit with bottom
injection hole is about 470m/s. The fluid flow speed
injected from the interior injection holes of reverse
circulation bit without bottom injection hole is 21%
higher than that of the reverse circulation bit with
bottom injection hole, this is because the structure of
bottom injection hole shunts certain amount of
compressed air in between the bit and spline
housing[8], reducing the fluid volume into the central
channel, as well as reducing the flow speed.
3.2.2 Upward flow speed distribution along the axis
of the central channel
By observing the upward flow speed distribution
along the axis of the central channel we can tell the
bigger the capacity of the reverse circulation rock core
(sample)-carrying at the upward hole top, the bigger
the upward flow speed, the stronger the upward rock
core (sample)-carrying capacity, the more through the
reverse circulation is formed, the more difficult it is
the form congestion in the central deslagging
channel[9]. Through simulation analysis we get the
upward speed distribution curve along the axis of the
central channel, shown in figure 3.
Figure 5 shows that in the central channel below the
interior injection hole: for upward flow speed, the
upward fluid flow speed of reverse circulation bit
without bottom injection hole is higher than that of
the reverse circulation bit with bottom injection hole,
and its speed is basically stable[10]. The maximum
upward fluid flow speed of reverse circulation bit
 924 D AJUN ZHAO, ZIHANG S UN, HUANAN LIU , X IN G AN AND H ANG YU
without bottom injection hole is the biggest at 120
m/s; the maximum upward fluid flow speed of current
double hole bit are 78m/s, the minimum upward fluid
flow speed of current double hole bit are 58m/s; in the
central channel at the interior injection hole outlet:
under the rolling-sucking effect, multiple fluid
streams inside the central channel will generate
exchange of momentum, energy and transportation of
mass around the fluid, and the speed of multiple fluid
streams will decrease gradually because of energy
consumption in the process of returning to the top,
shortly after that because of the rolling-sucking effect,
it accelerates upwards very quickly[11]. This shows
that reverse circulation bit with bottom injection hole
has an advantage over double hole reverse circulation
bit.
Figure 5 Upward speed distribution curve along the
axis of the central channel
4. Application in Experiment
Air drop-hole hammer reverse circulation continuous
core-retrieving technology integrates three advanced
drilling technology: drop-hole hammer high efficient
rock breaking, air medium reverse circulation in the
entire hole, non-stop continuous rock core-retrieving,
whose efficiency can reach 6～10 of ordinary drilling
technology, the entire hole reverse circulation has no
scouring on the hole surface, discharges rock
(mineral) core continuously, does not use water, is not
affected by elements such as cold season, broken or
frozen strata, lack of water etc, and can be applied to
the mineral prospecting works in remote western
areas. By studying different type of drop-hole hammer
bits, we can get drop-hole hammer bits with higher
drilling efficiency.
4.1. Geological Profile of the Experimental Mining
Area
Sichuan Lala copper mining area is located in the
hilly zone on the left bank of Jinsha River, the general
terrain is being higher in the north, lower in the south,
the landform belongs to “hills under corrosion of
running water”. The mineral-containing rocks in
exposed stratum in the mining zone are mainly
metamorphic volcano tuff, biotite quartz schist,
pomegranate biotite schist, and metamorphic sodium
keratophyre rocks, imandrite etc. There are abnormal
development of folding, fractures in the mining area,
International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering
ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 03, June, 2016, pp. 921-926
disrupting the continuity of the ore body, early
frequent magma activities created extensive
distribution of pyrolith and damaged the ore body,
figure 6 shows the exposed rock in the mining area.
From the ground at hole top we can see crisscrossed
joints and cracks that are unstable.
Figure 6 exposed rock in the mining area
4.2. Testing Experiments used in the Study
The main drilling equipment onsite are:
(1) RC-400 air reverse circulation sampling power
drilling machine, the designed drilling depth is
400m, rotation speed 90/180rpm,maximum lift
200KN.
(2) Ingersoll Rand XHP1070 screw air compressor,
rated air flow 30.3m3/min,rated wind pressure
24bar.
(3) SBC-108/44 flat type double wall drill pipe,
SBC-127/44 flat type double wall drill pipe.
(4) GQ-108C high wind pressure feed through drop-
hole hammer, GQ-127C high wind pressure feed
through drop-hole hammer, and supporting
reverse circulation bit (bottomless double hole
reverse circulation bit)
(5) ancillary devices such as: dual channel air/water
hose, gooseneck pipe, deslagging rubber tube,
swirling flow sampler, rock sample bag etc.
4.3. Experiment Results
Total 5 different drilling tool combinations were used
in the experiment, which are “127 double wall drilling
pipe + 127 drop-hole hammer +154 sample collecting
bit” (to open the hole), “127 double wall drilling pipe
+ 127 drop-hole hammer +133 core collecting bit”,
“top 108 double wall drilling pipe + bottom 127
double wall drilling pipe + 127 drop-hole hammer
+133 sampling bit”, “108 double wall drilling pipe +
108 drop-hole hammer +113 sample collecting bit”
and “top 127 double wall drilling pipe + bottom 108
double wall drilling pipe + 108 drop-hole hammer
+113 core collecting bit”, respectively.
There were total 3 experiment holes drilled in this
experiment, the total drilling length was 483m,
average drilling efficiency was 8.83m/h.
 Experimental Application on Reverse Circulation Drilling Technology with DTH 925
Air Hammer in an Open Pit Mine in Sichuan

