Drilling Technology – PE 348

Drilling Drill Bits

 Introduction

A drilling bit is the cutting tool which is made up on the end of the drillstring. The bit
drills through the rock at the bottom of the hole. Drilling fluid is circulated through
passageways in the bit to remove the drilled cuttings.

There are however many variations in the design of drill bits and the bit selected
for a particular application will depend on the type of formation to be drilled. The
drilling engineer must be aware of these design variations in order to be able to
select the most appropriate bit for the formation to be drilled. The engineer must
also be aware of the impact of the operating parameters on the performance of the
bit.
Classification of Drilling Bits
Classification of Drilling Bits
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Drag Bit

Drag bits were the first bits used in rotary drilling, but are no longer in common
use. A drag bit consists of rigid steel blades shaped like a fish-tail which rotate as a
single unit. The decline in the use of drag bits was due to:

• The introduction of roller cone bits, which could drill soft formations more
efficiently

• If too much WOB was applied, excessive torque led to bit failure or drill pipe
failure

• Drag bits tend to drill crooked hole, therefore some means of controlling
deviation was required
Classification of Drilling Bits
Drag Bit
Classification of Drilling Bits
Roller Cone Bits
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Roller Cone Bits

. The roller-cone bit has conical cutters or cones that have spiked teeth around
them.

As the drilling-string is rotated, the bit cones roll along the bottom of the hole in a
circle. New teeth come in contact with the bottom of the hole, crushing, scraping,
and gouging the rock immediately below and around the bit tooth.

The high-velocity fluid jet strikes the crushed rock chips to remove them from the
bottom of the hole.

As this occurs, another tooth makes contact with the bottom of the hole and creates
new rock chips.

Thus, the process of chipping the rock and removing the small rock chips with the
fluid jets is continuous.
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Roller Cone Bits

Advantages of roller cone bits are:

• Improved cleaning action by using jet nozzles

• Using tungsten carbide for hard facing .

• Introduction of sealed bearings to prevent the mud

causing premature failure due to abrasion and corrosion
of the bearings.
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Roller Cone Bit – Cutting Elements

The two basic categories of rolling cutter bits are

defined by their cutting elements. A bit may either have
milled steel teeth or tungsten carbide inserts.

Milled steel tooth cutters are an integral part of the bit

cone. Soft formation bits have long, relatively thin teeth
that are spaced widely apart on the cone
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Roller Cone Bit – Cutting Elements

Tungsten carbide inserts, as their name implies, are not part of the cone
material. Rather, using for hard formations .
Classification of Drilling Bits
Roller Cone Bit – Cutting Elements
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Diamond Bits

Diamond has been used as a material for cutting rock for many years. The
hardness and wear resistance of diamond made it an obvious material to be
used for a drilling bit. The diamond bit is really a type of drag bit.

A new generation of diamond bits known as polycrystalline diamond compact

(PDC) bits were introduced in the 1980’s. PDC bits have been run very
successfully in many areas around the world.
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Diamond Bits - PDC

The PDC drill bits were introduced to the drilling industry in 1967. A PDC cutter
consists of a stud covered by an artificial diamond layer in a high pressure/high
temperature sintering process.
 Classification of Drilling Bits
Diamond Bits - PDC

The ability of the PDC bits to drill different formations with excellent efficiency
was proven to the industry (Millheim, 1986). The main advantages of the PDC
bits are:

• Longer life (Better wear resistance)

• Higher average ROP

• Better drilling economics ( $/m)