Horizontal Directional Drilling

1.

Introduction
Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) is a steerable trenchless method of installing
underground pipelines in a shallow arc along a prescribed bore path by using a surfacelaunched drilling rig, with minimal impact on the surrounding area. Directional boring is
used when trenching or excavating is not practical. The tools and techniques used in the
HDD process are an outgrowth of the oil well drilling industry.
The components of a horizontal drilling rig used for pipeline construction are similar to
those of an oil well drilling rig with the major exception being that a horizontal drilling rig is
equipped with an inclined ramp as opposed to a vertical mast. HDD pilot hole operations
are not unlike those involved in drilling a directional oil well. Drill pipe and downhole tools
are generally interchangeable and drilling fluid is used throughout the operation to
transport drilled spoil, reduce friction, stabilize the drilled hole, etc. Because of these
similarities, the process is generally referred to as drilling as opposed to boring.
The horizontal directional drilling process represents a significant improvement over
traditional trenching & backfill methods for installing pipelines beneath obstructions, such
as rivers or shorelines, which warrant specialized construction attention.

Stages in HDD
Installation of a pipeline string by HDD is generally accomplished in following six stages:

Geo-technical Investigation

Drill path design

Pilot hole drilling

Boring/ reaming operation

Preparation of pipe string

Pipe pull-back

HDD crossing of pipeline primarily consists of drilling a small diameter pilot hole ( 6 inch
to 8 inch) along the drilling path and then enlarging/ reaming the pilot hole upto a
diameter which can facilitate the pipe string pull-back (generally 1.5 times pipe diameter).
While boring/ reaming operation is being performed, pipe string preparation i.e. welding
of line pipes, NDT of weld joints, field joint coating, pre-hydrostatic testing of the prepared
pipe string etc. is done opposite to rig side of the crossing simultaneously. After the
successful completion of hydrostatic testing, pipe string is pulled back into the enlarged
hole.

Geo-technical Investigation
Different types of drilling heads/ tools are used in the pilot-hole process. Selection of
drilling head is dependent on the type of soil strata. Soils with cobble stones or rock having
voids or incomplete layers of rock are not considered suitable for drilling. The purpose of the
geo-tech investigation is not only to determine the feasibility of HDD crossing, but also to
establish the most efficient way to accomplish it. On the geo-tech information governs the
determination of best crossing route along with selection of drilling tools and execution
methodology.
Following shall be investigated during the geo-tech survey:

Soil identification to locate rock, rock inclusions, gravelly soils, loose deposits,
discontinuities and hardpan
Soil strength and stability characteristics
Groundwater level

(Supplementary geo-technical data may be obtained from existing records, e.g. recent nearby
bridge constructions, other pipeline/ cable crossings in the area.)
Geo-tech investigation is performed by analyzing the soil sample extracted from boreholes drilled along the pipeline route called as bore log data. For long crossings, bore
logs are typically taken at 200 m intervals. For short crossings i.e. crossings which are
less than 300 m length, as few as three bore log may be sufficient. The borings should be
near the drill-path to give accurate soil data, but sufficiently far from the borehole to avoid
pressurized mud from following natural ground fissures and rupturing to the ground
surface through the soil-test bore hole. A thumb rule is to take borings at least 10m to
either side of bore path. Although these are good general rules, the number, depth and
location of boreholes is best determined by the geo-tech engineer.
Geo-technical data for River Crossings: River crossings require additional information
such as a study to identify river bed, river bed depth, stability (lateral as well as scour),

and river width. Typically, pipes are installed to a depth of at least 6m below the expected
future river bottom, considering scour. Soil borings for geotechnical investigation are
generally conducted to 12m below river bottom.

