It is estimated that there’s currently about 2.5 million miles of pipelines to transport fuel products from source to market in the United States. Before that fuel is transported, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and precision directional boring is used to extract it from the ground and helps produce twice the amount of gas being extracted when compared to traditional methods.
Despite the move toward greener sources of fuel, the global horizontal directional drilling market is expected to reach nearly $15 billion by 2022.
When it comes to locating utilities, directional boring is an alternative to trenching for laying utilities and conduits. Digging trenches to lay any sort of pipe for utilities can often be a messy job. Precision directional boring uses HDD and a predetermined route in which the utilities are placed. Rather than having to dig a long, gaping trench, directional boring and drilling leaves much cleaner entry and exit points, much the way surgeries have become less invasive for patients.
In addition to making utility locating easier, there are many other benefits of directional boring and horizontal directional drilling. These include:
- lower costs
- jobs being done faster
- less disruption of traffic
- reduced environmental impact
- longer, deep installations that are less evasive
For folks in the directional drilling business, it’s important to have the right tools of the trade. One of the most important is silver bullet PDC bits. Polycrystalline diamond compact (or PDC drill bits) have, in recent years, become one of the absolute must-haves when it comes to drilling, especially oil drilling.
With silver bullet PDC drill bits, the bits are fixed-head and rotate as one piece. Drill cutters equipped with silver bullet PDC drill bits are commonly called PDC bits.
PDC bits like the silver bullet PDC bits manufactured by Torquato increase drilling efficiency and can be used in a variety of drilling applications such as water, gas and oil.
Silver bullet PDC bits offer plenty of value and can drill faster through many types of hard material like rock at much faster rates. Their steel alloy construction helps drillers reduce fuel and operating costs while dramatically increasing efficiency.
Precision directional boring also makes construction projects easier. Trenchless boring eliminates the messy, dirty work environment that often sees gaping holes of earth with dirt, rocks and other sediment laying every which way. Directional boring also cuts down on equipment and workforce, which ultimately saves money. Armed with the right tools such as silver bullet PDC bits, drillers will be able to cut down on fuel and operating costs, increase efficiency and do a better job with top-of-the-line equipment.
