Mike Kezdi 2021-07-15 23:11:08
Growth of Industry Linked to Proper Fluid Management
It’s been said time-and-time again that drilling fluid is the blood that keeps a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) project moving. As the size and overall number of projects have increased, so too has the acceptance and use of mud systems.
As the industry evolved, contractors became aware of the importance of bentonite- and barite-based drilling fluids shifting away from using water mixed with other less effective lubrication products. With the use of these new drilling fluids, mud systems began the migration from oilfield to HDD use.
“Whether onshore or offshore drilling … there are different stages of solids control that go on. There are separate sections with shale shakers, mud cleaners with hydrocyclone manifolds and decanter centrifuges scattered across the drilling operation,” says Raymond Pietramale, administrative sales and marketing manager, Elgin Separation Solutions.
Whether you refer to them as mud recyclers, reclaimers or cleaning systems, today’s equipment is a far cry from the piecemealed, oilfield-based units of the early days. They’ve become specifically-designed and engineered tools for the smaller footprint of an HDD jobsite and a key component to a project’s overall solids control plan.
“With the HDD crews, it became much more efficient to package all of this into one system with the shaker, pumps, tank capacity, desilter and desander, hydrocyclone manifolds, additives hopper and a power pack that are skid or trailer mounted to maintain a small footprint onsite,” says Pietramale.
Manufacturers like Elgin, as well as Mud Technology International Inc. and Tulsa Rig Iron and component manufacturers like Derrick Corp., can all trace their HDD roots to oilfield equipment operations. These manufacturers know the importance of efficiency on HDD jobsites and have grown to become leading designers and manufacturers of equipment dedicated to HDD operations.
“The mud system’s chief function is to remove drilled solids from the drilling fluid and help maintain a clean drilling fluid to enable a successful crossing,” says Ben Clark, global manager of civil construction at Derrick Corp. “A mud system that is capable of effectively recycling drilling fluid, even under maximum fluid and solids loading, will allow for a much more cost-effective operation by facilitating increased rates of penetration and less nonproductive time, while reducing a number of operational costs such as drilling mud disposal, accelerated wear on high pressure pumps, tooling, swivels, chemical and water usage, downhole issues and more detrimental effects.”
Terry Flynn, vice president of sales and marketing at Tulsa Rig Iron, further explains the many benefits of a mud system. “Fluid returns from a bore include sand, soil, rocks and various other material, which are extremely damaging to your pumps and downhole tooling,” he says. “Recycling your fluid also cuts down on the required water and bentonite needs throughout the job. The continual disposal standards imposed by the EPA also dictates the needs for fluid recycling.”
For many of the early HDD projects, drillers would use water to lubricate the bore hole, but they faced a myriad of issues. When mud systems were first introduced to HDD operations, drillers who were well-versed in oil and gas or operations knew the importance of drilling mud — mainly water-based bentonite slurries — for maintaining hole stability.
“In the beginning it seemed water was deemed sufficient to drill a borehole,” says John Miller, CEO of Mud Technology International. “Differential sticking, caving of the hole, swelling of the hole pushed the contractors to look for solutions. Then came ‘trial and error’ mud programs, mud engineers and better mud systems became the norm.”
While it’s easy to visualize large HDD projects using mud systems today, it’s important to note that without mud systems, these large record-setting projects would not be possible.
“In the early days, the mud and recycler seemed like an afterthought, just something to clean out the cuttings. The focus seemed to be on the drilling rig, ‘Give us a bigger rig and we can drill anything,’” Miller says. “As time went by, contractors began to realize that a good mud program and recycler allowed the borehole to be drilled without as much challenge, less horsepower and more expeditiously.”
Much like the drill rigs they support, a mud system is rated based on how many gallons per minute (GPM) it can process. It is important for a contractor to properly match the two to gain ultimate efficiency.
“When HDD started, drilling rigs were running 300 gpm, dealing with smaller diameter bores. As the need in the pipeline industry started growing for drilling rigs to make larger bores, a higher capacity recycler would be required,” says Pietramale. “Mud systems started growing in size to pair with larger drilling rigs.”
He notes that a small drilling operation — installing water wells, geothermal lines, telecom fiber, etc. will use a 100 to 200 gpm unit and it scales up from there. “If you have a drill rig pumping at 400 gpm, we recommend a 600-gpm unit. We try to go 1.5 to 2 times larger in size for the mud system to keep up with a rig operation and maintain a proper residence time for the separation process to be efficient.”
“Compact mud systems are now available for pretty much any size drill rig. Efficiently recycling your drilling fluid is not only proven to allow for a more cost-effective drilling operation but is also a much more green-friendly solution to drastically reduce waste disposal volumes compared to ‘pumping and dumping’ the drilling mud over and over again,” says Clark. “Pairing your drilling rig with an effective mud system is an absolute must if we’re to advance as an industry and overcome the high level of scrutiny we face today and beyond.”
Even with a downturn on the oil and gas pipeline side of the HDD industry, other sectors of the industry have stayed steady or picked up, and what these manufacturers have found is that other opportunities will continue to present themselves.
“As fluid disposal standards have tightened over time, it started affecting the mini and mid-size HDD drilling contractors. There are many more of those sized contractors across the globe, which require our technology,” says Flynn. “There are many vertical markets that can benefit from the HDD solids control technology. Water well drilling, foundation and pier drilling, and even solar and wind farms need the connection from their facilities to the power grids. Many contractors are serving more and more of that market.”
Mike Kezdi is managing editor of Trenchless Technology.
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