Horizontal Directional Drilling
One type of slant drilling used to get to hard to reach natural resources is horizontal directional drilling. It’s an important tool in the constant search for the resources that provide our power.
horizontal directional drilling
There was a time people didn’t even consider that oil deposits strayed off the vertical - horizontal directional drilling couldn’t develop with that conception in place. It wasn’t until the 1920’s, when some people sued over others drilling across property lines, that the oil industry finally understood. New tools developed to help oil companies determine when oil wells moved off in horizontal directions.
Determining the off vertical shift of a well is very important for horizontal directional drilling. All it takes is a pendulum. But another measurement is needed. That is the direction of the well (or oil reservoir) from the vertical shaft. Originally they tried examining the magnetic fields, but it was found that metal equipment interfered with this measurement. It was later found that gyroscopic compasses designed for aeronautical navigation could perform the needed measurements.
horizontal directional drilling machine
Other new techniques were needed before horizontal directional drilling was possible. Because of mistakes during vertical drilling there were already techniques for drilling off the vertical . It was something to be avoided in the past, but could now be put to use. In directional drilling they figured out how to return to the vertical. These were both important for steering in directional drilling.
The 1970’s saw a big leap in technology that truly enabled horizontal directional drilling. Rotating drill bits were designed that could be driven by the mud moving down the drill string Now direction could be changed on the fly simply by adding bent pipes at the top.
They also had to find a way to determine the drill bit’s direction for horizontal directional drilling. MWD, measurement while drilling, techniques evolved to tell people at ground level which way the drill moved.
Current tools to steer the drill bit like a remote control vehicle are costly and little used. Now drilling can be automated. It will take a few years of research to make these cheap enough to be useful.
horizontal directional drilling contractors
As long as we continue the quest for oil techniques such as horizontal directional drilling will continue to be pioneered to help us reach this all important natural resource.
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