In highly developed areas, horizontal drilling allows for extraction of resources without disrupting daily life in residences, businesses, hospitals and schools. There are many pieces of equipment used in these drilling operations.

Since companies use all the tools at their disposal when working drilling projects, they refine their efforts with experience to increase effectiveness and profitability. In doing so, the use of various stuffing boxes, pumping solutions, surface transfer pumps, artificial lift solutions, and accessories including vessel closure and mini-excavators all come into play depending on the site and on the contract requirements for cost-containment. Other tools used in horizontal directional drilling include various bits that rotate or hammer.

The other tools used in horizontal directional drilling include rock bits with teeth, rock housings, side load sonde housings and flat blade bits, all of which are expendable.

Most uses for directional drilling are land-based oil or natural-gas rigs that drill through tons of rock to access the lake-bed resource without being constructed on platforms over water. This way, the drilling takes place miles offshore, while reducing the risk of spills. As a result of lower overall spillage risk and decreased operational costs, insurance rates also decline.

Mini-excavators are small, compact, versatile digging machines. They can replace heavy machines on certain jobs, fit into tight spaces, and use smooth rubber tracks that can run on steel or other hard surfaces. Mini-excavators are transportable on small trailers and trucks. One of their most valuable features is a 360-degree swing arc which allows movement in all directions.

A variation on the mini-excavator is the mini-excavator “thumb,” which can be used alone to complete many tasks. The thumb can dig as well as pick up objects. Thumbs are available in many shapes and sizes depending upon how they are to be used in the drilling process.

Hydraulic fracturing, once a significant technical breakthrough, is now a standard process. In applying this technique, newly developed tools such as coated bauxite, proppant and other types of processed sand are used to achieve the desired result — holding open the reservoir to allow enhanced extraction. Many types of treatment fluids are available to meet the needs of project sites and geology.

With the use of the newer horizontal or directional drilling, periodic surveys are  taken. This type of survey is essentially an overall snapshot of the inner workings of the drilling process, of the conditions in a given project, or of a segment for analysis. Various camera instruments are used to complete the surveys, which provide data about the inclination and azimuth of a given well bore.

When you’re ready to discuss your horizontal drilling equipment needs, please give us a ring and we’ll be happy to discuss what we can do to help you get on your way.