Hebei Yongming: The “Little Giant” Advancing towards Ten Thousand Meter Drilling

Workers are assembling and debugging drilling equipment at Hebei Yongming Geological Project Machinery Co., Ltd. located in Renze District.

On March 12th, on the production line of walking drill pipe debugging at Hebei Yongming Geological Project Machinery Co., Ltd., one drill pipe after another was freshly fired red. Soon, they will be delivered to customers and become the “arms” of drilling equipment, serving exploration projects nationwide and around the world.

This small enterprise, which started with the production of rubber parts, has gone through 30 years of innovation and breakthroughs, and has now grown into a national level specialized and innovative “little giant” enterprise, a high-tech enterprise, a provincial and county-level characteristic industrial cluster “leader” enterprise, and a thousand leading (single champion) enterprise. Its products meet the construction needs of various drilling operations within 9000 meters, and are advancing towards the new goal of “10000 meter drilling”.

Focusing on research and development - With one “fist” product after another  

On the test platform of the top drive assembly workshop of Hebei Yongming Company, the debugging work of the electric direct drive top drive drilling device is carried out every day. Chen Zhanrong, director of the Enterprise Machinery Research Institute, introduced that this product is independently developed by the enterprise and belongs to the national intelligent high-end equipment manufacturing field of strengthening the foundation, supplementing the chain, and filling the gaps in the technical field of drilling depths greater than 5000 meters in China. It is widely used in the exploration of non-ferrous metals such as petroleum, natural gas, coalbed methane, and uranium mines.

In the 1990s, the founder of the company came into contact with a customer who produced mud pumps and had the idea of “Can we also try to make specialized products, rely on technology to break through, and change the situation of outdated technology and single product”. After unremitting efforts, the mud pump components, mud pump machines, mechanical drilling rigs and other products produced by Hebei Yongming Company have been successively launched.

From 2016 to 2018, the domestic and international economic situation was severe. Under the dual pressure of funds and sales, the enterprise has increased its investment in research and development, and cooperated with the 313 Geological Team of Anhui Geological and Mineral Exploration Bureau led by “Great Country Craftsman” Zhu Hengyin to carry out independent research and development. In 2019, a 5000 meter multifunctional AC variable frequency electric drive drilling rig was successfully developed.

“Compared with mechanical drilling rigs, it meets the two construction processes of large diameter oil and gas wells and small diameter rope coring, can significantly reduce power loss and mechanical loss, and improve work efficiency. Among the dozens of cooperative drilling rigs of CNPC Western Drilling Karamay Drilling Company, the comprehensive performance of the top three has achieved.” Chen Zhanrong said that this technology is the first in China and the world.

Since then, when Chen Zhanrong slept at night, he often dreamed of discussing research and development matters with colleagues. “Since then, we have become increasingly focused on research and development, with one ‘fist’ product after another,” he said. The first (set) of major technical equipment products in key areas of the province - CNPC Great Wall Drilling supporting top drive, China’s first plateau type top drive drilling rig, China’s first electric drive marine exploration ship drilling equipment, the first automated drilling rig in the geological exploration industry, and the first (set) electric direct drive top drive drilling rig in the national energy industry - have been successfully developed, helping Hebei Yongming Company successfully open up the oil exploration market.

Professional dedication - revenue increased from less than 1 million yuan to nearly 300 million yuan

During an interview with the company, I came across a thank-you letter written in August 2023 from Drilling Team 30621 of China Petroleum Great Wall Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd. to Hebei Yongming Company. 

The letter stated that the DQ200Z-YM top drive produced by Hebei Yongming Company was used for drilling in the Sulige oil and gas field in northern Shaanxi. It was easy to operate, had a low failure rate, and had excellent performance, greatly improving work efficiency and ensuring underground safety. It completed a cumulative effective footage of more than 6100 meters, especially during the construction of the Su 10-20-35CH well. With the strong cooperation of product and service personnel, it achieved excellent results in completing the lateral drilling horizontal well in 18 days and 28 days, and completed the task on time and efficiently.

General Manager Wang Zhanming believes that gaining customer recognition not only comes from professionalism, but also from two words: dedication. For example, using a customized safety helmet with voice broadcast function, visiting customers can press the designated button on the helmet to broadcast pre recorded safety information. If staff need to communicate on-site, they can press the designated button to achieve communication while working; Install sun protection and insulation equipment, as well as a rest area, on monkey board to take care of the temperature and well-being of workers in harsh environments; Install an automated electrical control system to replace manual labor in the drilling rod installation process with a robotic arm, greatly reducing safety risks.

At present, the operating revenue of Hebei Yongming Company has increased from less than 1 million yuan to nearly 300 million yuan. Its products are exported to countries such as Russia, the United States, and Japan, providing high-quality products and services to CNPC, SINOPEC, CNOOC, CNNC, China Coal Geology Administration, and many domestic and foreign exploration units.

Ultimate control - each drill rod has an “ID card”

The top drive, mud pump, and drawworks are the three core components of the drilling rig. In short, it means that the motor drives the winch to rotate, and then the mud pump extracts the deep buried mud, so that the drilling tools can smoothly move up and down to complete the exploration operation. The “long arm” of the drilling tool is composed of a section of drill rods connected together.

The author saw in the oil drill pipe workshop that each drill pipe is printed with a unique number.

“The deeper the exploration depth, the higher the requirements for the torque and tensile performance of the drill pipe. Quality cannot be taken lightly. Therefore, every drill pipe produced in the workshop has an ‘ID card’. If there is a problem with the drill pipe, as long as the corresponding number is found, it can be determined which shift produced it, who produced it, and who inspected it, in order to make precise corrections. ” said Li Xingyu, manager of the drilling tool branch of the enterprise.

Quenching heating, cooling, tempering, straightening, and flaw detection are the necessary “inspection processes” for every drill rod. Li Xingyu said that in terms of technical hardware, the workshop puts forward new requirements and improvements every year. Taking the upgrade of the end straightness monitoring device as an example, the inspection of whether the drill pipe is straight or not has been changed from manual inspection with a ruler to automated infrared monitoring. When problems are found, accurate alarms, accurate identification, and precise straightening can be detected. While improving efficiency, the straightness error of the drill pipe can be stabilized at less than or equal to 1.5 mm. The error rate has reached the highest standard in the industry - API5DP international standard. Li Xingyu’s words are filled with pride.

“We will continue to adhere to the corporate vision of ‘To be expert of exploration equipment in China as well as world’, and stick to market-oriented, user-centric, quality of survival, innovation for development integrating new technologies such as intelligence, digital, cloud services, block chain, and ecological chain, vigorously developing new quality productivity, and comprehensively improving the value of the ‘Yongming’brand.”Wang Zhanming said, “Our strategic goal is that by 2025, international market sales revenue will account for more than 20% of the company’s total operating revenue, and in the next five years, sales revenue will double.”