March 2014, Vol. 69 No. 3
New Products
Major Upgrades To HTI Products
Horizontal Technology Inc. (HTI) featured two new products at the 2014 Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition held in January in Houston.
The Viper RockReamer and DataTrax Cad software program are available now directly from HTI, said John English, HTI president.
Viper RockReamer
“The new Viper RockReamer takes everything that made the standard RockReamer the industry’s number one hole opener and made it better,” said English. “Because enlarging the hole is often the HDD project’s greatest cost, improvements in penetration rates and tool longevity can save many thousands of dollars. The Viper combines unequaled strength, longer downhole life and operator flexibility.”
Key features cited by English include:
• An improved bearing package allows for more weight to work longer hours;
• Greater shirttail clearance of 500 percent eliminates dangerous shirttail wear;
• Thicker, stronger arms double the tool’s strength; and
• Improved jetting plus reverse jetting improve hole cleaning and circulation.
“The biggest benefit of the new Viper RockReamer is the strength and security of the cutter itself,” said English. “A worst-case scenario is a lost cutter. With the standard split bit, lost cutters are commonplace. Standard split bit hole openers have cutters held in place by bearings and one single arm. As the bearings wear the cutter can and does fall off the arm. As the shirttail wears, the cutter loses strength and can fall off the body. The Viper RockReamer eliminates these problems.
DataTrax Cad
DataTrax Cad is the newest addition to DataTrax guidance software designed by HTI specifically for the HDD industry and takes DataTrax guidance software to never-before attained levels of utilization.
“DataTrax Cad,” English said, “provides drillers with simple, built-in routines to produce all pre-planning and as-builts during the course of any drilling project. “The drill wizard and graphic intersect solution routines within the DataTrax Cad program can produce results within minutes. Calculations for multiple horizontal curves, vertical curves, bit to bit intersects and casing intersect solutions are made with ease.”
English said the Cad engine is the foundation for the program making the transition between software platforms streamlined for engineers and contractors. At any point during pre-planning or drilling operations DataTrax Cad can be transferred to .dxf and a variety of other formats.
“With this capability,” English continued, “drilling contractors benefit by supplying clients the information they need instantly after each phase of the project. In the pre-planning stages of any HDD installation, this can reduce the turnaround time for project approval.”
Upon the completion of a drilled installation, Cad also can assist in quickly and efficiently finalizing an as-built, whether it is a wireline or walkover installation.
DataTrax guidance systems also can monitor annular pressure.
“The newest steering tool can monitor drill pipe pressure at the bit,” continued English. “The difference is that HTI steering tools have the ability to read both annular and drill pipe pressure. By reading drill pipe pressure at the bit the user can monitor differential pressure, improving motor performance and productivity.”
DataTrax as DataTrax Cad will be phased in as users update their programs, said English.
FOR MORE INFO:
Horizontal Technology Inc., (713) 774-5594, www.horizontaltech.com
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