Regardless of whether one is drilling a foundation drilled shaft, vertical well or doing a horizontal directional drilling project, contractors require a lot out of a drilling fluid or slurry.
Even though drill spoils from construction drilling, utility directional drilling, ground sourced heating and cooling, and water well drilling are inherently non-hazardous, options for drilling contractors to dispose of drill spoils are becoming increasingly limited.
"It is ironic that of all the different types of tests that can be performed on drilling fluids, the one test most commonly performed provides us with the least amount of information."
"The most significant change this author/mud man extraordinaire has seen in the last 15 years of experience in the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) industry is not in the equipment or technology, but in the capabilities and accomplishments of drilling contractors, especially in the mini to mid-sized HDD drilling market."
"In order to deal effectively with reactive clays, a
drilling contractor must be able to identify reactive soil conditions,
understand how and why clay reacts the way it does, and know how to modify the
behavior of reactive soils."
When it comes to drilling fluids for horizontal directional drilling and vertical drilling, such as geothermal loop installation or water well drilling, there are a lot of similarities. Yet, despite the similarities, there are some important differences between the two that drilling contractors must understand in order to maximize their success rate.
