Guiding the Way – Wireless Horizontal Directional Drilling in North Dakota

In summer 2022, the North Dakota Soybean Processors (NDSP) in a joint venture formed by CGB Enterprises Inc. (CGB) and Minnesota Soybean Processors (MnSP) broke ground on a $400 million soybean crushing plant in Casselton, North Dakota.

Forecasts predict that in its inaugural year, the plant will process an impressive 42.5 million bushels of soybeans.

However, this ambitious endeavor necessitates substantial water resources for its operational needs, particularly for the boilers and cooling towers. To address this demand, a pioneering solution was devised: construction of two parallel HDPE pipelines spanning more than 26 miles.

The intricate pipeline system was built by Abbott, Arne, Schwindt Inc., a general contractor specialized in rural water infrastructure projects. It comprises a 12-in. line heading west from Fargo, which will meet up with and join an 8-in. return line of HDPE pipe. The 12-in. line is slated to convey 375 gallons per minute (gpm) to the Casselton plant, while the 8-in. HDPE piping system will move about 250 gallons of wastewater per minute from the plant, diverting it to the Fargo wastewater treatment complex. This initiative is poised to evolve into the largest rural water pipeline network in North Dakota.

The project encountered numerous challenges, notably the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) crossings of roads, railways and private properties. A prominent example was the developing multi-billion-dollar Fargo-Moorhead Canal project, that required two directional drilling bores exceeding 1,600 ft in length.
That’s where Central Trenchless Inc. came in. Central Trenchless is a leading trenchless contractor in North Dakota, and leveraged its expertise and specialized equipment to execute such a project. For the two 1,600-ft drills, the contractor deployed its American Augers DD-440T, a rig with 440,000 lbs of pulling force — which is more than enough for installation of the casings for the HDPE pipe.

Given the soft ground conditions characterized by a mixture of sand and clay, mitigating inadvertent returns was a major concern. The solution came when Central Trenchless owner Shaun Houim contacted Radian Drilling Services, a company specialized in guidance services for the HDD industry. The options for tracking the pilot hole were evaluated — it would require accurate tracking, annular pressure monitoring and a “as fast as you can drill” approach. Together, the two companies decided the best route for drilling these two pilot holes would be to use wireless technology combined with real time annular pressure monitoring.

The wireless technology that was used is manufactured by Boregyde, and has been in the market for several years. It has been used in the United States and Canada on hundreds of crossings. The main advantage of this technology is the non-existence of downhole wireline, therefore, connection time (adding new pipes on the rig) is decreased by 75 percent since no wire splices are made. Also, wireline shorts which result in costly trip out/trip in are not a concern. In the case a trip out is needed for annular pressure relief or any other reason, the trip in and trip out time is significantly less using the wireless technology — sometimes achieving as much as 600 ft per hour.

For these reasons, the wireless technology was a perfect fit for the project. Not only the connection time was going to be greatly reduced, but in case there was any issues with increasing annular pressure, or the need to push ream the partially drilled bore, tripping would be done seamlessly and in a fraction of normal wireline time.

After a few weeks of delay due to unexpected weather conditions, mobilization began in January of this year.

At the same time, equipment was being mobilized to the HDD jobsite, the construction of the Fargo-Moorhead Canal was taking place, and approaching the two drills’ centerline. Giant excavators and dump trucks were moving tons of dirt as they dug the future 30-ft deep canal with 20-ft high levees. What was once flat farm land was going to become an important diversion canal.

Radian vice president of operations Randy Mowat was assigned to be the lead guidance engineer of the project.

Land surveying activities were swiftly conducted and coil grid was laid out. While the crew was getting all the equipment ready and mudding up the tanks, Mowat started putting together the wireless equipment and the pilot hole was under way. The first drill to be completed was for the installation of a 12-in. fusible PVC line that was going to serve as casing for the 8-in. HDPE water line. The initial challenge during pilot hole was discovering the speed and push force necessary to maintain a solid hole and keep the annulus pressure under the permitted allowance. After nine hours, the first 1,600-ft pilot hole was complete, perfectly on target. The crew broke down the tooling, added a reamer to the assembly and pulled the casing in one shift.

After moving the rig more than 20 ft, pilot hole No. 2 was in progress. The pipe to be pulled on the second drill was an 18-in. fusible PVC that would serve as casing for the 12-in. HDPE. Since the driller and crew had the experience of the first drill, the second pilot hole was completed in only 7.5 hours.

In many cases in the HDD industry, the pilot hole phase is the most expensive part of a project. By decreasing the pilot hole drilling time and normal trips, the wireless technology can help HDD contractors improve efficiency and decrease production costs.

Rodrigo Olivato is president of Radian Drilling Services.