Drill Bits

Drilling bits are one of the key tools to achieve good performance drilling and
there are several types of bits. Therefore, personnel need to understand in
order to use the right bits for the task

As we discussed in the last section, crew members install the bit on the on the
bottom drill collar. Two kinds of bits are roller cone bits and fixed cutter bits.
Fixed cutter bits are also called fixed head bits. Roller cone bits usually have
three cone shaped devices with teeth or cutters. As the bit rotates the cone and
cutters rotate to drill a head. Fixed head bits also have cutters but
manufacturers embed them in the bits head. The bits head moves only when
the bit rotates. It has no moving parts like the cones on a roller cone bit. Both
roller cone bits and fixed head bits come in sizes ranging from 2 or 3 inches or
about 50 75 millimeters in diameter to more than 36 inches about 1 m in
diameter.
Two basic kinds of roller cone bits are available. One has steel teeth and the
other has Tungsten Carbide inserts. On a still tool bit also called a middle tool
bit, the manufacturer mills or forges the teeth out of the steel that makes up

the cone. Steel tooth bits are the least expensive bits. When used properly they
can make hole for many hours.
Manufacturers design steel tooth bits to drill soft, medium or hard formations.
With Tungsten Carbide inserts the manufacturer presses very hard Tungsten
buttons or insert into holes drilled into the bits cones. Tungsten Carbide is a
very hard metal. Tungsten Carbide inserts insert bits cost more that steel tooth
bits. However, they usually last longer because Tungsten Carbide is more
resistant to wear than steel. In general Tungsten Carbide inserts bits drill
medium to extremely hard formations but can also drill soft formations. Soft
formation bits usually drill best with a moderate amount of weight and high
road way speeds. Hard formation bits on the other hand usually drills best
with high weight and moderate rotary speeds.
Three types of fixed cutter bits are available: Polycrystal and diamond compact
or PDC bits, diamond bits and core bits. This PDC bit has cutters made from
man-made diamond crystals and Tungsten Carbide inserts. Each diamond and
Tungsten Carbide inserts cutter is called a compact. Manufacturers place the
compacts in the head of the bits. As the bits rotate over the rock the compact
shears it. PDC bits are very expensive. However, when used properly they can
drilled soft, medium or hard formations for several hours without failing. A
compact PDC layer is very strong and wear resistant. Manufacturers bond the
diamond crystals to the Tungsten Carbide inserts backing under high pressure
and temperature. The Tungsten Carbide backing, gives the compact high
impact strength. It also reinforces the wear resistant properties of the cutters.
Manufacturers make diamond bits from industrial diamonds. But diamonds
are the bits cutters. Diamonds are one of the hardest substances. A diamond
bit breaks down the rock during drilling by either compressing it shearing it or
grinding it as shown in this animation. Here, the diamond is acting like sand
paper wearing the rock away. They embed the diamonds into the metal matrix
that makes up the head of the bit. Diamond bits are expensive. When properly
used however, diamond bits can drill for many many hours without failing.
Crew member run a core bit and barrel when a geologist wants a core sample
of the formation being drilled. A core bit is normally a fixed head PDC or
diamond bit. It has a hole in the middle. This opening allows the bit to cut the

core. Diamonds or PDCs line the opening and sides of the bit. The ring crew fits
the core to a core barrel. The core barrel is a special tube usually about thirty
to ninety feet or nine to twenty-seven meters long. They run the core barrel at
the bottom of the drill string, it collects the core, cut by the core bit. Cores
allow geologists to take a look at a actual sample of the formations rock. From
the sample, they can also tell whether the well will be productive
Formation and bit design Learn about rock properties affecting how the bits
are designed. Learn the process of how to select the right bit for the job.

Roller cone bits

Basic about the roller cone bits and components. Types of roller cone bits and
how to manufacture them. Operational concern when the bits are used. Types
and characters of cutters used for the bit.
Types of cutter and bit wears that may happen. You will understand cause of
failure and how to prevent it.

Bit hydraulics learn about drilling fluids and hydraulic effecting on bits.
Different jet nozzles and their applications.
Diamond Bits

This section you will learn about the diamond bits. There are several
interesting topics
Application of the diamond bits and why we need to use this bit
Type of diamond used
Shape and profile affecting drilling application
Diamond bit plots and setting
Chanel design

Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) Bits

PDC bits are widely used in drilling industry nowadays and this book will
explain you several aspect of the PDC. The following topics are in this book
PDC applications
PDC profiles short parabolic, shallow cone, parabolic
PDC cutter angle back rake angle and side rage angle
Bit wears delimitation, long substrate bond failure, spelling and abrasion
Whirl affects the bit life
Special-Purpose Bits

This section is about special-purpose bits that are built for special jobs. The
following topics in this section are as follows;
Air bits.
Two-cone bits.
Jet deflection bits.
Anti-whirl bits.
Eccentric bits (unconventional).
Core bits.
Side track bits.

