Underground Construction - December 2018 - 42

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D
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HORIZONTAL DIR ECT I ON AL DR I L L I N G

New Products Provide

Inadvertent Returns Solutions

FR S IT
L O O K

Jeﬀ Griﬃn | Senior Editor

R

Right Turn Supply has introduced two new products to prevent and remediate inadvertent
drilling fluid returns during horizontal directional drilling (HDD)
operations.
Drill Seal HDD is an additive
composed of a blend of natural
plant fibers designed to conform
to the shape of pores and fractures of a bore hole, providing a
bridge and primary seal against
inadvertent returns (IR).
HDD Defense is applied at the
onset of IR by placing a highly
concentrated, very thick mixture
"pill" across the zone where loss
is occurring and swelling to provide a lasting seal.
Both products are available
now from Right Turn Supply.
"IR has plagued the HDD industry since its inception," said
Jon Heinen, Right Turn founding
member and partner. "In addition to excessive mud costs, IR
can lead to lost time, excessive
cleanup costs and punitive fines
from regulating bodies. All have
a significant impact on a project.
With growing regulations and environmental concerns, IR is now
making some jobs uneconomical
or even undrillable."

42

DECEMBER 2018 | UConOnline.com

There are many causes of IR.
"Many drilling areas," Heinen
said, "are prone to IR due in part
to unconsolidated formations,
low overburden pressures and
natural fractures. While many of
these situations can be avoided
using proper mud chemistry, IR
often is unavoidable. Sudden hole
collapse, poor hole cleaning and
pump surge pressures are situations where sudden IR can occur
without warning."

Engineered for HDD
Heinen said Right Turn partnered with Drillchem Drilling
Solutions to engineer the new
products.
"Drillchem," he continued, "is
an expert in preventing and remediating lost circulation in the
oil and gas industry. Drillchem
took technologies from the oilfield and adapted them for use
in directional drilling. They were
developed in Drillchem's technology center using specialized
equipment adapted for simulating inadvertent returns.
"The combination of Right
Turn's industry knowledge and
Drillchem's sealing technologies
enabled the partnership to bring

Right Turn Supply now supplies two
different additives to aid HDD
contractors in dealing with
inadvertent returns.

solutions to customers that saves
time and money on projects
where IR could lead to significant
cost overruns and shutdowns in
extreme conditions."
To-date the new products have
been used on 14 projects. For
example, installing 1,800 feet of
16-inch steel gas pipe in Bossier
Parish, La. At 700 feet into the
bore, drilling fluid returns to the
rig were completely lost and an
IR was discovered on the levee of
an adjacent pond at the 500-foot
mark.
"Pipe was pulled back 50 feet,"
Heinen said. "A 1,000-gallon mud
tank was filled with 900 gallons
of fresh mud and 48 sacks of HD
Defense were added. After mixing the pill, the rig pumped the
entire 1,000 gallons displacing
the pill completely outside the
drill string."
The drill string was pulled out
of the hole and the bit repositioned about 200-feet, and the
hole was left static for one hour,
forty-five minutes to allow the
pill to seal the IR.

"After the wait time," Heinen
continued, "the rig began circulating at 20 gpm to squeeze the
pill into the fracture to create
a seal. After circulating for one
hour, no mud was observed coming out of the fracture on the
levee. The pumps were stopped
and the rig rotated back to 700
feet, and drilling resumed while
adding one sack of Drill Seal HDD
per 1,000 gallons of mud, to prevent further IR.
The remainder of the pilot hole
was drilled to 1,800 feet without
any further IR."
With headquarters in Houston, Right Turn Supply markets
consumables and tools for the
HDD and pipeline industries,
including drilling fluid, additives,
hole openers, mud motors, pipe
vacs and other products.
Partners with Heinen in Right
Turn are Patrick Robinson and
Tim Hutton. All have extensive
experience in the HDD industry.
Drillchem Solutions is based in
The Woodlands, Texas, and specializes in lubricants, sealants and
inhibitors.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Right Turn Supply, (281) 413-1939,
rightturnsupply.com
http://www.rightturnsupply.com http://www.UConOnline.com
Underground Construction - December 2018

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