Table 1: drilling tool combination & drilling parameter records

Drilling depth Pure drilling Drilling Core (sample)
Drilling Tool Combinations (m) time (min) efficiency (m/h) length (m)
127 double wall drilling pipe+127
drop-hole hammer +154 sample 0～7 37 11.35 1.2
collecting bit
127 double wall drilling pipe + 127
drop-hole hammer +133 core 7～118 755 8.82 62.63
collecting bit
top 108 double wall drilling pipe +
bottom 127 double wall drilling pipe +
118～127 75 7.20 5.94
127 drop-hole hammer +133 sampling
bit
108 double wall drilling pipe + 108
drop-hole hammer +113 sample 127～175 354 8.14 23.59
collecting bit
top 127 double wall drilling pipe +
bottom 108 double wall drilling pipe +
108 drop-hole hammer +113 core 175～202 340 4.76 8.34
collecting bit
Figure 8 is the drilling conditon onsite, from the
picture we can see the reverse circulation effects were
good, there was no dust expelled from the positive
circulation channel at the hole top. Figure 9 shows the
rock core (sample) collected in rock sample bags,
since rock core (sample) are dropped into the rock
sample bags directly after being slowed down and
separated by the swirling flow sampler and made no
contact with the air, this ensures effectively all rock
core (sample) returned top the top from the hole are
basically collected, the percentage of core recovery is
increased, and situations of overlapped rock core
(sample) are eliminated.

Figure 7 Drilling hole structural drawing

Table 1 shows the drilling tool combination and
drilling parameter of one hole, Figure 7 is the drilling
hole structural drawing. From table 1 we see:
(1) Total drilling footage is 202m, total time is
25.7h,average drilling efficiency is 7.86m/h, total
length of the sample is 101.7m.
(2) At the perforation stage, because the rock in the
stratum is soft, the drilling efficiency was the
highest at 11.35m/h. With the increase of hole Figure 8 drilling conditon onsite
depth, the drilling efficiency decreased
somewhat.
(3) Because the single impact work of 127 drop-hole
hammer is bigger than that of 108 drop-hole
hammer, so the drilling efficiency of 127 drop-
hole hammer is higher that of 108 drop-hole
hammer.
(4) Except the small quantity of rock core (sample)
collected at the perforation stage, rock cores
(sample) collected at all other hole depth can
meet the requirements of percentage of core
recovery, which also shows different drilling tool
combination has little impact on the formation of
reverse circulation. Figure 9 rock core (sample) collected

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 03, June, 2016, pp. 921-926
 926 D AJUN ZHAO, ZIHANG S UN, HUANAN LIU , X IN G AN AND H ANG YU
The key operational points of air drop-hole hammer
reverse circulation drilling technology concluded
from the experiment are mainly:
(1) During normal drilling, keep the wind blowing as
much as possible in the hole, it is allowed to lift
the drop-hole hammer a bit to blow out all water
and rock power in the hole, and to plug the holes
in which water seeps so as to ensure the returned
rock samples as dry as possible. When
exchanging rock sample bags, it is allowed to
turn down the wind a bit for convenience, but do
not turn off the wind totally.
(2) During the drilling process when we encounter
soft strata in which the hole diameters tend to
shrink, and the drilling pipe can not be lifted
smoothly, disassemble the double wall drilling
pipe at the hole top, add water to the inside tube
and the circular gap between the outside tube and
the hole wall, push and pull the drilling pipe up
and down, lift it after rock powder in the clogged
section is basically diluted and its strength is
decreased, continue drilling after the rock powder
that clogs the hole is vented as much as possible.
(3) After an additional section of the drilling pipe is
connected, first blow the water from seeping
holes out of the hole top forcefully with wind,
then lower the drilling pipe, apply drilling
pressure to check if the drop-hole hammer works
normally, it works and makes noise, decrease the
pressure or lift the drilling pipe slightly, leave the
drop-hole hammer in a status of neither work nor
being a forced blowing hole, let the wind released
from the drop-hole hammer blow all water at the
hole bottom out of the hole top, resume drilling
pressure or lower the drilling pipe so that the
drop-hole hammer switches to work status after
there is no water flow at the material discharge
pot of the sampler so that all rock powder
collected from the reverse circulation is dry.
(4) At time of drilling, start blowing before drilling
to avoid rock powder in the hole from enter the
drop-hole hammer, causing clogging and put the
drop-hole hammer out of work. If the drop-hole
hammer has already sucked in some rock powder,
it is allowed to add water to the circular gap on
the drilling pipe, and start blowing, let the wind
push all rock powder and water inside the drop-
hole hammer out of the drop-hole hammer to
clean the drop-hole hammer.
5. Conclusion
(1) In the paper, we carries out analysis and research
on the morphological features of local flow field
of the multiple flow injected from the interior
injection hole on reverse circulation bit inside the
central channel, the central area in the central
channel of reverse circulation bit without bottom
injection hole and double hole reverse circulation
bit is always in the low pressure zone, while the
International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering
ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 09, No. 03, June, 2016, pp. 921-926
wall surface of the central channel is always in
the high pressure zone.
(2) The structure of bottom injection hole has certain
shunting effect of the compressed air between the
bit and spline housing. So reverse circulation bit
without bottom injection hole is 21% higher than
reverse circulation bit with bottom injection hole
in respect of flow speed injected from the interior
injection hole.
(3) In the central channel beneath the interior
injection hole, the upward flow speed of reverse
circulation bit without bottom injection hole is
higher than that of double hole reverse circulation
bit, and its speed remains constant.
So it shows than reverse circulation bit without
bottom injection hole has an advantage over double
hole reverse circulation bit.
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