By Justin Brown, Operations Manager, Schramm Australia
The new Fury130 rigs are up and running!
The first rig made its debut in the American market in 2018, and in mid‐2019, Schramm made its first delivery of the rig into the Australian Market.
Schramm developed the Fury130 design to produce a rig with a small footprint and features capabilities that normally are only found on larger units. The rig has 130,000 lb pullback and 19,370 ft lb torque and is packaged for ease of transport. It has enhanced safety features, with a Metzke MB850 breaker that gives the operator hands‐free rod make and break capabilities and also can manage hammers, bits and other tooling. The Fury130 rig is available in water well and exploration, and can be customized for specific regulatory requirements and operating environments. Another attractive feature is the two separate and standalone power sources, which enable flexibility in functionality as well as fuel savings.
Designed initially for the North American market, the Fury130 rig is adaptable for work anywhere in the world. It has attracted a lot of global interest because of its compact size and large capacity. In addition to providing the pipe handling capabilities the industry expects on an exploration rig, the Fury130 also can handle large‐diameter pipe for water wells.
In its inaugural deployment in Australia for Bunbury Drilling Co., the first Fury130 rig in the country is configured for water well drilling and will be used for mine site dewatering operations and production bores.
Bunbury, a new Schramm client, sought out the company for support. Bunbury had been using rigs from a different provider but wanted specific competencies that proved challenging. While the company was happy with the track record of the rigs it had been using successfully on its projects, the company needed capabilities that the design of their current rigs could not accommodate.
The basic design of the Fury130 rig Schramm provided for Bunbury was standard, but it would be altered to Bunbury specifications to provide additional safety features to reduce risk of injury to rig operators. Added features include a rod retention system to minimize the chance of rod falls, walkways to allow easier and safer access to the compressor and the rig, and a larger dual breakout unit.
The company’s requests were driven by its commitment to worker safety, a discipline in which Australia is a world leader. The stringent local requirements dictate safety features that include remote operations that allow workers to manage a rig from a distance of 30 ft (9 m) and do not require workers to walk toward the rig while it is running. The Fury130 rig modified for Bunbury is the first of its kind in this market segment with features that create an exclusion zone for the operator.
Other safety requirements include a retaining unit that ensures drill pipe cannot fall in an area where workers could be present, safe pedestrian walkways with handrails, and easy‐to‐access service points to simplify maintenance.
The basic design of the Fury130 rig made it the perfect candidate.
Schramm incorporated some of the changes to the new rig during manufacturing in its West Chester facility, then shipped the unit to Perth, where the final modifications and additions were made prior to final delivery in June 2019. Upon delivery, Schramm technicians provided on‐site commissioning and training for the rig operators.
In addition to the purpose built Fury130 rig, Schramm is providing ongoing OEM support spare parts as part of its aftermarket offering.
With the first rig mobilized on site and working, Bunbury Drilling is busy preparing for the delivery of their second Fury130, which is scheduled for delivery in October 2020.
