Bentonite Drilling Fluids for Horizontal Directional Drilling

Pileman® Trenchless is a water-soluble-polymer sodium bentonite support fluid built for freshwater HDD drilling across all soil types, including sand and rock. It raises yield and controls pump pressure when displacing high slurry volumes on large-diameter bores, which is what prevents frack-outs on long crossings.

Pileman® SDF is a single-product option for sites running varied drilling work who would rather stock one grade than switch between several. If your crossings span mixed ground and water conditions, SDF is the simpler choice; where conditions are consistently fresh water or consistently saline, Trenchless or BH will usually perform better for that specific case.

Pileman® BH is formulated for drilling and piling in seawater, brine, or ground with extreme chloride, sulphate or carbonate hardness — coastal and estuarine piling, HDD river crossings in tidal ground, and tunnelling through saline aquifers, vertical or horizontal.

Pileman® Trenchless is formulated for freshwater HDD drilling across standard soil types. Pileman® BH starts from the same enhanced bentonite base but is engineered with select polymers and additives calibrated to your site’s salinity and ionic hardness.

High concentrations of chloride, sulphate, calcium or carbonate ions collapse the ionic layer that keeps clay particles dispersed, causing flocculation and sedimentation. The result is a permeable, compromised filter cake that can’t hold fluid loss or hydrostatic pressure, regardless of dosage — adding more standard bentonite doesn’t fix a chemistry problem.

Test or estimate your make-up water’s salinity/TDS and chloride, sulphate and carbonate concentration. Low-salinity fresh water calls for Pileman® Trenchless; mixed or varied conditions favour Pileman® SDF; seawater exposure or high carbonate/chloride hardness calls for Pileman® BH. If you’re unsure, send us the water analysis and we’ll tell you.