Technology

PipelinePilot's unique technology
Digging smarter

Competitive Existing Option #1 Horizontal Ground Loops

Dig a large, long trench in your back yard. Snake plastic pipe back and forth in the trench, grout it and refill the trench. Say goodbye to your lawn and shrubs, your walkways, and maybe even your paving. Or bring a giant derrick that drills hundreds of feet down into the earth. Several times. Both will work.

But if you don’t want the disruption delay or cost, PipelinePilot is the right technology.

Our smart drill enters a modest access porthole around 80 to 100 feet from your house and guided by our patented guidance system, drills a gentle arc, and emerges at an equally modest egress porthole near your house. It then pulls the plastic piping through the hole and grouts it smoothly to ensure good ground contact. And then it drills another. And another. As many as your heating contractor needs in order to optimize your heat exchanger.

These embedded pipes are placed deeper than traditional trenches for better heat transfer.

The result is highly accurate arcing array of pipes (we call it a hammock field). It’s at the correct depth for heat transfer, connected to intelligent manifolds at each end, creating a closed system that is then connected to your heat exchanger, usually through the basement wall. This structure also means that if one pipe fails, it can be closed off electronically and the system continues to operate. The same cannot be said for trench-based or well-based systems.

The process is far less disruptive and safer for workers and residents than open trenches and wells, quicker than either and only about a quarter of the cost.

A single operator can install up to 20 pipes in 2 – 2½ days. And if your yard won’t accommodate 80 – 100 feet, we can adjust to match your needs with more, shorter pipes.

The PipelinePilot technology – both the drilling system and the guidance system – is covered by 2 US patents and a European Patent Office patent with unitary effect in 16 of the European Union countries.

METHOD OF DEPLOYING A HEAT EXCHANGER
US Patent number: 11274856  B2  (16 Method Claims) US2022178589 (A1) 2022-06-09
Method of deploying a heat exchanger pipe

US Patent number: 11639814 B2 (10 System Claims) US11639814 (B2) 2023-05-02

Method of deploying a heat exchanger pipe

European: EPO Unified Patent - EP3710762 (A4) ― 2021-06-02 (WO2019099790A1)

Patent No. EP3710762 (A4)   Application No: 18879159.4 - 1002 / 3710762
Granted to take effect on publication of European Patent Bulletin: 23/23 on 07.06.23  (June 07, 2023)
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/066431983/publication/EP3710762A1?q=pn%3DEP3710762&queryLang=en%3Ade%3Afr   

The Pipeline Pilot Alternative