The GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam the national German center for Geosciences within the Helmholtz Association offers an 
especially build rig for scientific drilling. 
Lessons learnt from the International scientific continental deep drill program (ICDP) and from geothermal drilling showed the lack 
of an instrument for scientific purposes such as:

•	to have an opportunity for applying various drilling processes within the frame of usual industry safety standards,

•	sufficient equipment for sample recovery (cores, cuttings, mud, gas),

•	reliable installations to support various stimulation procedures (chemical, mechanical, and thermal),

•	installations to make logging easier respectively to reduce its preparing time,

•	support for comprehensive data acquisition from drilling, logging, testing, and monitoring, 

•	and additional technical options derived from special scientific requirements. 

These items were considered in the recently realized construction and the rig is now ready to enter into 
the operation phase. InnovaRig is designed to address significant cost reduction in comparison to 
conventional rigs requiring less personal using a semi-automatic operation and minor mob-demob-time due to the container 
based construction. 

Let’s bring some advantages of the new rig: The operator can choose between a power
supply from the electric grid or by generator. A so called skid-system allows with
one setup to realize two drilling points by hydraulically shifting the rig by 10 m. 
Two top drive systems allow spot-coring as well as wireline coring. Additional drill
pipe and blowout preventer components are available together with the rig. 
The new instrument InnovaRig provides the opportunity to join in a scientific
co-operation with the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, like:

•	innovative geothermal concepts or challenges to future geothermal drilling,

•	especially the application of time consuming tests of new methods within the
concept of enhanced geothermal systems saving additional capital costs for rig time,

•	and providing experimental facilities for service companies to test new
technologies outside of commercial drilling operations.

Therefore, the geothermal community has now the chance to design projects to improve
geothermal drilling by addressing new approaches in particular within the goal to cut
the costs for geothermal drilling and to follow the concept of enhanced geothermal
systems.
 
In a nut-shell:
InnovaRig basics:

●  	Mast and Hoist System with hydraulically driven double cylinder system and - 3500
kN hook load (~ 5000 m depth capacity).

●  	Pipe Handling System with semi-automatic hands-off-technology and combined pipe
connector bridge, pipe handler and iron roughneck.

●  	Four Drilling Techniques integrated such as rotary drilling, standard coring,
wireline coring and air drilling based on two new top drive systems (rotary drilling
& wireline coring).

●  	Mud System, Pumps and Tanks adjustable to drilling procedure.

InnovaRig for Science:

●  	Coring Technique adjustable to all kinds of drilling methods due to a double top
drive systems, an integrated wireline winch and wireline pump, and modified mud tank
system for wireline coring.

● 	Fast Logging operation by pre-installed storage racks for logging sondes and
special equipment for the logging cable guidance.
●  	Scientific Sampling by a special collector for cutting sampling, a new mud gas
analysis device (mass spectrometry), and a science container for field lab
investigations.

● 	Data Management on site with online data acquisition integrated into ICDP Drilling
Information System (DIS).

Grensasvegur 9
Reykjavik,
Iceland