Mi55 drilling rig - training and first start in France

One of our most powerful drilling rigs has reached France. More precisely, we are talking about the Massenza Mi55 drilling rig, destined for a customer in the Landes department (south-west of France).

Let's go back a few months: at the beginning of the summer, we shipped the Mi55 drilling rig to Lyon, with its mast and rig separated, in compliance with the regulations in force regarding the maximum weight to be transported by road, in Italy and abroad.
Our team went directly to the customer's headquarters, for the drilling assembly phase, which was followed by registration and testing by our French dealer (EPD).

At the French company's depot, we started the machine's start-up and training phase in collaboration with one of our most specialised and French-speaking production technicians.

The Mi55 drilling machine was tested on an existing water well at the site to better learn its use and all its technical features. In particular, this machine was highly customised to the customer's needs, with features rarely applied on other drill rigs.

Specifically:

• Machine mounted on Astra 8x6 truck and powered by Astra truck engine and PTO designed by our technical department in collaboration with the supplier of the same. One engine for both the truck and all the functions of the drilling rig.
• Anti-tack bar at the rear of the truck in compliance with transport regulations in France.
• Foldable extention cord of 12 m once opened, used in the transport stage, for casing pipes and for the corresponding 8.4 m rotary head stroke, so that 7.5 m drill rods can be used.
• Rotary head side parking: essential to be able to move the rotary head sideways, so that the block can be used with a hook load capacity of 55 tonnes.
• Drilling rig mainly set up for direct circulation work with our PM200 mud pump and booster centrifugal pump, for greater drilling efficiency.
  Technical data
  - Massenza mud pump model PM200 7"1/2 x 8"
  - 7" pistons with 130 strokes (optional)
  - Maximum flow rate 2,535 l/min (152.1 m³/h)
  - Maximum pressure 39 Bar
  - Booster Centrifugal Pump 2,000 l/min at 9 Bar or 3,000 l/min at 7 Bar
• Hydraulically opening clamp to free the well centre, maximum passage available 1200 mm
• Rod charging arm fully controlled by radio remote control.
• Hydraulically controlled spider to be positioned on the surface of the well casing pipe for extra safety when manoeuvring the drill rods.