Local Enterprises Leverage on Collaborative Industry Project (CIP) to Seed High-value Gun Drilling Expertise
Singapore - The Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), has pioneered an evaluation, comparison and validation method to produce deep, straight holes in a variety of materials for downhole drill pipes, to enable oil and gas exploration venture into greater depths and harsher environments. With assistance from SPRING Singapore, SIMTech has launched an initiative under its Collaborative Industry Project (CIP) scheme to equip companies in the Oil and Gas sector with effective tooling, preparation methods and drilling parameters.
Partnership to Boost Capabilities
Gun drilling is a method for the reliable production of small diameters and a range of depths in downhole drill pipes with straightness and precision. Currently, holes of depths less than 600 to 800mm are fabricated by less than five local Precision Engineering companies and multinational corporations. Holes with diameters of 8mm or smaller and depths beyond 800mm, particularly those fabricated on hard materials, are usually imported. Given the material and complex machinery, an investment can amount to S$1.5 to S$2 million for a 2-metre long machine. Many local enterprises also lack the integrated expertise in the choice of tooling, materials, process parameters, tool changeover, alignment, regrinding and measurement in deep hole drilling.
The CIP aims to fill this gap. It will enable companies in the PE industry to acquire the required know-how that allows high precision holes to be accurately produced, in partnership with SIMTech and other tooling, coolant and material suppliers. It will also leverage on the strengths and expertise of partners in the supply chain and scientific methods provided by SIMTech to arrive at the optimum solution, in a manner that further reduces the cost and time for development.
Through the CIP, participating companies can maximise the usage of existing resources including machines, workforce, facilities and space to produce surface, subsea, and downhole components using other corrosion-resistant metals. The CIP is also expected to increase throughput, productivity and yield by 45 to 60 per cent through reduced rejects, rework and remake.
Extending SIMTech’s Expertise to the Industries
Dr Lim Ser Yong, Executive Director of SIMTech said, “The CIP is significant in raising the capabilities of local enterprises in high-value gun drilling operations to strengthen Singapore’s position as a hub for the Oil and Gas equipment manufacturing industry. Through the collaborative partnership model, SIMTech will develop the key technologies and know-how for high precision gun drilling operations for local companies to gain access to the capital-intensive and highly complex manufacturing of large Oil and Gas exploration tools.”
SIMTech will provide a structured methodology to enable the participating members to evaluate the compatibility of their products in relation to other critical resources in deep hole drilling. Participating companies will be trained and equipped with appropriate capabilities in tool engineering and process design, execution, analysis and inspection through a combination of classroom, laboratory and case-study based training. Leveraging on SIMTech’s capabilities, the performance of the tools and the effectiveness of the chosen drilling conditions and parameters will be objectively evaluated.
The participating companies of the CIP include local deep hole drilling service providers and international gun drills, specialty material and coolant manufacturers from Singapore, Germany, Japan, Korea, UK, and USA. Each participant will acquire the knowledge and know-how in drill designs, edge polishing, drilling parameters and strategy for unsupported deep hole drilling components of tough material using commonly available machining centres. The complete list of participating companies is in Annex A.
For media enquiries, please contact:
For A*STAR SIMTech:
Ms Lee Swee Heng
Agency for Science, Technology and Research
DID: 6793 8383
Email: leesh@scei.a-star.edu.sg
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