Using Hi-vis Sweep to Clean Hole while Drilling

Sweep is a mud which has higher rheology and/or more mud weight than
current mud property. It is used to carry cutting that set at low side of a
wellbore and it is widely used for Sea water drilling.

What You Need To Know About Drilling Bit Balling Up and

How To Troubleshooting It
Bit balling is one of the drilling operational issues which can happen anytime
while drilling. This issue can cause several problems such as reduction in rate
of penetration and surface torque, increase in stand pipe pressure. Personnel
may eventually need to pull out of hole the BHA in order to clear the balling
issue at the bit. This article will teach you about the bit balling and how to
prevent it in the planning phase and how to effective detect and clear the balled
up bit before it becomes a worse problem.

How You Recognize the Bit Balled Up While Drilling

Drilling Torque Drilling torque will be lower than normal drilling torque since
most of the cutters are covered up by cuttings.
Rate of Penetration The ROP will decrease more than projection. If you drill
100 fph and later on the ROP drops to 50 fph without any drilling parameters
changed, this might be this problem.
Standpipe Pressure Standpipe pressure increases with no changes in flow
rates or drilling parameters. Balling up around the bit reduce annular flowing
area resulting in increasing pressure.

Factors Affecting Drill Bit Balling Up

Formation Clay stone and shale has tendency to ball up the bit even though
you use highly inhibitive water based mud or oil based mud.
Weight On Bit High weight on bit will have more chance to create this issue.
Hydrostatic Pressure in Wellbore High hydrostatic pressure (pressure above
5,000 psi) can induce bit balling issue in water based mud.
Bit Design Poor bit cutting structure and poor junk slot area in PCD bits
contribute to this issue.
Hydraulic Low flow rate will not be able to clean the cutting around the bit.

Planning To Mitigate The Problem

Bit Selection For the rock bits, steel tooth bits are better than insert bits
because the steel tooth ones have greater teeth intermesh. For the PCD bits,
the larger junk slot area is preferred.
Bit Nozzle Selection The bits with high flow tube or extended nozzles are not
recommended. If the bigger bit size is utilized, dont block off the center jet. The
center jet will flush all cutting more effectively.
Good Hydraulic Hydraulic horse power per cross sectional area of the bit is
the figure which can be utilized for measuring good hydraulic for bit balling
mitigation. Hydraulic horse power per square inch (HSI) less than 1.0 will not
be able to clean the bits. It is good practice to have more than 2.5 of HSI for
good bit cleaning.

Weight On Bit Dont try to run a lot of WOB. If you increase WOB but you get
lower ROP, you may have bit balling up issue. You should lower the weight and
attempt to clean the bit as soon as possible.
Drilling Fluid Mud chemical additives as PHPA which can prevent clay
swelling issue must be added into the water based mud system. If feasible,
drilling with oil based fluid will have less chance of balling up bit/BHA.

What Should We Do if The Bit Balling Is Occurred?

Stop drilling and pick up off bottom if the drilling operation keeps
continue, it will make the situation even worse. It is a good practice to stop and
pick up off bottom to fix the issue quickly.
Increase RPM and Flow Rate Increasing RPM will spin the cutting around
the bit more. Additionally, increase flow rate to the maximum allowable rate
will help clean the bit.
Monitor pressure if you see decreasing in stand pipe pressure to where it
was before, it indicates that some of cuttings are removed from the bit.
Lower WOB Drill with lower weight on bit.
Pump high vis pill Pumping high viscosity pill may help pushing out the
cutting.

Bit Selection This section will talk about how to select the proper bits (roller
cone and diamond) that are suitable for formations. This is very excellent
section that helps people get the right bit without a lot of trial and error.
Bit Performance This chapter describes about drilling parameters (WOB,
rotary speed, etc) affecting on drilling performance.
Dull Bit Grading The industrial standard for dull bit grading with example.

Conclusion If you are interested in drilling bits, this book is excellent for you.
All about the drilling
bits are in this book and the contents are written in simple oilfield language.
You dont need to be an engineer to understand the content. Please

Dull Bit Grading Handbook Great for Your

Reference
Dull bit grading is a standard method to grade the bit and it will also help
personnel to understand bit performance better. However, it is sometimes very
difficult to understand the meaning of the codes showing in the grading
because youve never seen these dull characteristics before. Especially, there

are new people who start to work in the oilfield therefore it is very critical to
have them learn the correct way to do the bit grading in a short period of time.

One of my friends shares this very useful dull bit grading created by Smith Bit
company and I can say that this is an excellent book to help you grade the bit
correctly.

Roller cone dull bit grading part

Dull Characteristics

Images showing the dull characteristics of the bit Every dull type has an
image to show you how it looks like. This part is extremely helpful for you.

There is another part which is Fixed Cutter Dull Grading. This is applicable
for PDC bits and diamond bits

Dull characteristics for fixed cutter bits

Location on the bit structure

Images demonstrate how it should look like for each dull characteristic of the
fixed blade bit

There is a lot of information from this book and you can download it from this link -> Dull Bit
Grading Book