Recommendation – Education – Networking
Sponsorship HDD Technique
DCA launches new Sponsorship Programme
Programme replaces the previous sponsorship award
In 2000, the DCA started to support young scientists in the field of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology by awarding a sponsorship. This sponsorship prize was endowed with €5,000 and has already been awarded several times in the past for many innovative ideas. However, since 2012, unfortunately no adequate topics have been found for which the prize could be awarded. There are various reasons for this. On the one hand, there was a lack of relevant topics that were brought to the attention of the DCA and, on the other, there was also a lack of a responsible person on the board.
The DCA board has therefore decided to launch a new sponsorship program in place of the sponsorship award to support student research papers, bachelor’s theses or master’s theses on interesting topics related to HDD technology as they are being written. The sponsorship programme will be endowed with € 5,000 per yearand distributed or adjusted according to the topics at hand. Jörg Himmerich, member of the DCA board, will be the contact person for the new sponsorship programme.
“We want to proactively approach universities and inform them that such a sponsorship programme for HDD technology exists through the DCA,”
Through this outreach the universities can coordinate topics for the preparation of student research projects, bachelor’s theses or master’s theses with the DCA in advance. The DCA is keen to support and reward innovative ideas with the sponsorship programme. Thanks to our broad membership across drilling companies and the supply industry, we are also able to bring practical relevance to such university projects and theses. Furthermore, direct active support of such projects and theses can be provided in the form of a second examiner from the ranks of the DCA members. As in the past, the sponsored work will then be presented at the DCA Annual Congress at the beginning of October.
With the following themes we can already make a first offer for universities that want to become active in the field of HDD technology and are looking for topics that their students that can take up for research projects and bachelor’s or master’s theses. Of course, these topics can also be adapted or modified in consultation with the DCA. The easiest way to do this is to contact Jörg Himmerich directly.
Topics
HDD construction sites, like all other construction sites, emit noise. This must be regularly assessed in the course of the approval planning. For this purpose, noise assessments must be prepared to ensure that protected assets are not damaged by the emitted noise. When preparing these noise assessments, a distinction can be made between noise sources that emit noise on a permanent basis and those that do not. At an HDD construction site, there are different components that are eligible for one or the other of these operating conditions. In the course of an investigation, it is to be examined which devices of the construction site equipment work in continuous operation or in partial operation and to what extent and which noise levels are emitted by them. The question of whether appropriate site management for HDD construction projects (e.g., different implementation concepts for day and night times) can control the emitted noise in accordance with the requirements should also be examined.
During the drilling of the pilot borehole and also during the reaming process, vibrations may occur in the ground. The currently available literature provides no reference values for such vibrations. It should be investigated in which form such vibrations occur when drilling through different geologies and to what extent they are detrimental to the surroundings of the boreholes. In addition to the current drilling activities, vibrations also occur in the area of the drilling unit surface due to mud preparation and separation. Here, too, the vibration values of different components are to be determined and an assessment is to be made as to whether these can have a damaging effect on the construction site environment.
If the pipe is pulled in with an open pulling head, drilling fluid can enter the pipeline though this head. It is to be investigated which fluid-mechanical processes take place here. Models are to be developed to ensure sufficient penetration of the drilling fluid into the pipe section to be pulled in, taking into account the thixotropic behaviour of the drilling fluid. As a rule, the drilling fluid within the pipeline to be pulled in serves to reduce buoyancy forces and also to prevent critical indentation loads due to the external overpressure of the drilling fluid on the outside of the pipe.
The accuracy of a horizontal directional drilling is one of the most important quality features of this closed construction. After all, the drilling is to be created with the greatest possible accuracy along a planned drilling line of different lengths and the desired target point is to be reached! There are a number of hurdles to be overcome between the first meter drilled in the pilot bore and the final position of the inserted media pipe, which make this undertaking more difficult. There are a large number of issues relating to this complex of topics that could be discussed in more detail as part of the DCA sponsorship programme.
You are a student or employee at a European university and find one of the topics interesting?
Please contact Jörg Himmerich.
The DCA is happy to offer all drilling companies, planning offices, project developers and the supply industry the opportunity to take up these or similar topics and to act as an interface to the relevant universities. In addition to consideration in the course of this sponsorship programme, it would also be possible for the relevant issues to achieve general validity through the support of the DCA, thus facilitating adoption in the applicable technical standards. Here, too, you can contact Jörg Himmerich at any time if you know of similar questions that you think would be suitable for consideration in such a sponsorship programme.