Drill path design

Guidance note: Drilling path described above is suitable for most of the pipeline crossing
performed by HDD methodology. It is advised that the user plots the HDD profile on the surveyed
AutoCAD drawing before inputting the drilling profile parameters. User shall re-assure the
suitability by checking that calculated value for AB, BC, CD, DE and EF is in sync with the
plotted HDD profile length.
One of the key considerations in the design of the drill-path is creating as large a radius
of curvature as possible within the limits of the right-of-way. Small radius of curvature
induces bending stresses and increases the pullback load due to the capstan effect. The
capstan effect is the increase in frictional drag while pulling a pipe around a curve due to
a component of the pulling force acting normal to the curvature. Higher tensile stresses
reduce the pipes collapse resistance. Curvature requirements are dependent on site
geometry (crossing length, required depth to provide safe cover, staging site location,
etc.) But, the degree of curvature is limited by the bending radius of the drill rod and the
minimum elastic bending radius of the pipe.
The designed drilling profile consists of a series of straight lines and curves. The straight
lines are referred as tangents. The straight sections are those in which the drilling hole
curvature is ideally zero. This implies that any pipe section can be considered as straight
section if the curvature of that section is less than that necessary to make the pipe
deviate beyond the walls of the hole, which is roughly 1.5 times larger in diameter than
the pipe itself.
The curves are typically sag bend and over bend. The curved sections are considered
short enough to assume one constant radius for the entire sweep of that section.
The HDD design calculation is for steel pipes in a banana-shaped drilling profile or drilling
path. The banana-shaped drilling profile means the drilling path will start with:

An inclined straight section (AB); then it will encounter

A curvature (BC) after which it will have
A horizontal straight section (CD). Towards the exit side this horizontal straight
section will again encounter
A curvature (DE) and then end with
An inclined straight section (EF)

Fig. Typical horizontal directional drilling profile

The length of straight section AB, CD and EF can be reduced to zero by entering the
proper combination of horizontal length of the crossing, exit height, entry height along
with suitable radius of curvature.
Pilot hole drilling

The steering tool is placed within the Bore Hole Assembly (BHA). Generally, the BHA is
made up of non-magnetic drill collars. The lead collar of the BHA is placed on the
alignment of the particular crossing. After the alignment, the steering probe is energized
with electrical current (wire-line steering) and a bearing for the drill path is established and
logged into the surface computer. The drilling rig is set precisely on line with a transit. The
non-magnetic lead collar (with steering probe) and the directional deviation tool are
started exactly at the designated entry point. In most cases, one Non-Magnetic Drill
Collar (NMDC) is used behind the BHA. A 10 m non-magnetic collar shall serve as a
buffer between the steering probe (in the lead collar) and the steel drill pipe. Drill pipe is
often highly magnetized due to the continual making up and breaking out the tool joint
connections and can affect the tool parameters.
Pilot hole drilling typically is considered the most challenging and time consuming step.
As each piece of drill pipe is advanced, the next drill pipe is fitted with a wire inside. This
wire is attached to the corresponding wire of the drill pipe previously drilled. This internal
wire is the vehicle used for the signal to be sent from the steering probe located in the
Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) to the surface computer. This process is repeated until the
bit is advanced along the predetermined path and comes out at predetermined exit
location as per the designed drilling path.

Fig. Pilot hole cross-section

Boring/ reaming operation

Once the drilling bit exits out (punch out) of the pilot hole, the lead pieces/ drill pipes are
unscrewed. The hole opener/ reamer is then attached to the leading pipe to start reaming
operation. The reaming operation consists of using an appropriate tool to open the pilot
hole to a slightly larger diameter than the carrier pipeline. The percentage oversize
depends on many variables including soil types, soil stability, depth, drilling mud,
borehole hydrostatic pressure, etc. Normal over-sizing may be from 1.4 to 1.5 times the
diameter of the carrier pipe. While the over-sizing is necessary for insertion, it means that
the inserted pipe will have to sustain vertical earth pressures without significant side
support from the surrounding soil.
Good grade of bentonite is continuously pumped through the reamers to flush the
cuttings and stabilize the hole. Similar procedure is repeated for all stages of reaming.

