Case Study: Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) Hydrofracture and Pipe Installation Load Analysis, Prediction VS Actual

Abstract

Inadvertent drilling fluid returns is one of the most significant issues for HDD operations due to the potential effect it can have on the environment, the integrity of the borehole and the ability to remove cuttings from the borehole. These issues can seriously impact on the overall success of a pipe installation via HDD. Therefore the risk of possible hydrofracture should be evaluated and reduced through comprehensive analysis. Pipes installed by HDD are also subject to a combination of tension, bending and external pressure during installation into the borehole. These installation loads play a major factor with the choice of equipment, the drill path design adopted and pipe specification. Thus a thorough pipe installation load analysis is critical to ensure that the product pipe(s) can be successfully installed utilising HDD methods. This paper discusses the importance of hydrofracture and pipe installation load analysis for typical HDD operations as well as compares the predicted data to the actual data acquired from various HDD projects.

Techniques