Drilling fluid management is an important consideration for pipeline contractors
With all that happens on directional drilling jobsites, a crew’s biggest concern shouldn’t be what they’re going to do with the mud afterwards. However, many environmental regulations being introduced at state and local levels are causing contractors to rethink what they are going to do with leftover mud/drilling fluid, creating a logistical challenge and adding expenses that may not have been factored into the budget.
It’s time to get fluid management back under control.
To make sure disposing of mud doesn’t become a major concern, contractors first need to understand the costs involved with drilling fluid management, plan for it when estimating a job and have the right equipment so crews can continue to work efficiently.
Costs of drilling fluid management
Proper drilling fluid management, also referred to as mud management, is a necessity, and understanding the process and the costs associated is critical to help maximize a contractor’s bottom line.
“Drilling fluid management affects everything from the opening bid to the final cost of a pipeline project. It is highly regulated and involves several considerations. And while it can be a source of annoyance for contractors, it is a constant presence on a jobsite – and an essential element to horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in the pipeline industry,” says John Cope, applications engineer at Vermeer Corporation.
The process of drilling fluid management involves significant costs — many of which are not completely obvious. Even things that may initially seem to be free are not actually free.
According to Cope, “Even if the water a contractor uses on a job is pumped from a creek, river or pond, there are still costs involved. These costs can be seen in the form of fuel to run the pump, manpower to lay out and pick up the plumbing, the actual transportation of the water, labor costs, truck expenses and so on.”
The drilling fluids themselves are also a big expense – including picking up the fluid with a vacuum or pump, manpower to operate, the equipment, maintenance and upkeep. A contractor may be able to dispose of the spoils from a job on a nearby farm or field, but in more urban areas there are fewer dumpsite locations, requiring more travel. Actual costs of spoils disposal can vary greatly, but these expenses are often a huge drain on resources.
Drilling fluid management costs can really add up, which is why it’s important to plan for it.
Planning
Drilling fluids are made up of more than just water, and each bore path has its own set of unique issues and expenses. No one jobsite will be the same as the next. Therefore, planning for potential issues will help the project remain productive and help contractors gain a competitive advantage.
“There are numerous contingency costs involved when it comes to mud management – some that can be seen and calculated, and some unseen costs that can only be captured at the conclusion of the bore,” says Cope. “The more questions that can be answered prior to the bidding process, the more likely a company will have a successful implementation of their drilling fluid management program.
“Further, our customers have told us that there is an important distinction between proactive considerations and reactive considerations in a mud management program. Proactive considerations will help a contractor decide if a particular job will be cost-effective. Reactive considerations also need to be considered and thought-through before the bidding process, but will actually come into play as the job is going on,” adds Cope.
Some proactive questions to consider prior to the bidding process include:
- Is the project buildable?
- Has there been a constructability review?
- What is the availability and proximity to fresh water?
- What are the geological conditions?
- Has a mud engineer surveyed the project?
- Has the water been tested ahead of time?
- Can we get equipment and personnel in and out of the jobsite easily?
- Will access to the jobsite be an issue for services throughout the job?
- How far is the disposal site from the jobsite?
- What equipment is being utilized on the jobsite?
- Does the company’s responsibility for that fluid stop at the paid or not paid disposal site?
Reactive considerations that will be implemented during the job include:
- What is the climate?
- Did you experience inadvertent returns?
- Is the time it takes to do a turnaround longer than the reserve volume on hand?
- How much time is the crew waiting for the tanker or vacuum to return?
A contractor has a responsibility to consider these items so they dispose of their drilling fluids in an economical way, while still adhering to local regulations. “As an equipment manufacturer, we want to help our customers get their job done productively and cost-effectively,” says Patrick Robinson, pipeline commercialization manager at Vermeer Corporation. “Taking the proper steps to educate contractors and help them combat the ever-increasing environmental regulations in the HDD industry through innovative and engineered equipment is important.”
Reclaiming drilling fluid
The demand for horizontal directional drilling projects is growing every year. But whether a contractor is just starting out or has several years of experience, if they’re not reclaiming fluids, they may seriously be impacting jobsite productivity and their ability to compete effectively.
Dumping costly water and drilling fluids additive mixture after only one use typically doesn’t make sense. With the large volumes of fluids required on many jobsites and environmental regulations about how drilling fluid should be disposed of, reclaiming drilling fluids has become an economical option that all contractors should consider. One of the best ways to reclaim those fluids is through the effective use of advanced reclaiming technology available on the market today.
“This technology is referred to as many different things – some call them recyclers, some call them shakers, some call them desanders, and we call it a reclaimer,” says Cope. “A reclaimer is a piece of equipment that takes the drilling fluids used on a job, and cleans it to a point where it can be reused.”
The reclaiming process begins when fluid mixed with additives is drawn from the reclaimer’s clean fluid tank and runs from the high-pressure mud pump to the drill. Drill cuttings and dirty fluid flow back to the entry pit and are pumped back to the reclaimer. This slurry flows across the reclaimer’s shaker decks, which separates the larger cuttings from the drilling fluid.
The remaining cuttings are separated from the dirty fluid with the desander cones that remove sand and desilter cones that remove silt. Hydrocyclones separate particles from the fluid with a tornado-like motion, drawing solids to the side where they fall onto the shaker deck and are removed. Meanwhile, the recycled fluid is returned to the clean tank where it can then be reused in the drilling operation.
Determining if a reclaimer is a good fit
While reclaimers can provide incredible value to a jobsite, they also present some significant capital consideration, so determining if a reclaimer is a good fit on a particular jobsite depends on the various considerations outlined in the planning process.
In areas with high dump fees, long distances to and from the dumpsite, highly regulated areas or areas where water is scarce, having a reclaiming system may be beneficial in the long run. A reclaimer will help improve jobsite productivity and reduce the amount of fluid needed on a job by removing solids and recycling the fluid. All this will help a contractor have better control of their jobsite, and not let the fluid control their decisions.
There are several features on reclaimers that can help make an operation more productive. It’s important to consider which of these features is important to the success of a contractor’s operation. For instance, the latest Vermeer reclaimer technology features a recycling system built around a balanced elliptical shaker motion. Having this motion helps convey lower-gravity solids throughout the shaker bed which can lead to less screen wear, increased cake dryness and reduce the “regrinding effect” on solids.
Reclaimers come in a variety of sizes and it is important to pair the right reclaimer with the right size rig based on the volume of mud required for a specific application. For instance, Vermeer offers a reclaimer product line engineered to support 100,000 lb (45,359.2 kg) drill classes and up. The R250C reclaimer is a modular mud recycling system that can pair with a variety of directional drills, trailers, pit pumps and gensets on a jobsite. Its mobile design allows the machine to move where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
“With a Vermeer reclaimer, there is less need to haul truckload after truckload of water, less time spent coordinating disposal and delivery, as well as fewer trips to faraway disposal sites,” says Robinson. “Reducing your crew’s work can help lead to more productivity and more satisfied project owners.” Drilling fluid management is a continually evolving process with numerous contingency costs involved. However, when it is properly planned for, invested in and supported with the right kind of technology, it can help improve the productivity and efficiency of a jobsite.
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