Fig. Reaming/ boring cross-section

Swab Pass: While pulling the reamer back to the shore if the Driller or the
Superintendent feels that the hole is not conditioned or if there is a collapse of the hole,
additional swab passes are made with the same size of the reamer. High yield bentonite

with quick jelling characteristics is used to preserve the integrity of the borehole during
the swab pass.
Drilling Mud: Usually a drilling mud such as fluid bentonite clay is injected into the bore
during cutting and reaming to stabilize the hole and remove soil cuttings. Drilling mud can
be made from clay or polymers. The primary clay for drilling mud is sodium
montmorillonite (bentonite). Properly ground and refined bentonite is added to fresh water
to produce a mud. The mud reduces drilling torque, and gives stability and support to
the bored hole. The fluid must have sufficient gel strength to keep cuttings suspended for
transport, to form a filter cake on the borehole wall that contains the water within the
drilling fluid, and to provide lubrication between the pipe and the borehole on pullback.
Drilling fluids are designed to match the soil and cutter. They are monitored throughout
the process to make sure the bore stays open, pumps are not overworked, and fluid
circulation throughout the borehole is maintained. Loss of circulation could cause a
locking up and possibly overstressing of the pipe during pullback. Drilling muds are
thixotropic and thus thicken when left undisturbed after pullback. However, unless
cementitious agents are added, the thickened mud is no stiffer than very soft clay. Drilling
mud provides little to no soil side-support for the pipe.
Preparation of pipe string

The pipe shall be strung and welded, on the rollers, in the same line as the drilled hole
from entry side to exit side. The welds of the pipe may be subject to visual inspection
and/ or non-destructive testing (NDT). After welding of the total pipe string, in a single
segment length, it is pre-hydrostatically tested at a pressure of 1.25 times design
pressure of the pipeline. After successful completion of pre-hydrostatic testing, test
header is removed and pull head is welded on the rig side of the pipe string. The near to
hole section of the pipe string is lifted with the help of adequate lifting equipment to make
a necessary over bend.
Pipe Pull Back and Installation

The pullback operation involves pulling the entire pipeline string in one segment (usually)
back through the drilling mud along the reamed-hole pathway. The pulling equipment is
attached to the leading end of the drill pipes string, and the prepared pipe string is fed
gently into the bored hole. Proper pipe handling, cradling, bending minimization need to
be followed. Axial tension force readings, constant insertion velocity, mud flow
circulation/exit rates, and footage length installed should be recorded. The pullback
speed ranges usually between 1 to 2 feet per minute.

Fig. Pipe pull-back cross-section

2.

Introduction
This article is explains the wall thickness analysis for offshore pipelines using DNV-OSF101: 2013 Code Compliance Web-application. The submarine pipelines wall
thickness selection is generally performed based on the criteria specified in Section 5 of
DNV-OS-F101, 2013 detailed as below:

Pressure containment (Bursting)

Local Buckling

External over pressure only (System Collapse)

Propagation Buckling

Local buckling - combined loading criteria

Load Controlled condition (LC condition)

Displacement Controlled condition (DC condition)

The web-application calculates:

the minimum required wall thickness for the given conditions

utilization based on a wall thickness given by the user

Instructions to users: The web application has been developed to fit engineering purposes. The
web-application has been cross-checked with DNVs proprietary MS Excel based Code
Compliance software and has been further optimized. This web-application is based on C# which
is more powerful than VBA which the DNVs proprietary software utilizes.

Advantages of Code Compliance Web-application

The web-application has numerous advantages over other available software including
DNVs proprietary software, such as:

This web-application provides option for propagation buckling check as per DNV1981 Rules for submarine pipelines if calculated D/t > 45.

Safety class and assumptions regarding corrosion and de-rated material can be
selected individually for the different limit states/ conditions.

The input sheet provides flexibility to include or exclude load interaction

calculations.

The output sheet indicates the minimum wall thicknesses and utility factor along
with the input intermediate results for each limit states. These intermediate results
are helpful in external verification.

Explanation for each term in the input is given as html comments which are
displayed when the mouse is hovered above the term.

The main advantage of this application is that it is free of cost (upto Output sheet)
and web based. If the user needs to download well documented report sheets
then the user will have to buy membership at a nominal price (i.e. less than 1/10th
price of the DNVs proprietary software).