Previous awards/sponsorship programmes
As part of the 2022 sponsorship programme, Mr Johannes Rotter from the Jade University of Applied Sciences Wilhelmshaven Oldenburg Elsfleth received funding. His bachelor’s thesis had the topic ‘Noise emissions’ 
on HDD construction sites’. The paper, which was very well received by the members, addressed and explained the topic of sound propagation, its influencing factors and possible measures to reduce noise emissions, including by means of a test at a recycling plant. During the test, noise sources were localised and promising measures were taken, including the encapsulation of the centrifugal pumps with screen printing plates using fixed sound insulation elements or special sound insulation mats. The emission level could thus be reduced by 15 – 20 dB in some cases. Johannes Rotter presented the results of his bachelor’s thesis at the 2023 members’ meeting.
In addition to Johannes Rotter’s work, the Master’s thesis by Adam Lisowski, at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, on the topic of ‘Accuracy in HDD drilling’ was also funded. Adam Lisowski had already presented his topic at the 26th DCA Annual Congress in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The following main questions were analysed in his Master’s thesis:
- Can the accuracy of HDD drilling be improved?
- How does recorded borehole alignment influence the pipeline pullback force?
- How can the borehole alignment accuracy be assessed based on pipeline pullback force models?
- Which soil and pipe parameters impact the HDD accuracy through the pullback force, which parameters are most influential?
- How much influence do the navigational devices entail?
- Can the HDD procedure be adjusted with regard to the most influential parameters?
His work focussed in particular on the relationship between the course of the bore and the pull-in forces that occur.
Johannes Rotter’s bachelor’s thesis on the project ‘Noise emissions on HDD construction sites’ was already deemed eligible for funding at the end of 2021 and was retroactively included in the 2021 programme. In his bachelor’s thesis, the graduate from the Department of Civil Engineering Geoinformation Health Technology at the Jade University of Applied Sciences Oldenburg dealt with noise emissions, which have to be regularly assessed in the course of approval planning.
An investigation was carried out to determine which construction site equipment is in continuous or partial operation and to what extent, and what noise levels are emitted by this equipment. Different substrates were taken into account. The question was also investigated as to whether an appropriate construction site management system could guarantee the completion of an HDD construction project and whether the noise emitted could be controlled in accordance with the requirements. For example, there may be different implementation concepts for day and night times.
Johannes Rotter’s bachelor’s thesis has now been completed. The results were presented at the members’ meeting in March 2023.
Name:
Edda Bockelmann
Training Institut:
Hochschule 21
Topic:
HDD ohne Rohrbaufläche
Name:
Marie Cebrian
Training Institut:
École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Poitiers, France
Topic:
“Study of ground stability during and after the passage of HDD for pipe installation and impact on existing structures”
Name:
Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Roßbach
Training Institut:
Technische Universität Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Topic:
“Erweiterte Untersuchungen zur Optimierung des Einziehvorganges von Rohrleitungen mittels HDD-Technologie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Übertragbarkeit in die Praxis.”
supported by: E.ON Ruhrgas AG and RWE Westfalen-Weser-Ems Netzservice GmbH
Name:
Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Roßbach
Training Institut:
Technische Universität Clausthal-Zellerfeld
Topic:
“Untersuchungen zur Optimierung des Einziehvorganges von Rohrleitungen mittels HDD-Verfahren”
Name:
Markus Lapke and Lasse Leif Elbe
Training Institut:
Fachhochschule Oldenburg
Topic:
- “Spülbohrlösungen im Horizontal Directional Drilling”
- “Bewertung des Umwelteinflusses von HDD-Bohrspülungen”
Name:
B.A.M. Keulen and R.J. Vos
Training Institut:
Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands)
Topic:
- “Maximum pressure drilling fluid in sand soils during horizontal directional drilling”
- “Uncontrolled loss of bentonite during HDD”
Name:
Christine Malfoy
Training Institut:
Ecole supérieure d´ Ingenieurs de Poitiers, France
Topic:
“A better knowledge of bentonite fluids for directional drilling: physical, chemical, rheological properties to control flow conditions”