Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) has become the preferred method for trenchless pipeline installations. Drilling pressures must be limited and a “no-drill zone” determined to avoid exceeding the strength of surrounding soil and rock. The currently accepted industry method of calculating hydraulic fracturing limiting pressure with application of an arbitrary safety factor contains several assumptions that are often not applicable to specific ground conditions. There is also no standard procedure for safety factor determination, resulting in detrimental impacts on drilling operations. This paper provides an analysis of the standard methods and proposes two alternative analytical models to more accurately determine the hydraulic fracture point and acceptable drilling pressure. These alternative methods provide greater understanding of the interaction between the drilling pressures and the surrounding ground strength properties. This allows for more accurate determination of horizontal directional drilling limitations. A comparison is presented to determine the differences in characteristics and assumptions for each model. The impact of specific soil properties and factors is investigated by means of a sensitivity analysis to determine the most critical soil information for each model.
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2018 12th International Pipeline Conference
September 24–28, 2018
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Conference Sponsors:
- Pipeline Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5187-6
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Evaluation of Hydraulic Fracturing Models and Their Limitations to Predict No-Drill Zones for Horizontal Directional Drilling Available to Purchase
Saeed Delara,
Saeed Delara
Fluor Canada, Ltd., Calgary, AB, Canada
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Kendra MacKay
Kendra MacKay
Fluor Canada, Ltd., Calgary, AB, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
Saeed Delara
Fluor Canada, Ltd., Calgary, AB, Canada
Kendra MacKay
Fluor Canada, Ltd., Calgary, AB, Canada
Paper No:
IPC2018-78304, V002T02A012; 9 pages
Published Online:
November 6, 2018
Citation
Delara, S, & MacKay, K. "Evaluation of Hydraulic Fracturing Models and Their Limitations to Predict No-Drill Zones for Horizontal Directional Drilling." Proceedings of the 2018 12th International Pipeline Conference. Volume 2: Pipeline Safety Management Systems; Project Management, Design, Construction, and Environmental Issues; Strain Based Design; Risk and Reliability; Northern Offshore and Production Pipelines. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. September 24–28, 2018. V002T02A012. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IPC2018-78304
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