Application Introduction of 8 1/2-inch PDC Drill Bit
1. Product Overview
The 8 1/2-inch PDC (Polycrystalline Diamond Compact) drill bit is a core drilling tool widely used in the fields of oil and gas exploration, geological prospecting, and mining. With a diameter of 215.9mm, it is well-suited for most medium-deep drilling operations (ranging from 2000m to 6000m). Leveraging the ultra-high hardness of polycrystalline diamond compacts and optimized bit structure design, it has become an efficient drilling solution that replaces traditional roller cone bits, significantly improving drilling efficiency and reducing operational costs.
2. Core Material Composition
The performance of the 8 1/2-inch PDC drill bit is largely determined by its high-quality material composition, which mainly includes three key parts:
2.1 PDC Cutters
The cutting teeth of the drill bit are made of high-quality polycrystalline diamond compacts. These compacts are sintered from artificial diamond micro-powder under high temperature and high pressure. The diamond layer of the PDC cutters has a hardness of over HV10000, and its wear resistance is 50 to 100 times that of cemented carbide. This enables the drill bit to maintain excellent cutting performance even in abrasive formations.
2.2 Tungsten Carbide Matrix
The matrix that supports the PDC cutters is made of high-strength tungsten carbide-based cemented carbide. This material combines outstanding impact resistance and wear resistance, which can effectively support the PDC cutters to work stably in complex formations. It avoids matrix cracking caused by stratum impact during the drilling process, ensuring the integrity and reliability of the drill bit structure.
2.3 Bit Body
The main body of the drill bit is forged from 42CrMo alloy steel. After quenching and tempering heat treatment, its tensile strength reaches more than 1000MPa. This high-strength bit body can withstand the high drilling pressure (up to 350kN) and high rotational speed (up to 200rpm) during drilling operations, ensuring structural stability and long-term service life of the drill bit.
3. Performance Advantages
Derived from its advanced material composition, the 8 1/2-inch PDC drill bit exhibits significant performance advantages compared to traditional drilling tools:
Ultra-high Drilling Efficiency: The high hardness of PDC cutters allows the drill bit to achieve a drilling rate (ROP) that is 30% to 100% higher than that of roller cone bits in conventional formations such as sandstone and limestone. This greatly shortens the drilling cycle.
Long Service Life: The wear-resistant materials reduce the loss of cutting teeth. The footage of a single 8 1/2-inch PDC drill bit can reach 2 to 5 times that of a roller cone bit, significantly reducing the number of tripping operations and lowering the overall drilling cost.
Stable Drilling Trajectory: The synergy between the rigid material and optimized structure endows the drill bit with excellent directional drilling capabilities. It is suitable for vertical wells, horizontal wells, and extended-reach wells, ensuring accurate control of the drilling path.
4. Main Application Scenarios
Due to its excellent performance, the 8 1/2-inch PDC drill bit is widely applied in various fields:
4.1 Oil and Gas Drilling
As the main drill bit for medium-deep formations, it is extensively used in the drilling of deviated sections, horizontal sections, and tangent sections in composite formations such as sandstone, mudstone, and limestone. It is particularly suitable for the efficient development of unconventional oil and gas resources such as shale gas and tight oil. In shale gas horizontal well drilling, it can maintain high drilling efficiency for a long time, effectively reducing the cost of shale gas development.
4.2 Geological Exploration Drilling
In the field of geological exploration, this drill bit is used for coring drilling in mineral resource exploration and hydrogeological surveys. Its high-precision cutting characteristics can effectively protect the integrity of the rock core, ensuring the accuracy of exploration data. This is crucial for determining the distribution and reserves of mineral resources.
4.3 Mining Drilling
In mining operations, the 8 1/2-inch PDC drill bit is suitable for drilling ventilation wells, drainage wells, and blast holes in coal mines, metal mines, and other mining areas. In hard rock formations, it shows excellent rock-breaking efficiency, meeting the high-efficiency operation needs of large-scale mining. It can adapt to the harsh working environment of mines and maintain stable performance.
4.4 Other Special Fields
It also has applications in special fields such as geothermal well drilling and coalbed methane development. With its temperature resistance (able to withstand temperatures above 200℃) and corrosion resistance, it can adapt to the harsh working conditions of special formations. For example, in geothermal well drilling, it can resist the high-temperature environment underground and ensure the smooth progress of geothermal resource development.
Why Can PDC Bits Dominate Offshore Drilling?
Offshore Drilling Trends
Offshore oil and gas exploration is continuously advancing into deepwater, ultra-deepwater, and more complex geological formations. The common challenges in these environments are directly related to bit selection:
Immense Cost Pressure: Extremely high rig day rates demand that bits must be reliable and efficient to minimize non-productive time.
High Technical Threshold: Deepwater drilling faces extreme environments like low temperatures and high pressure, requiring excellent stability and compatibility from the bit and downhole tool systems.
Complex Geological Conditions: Compared to open seas, areas like continental shelf margins and complex fault zones feature significant formation changes, with possible alternating sequences of soft, hard, abrasive, or fractured rocks. This places extremely high demands on a bit's adaptability and impact resistance.
Geological Challenges Faced in Offshore Drilling
Complex Fault Zones (interbedded soft/hard formations, large dip angles)
Ultra-Deepwater High-Pressure Formations (poor drillability, highly abrasive)
Long Lateral Section Drilling (high friction/torque, difficult cuttings transport)
Areas with High Geological Uncertainty
Core Concepts for PDC Bit Selection
Enhance Stability and Impact Resistance: Select bits with 6 blades or more and strong aggressiveness, paired with non-planar cutters (e.g., axe-shaped, conical) to smoothly penetrate interbedded layers. Use reinforced gage protection design to prevent irregular borehole diameter.
Optimize Cutting Efficiency and Wear Resistance: Select bits with high cutter density and employ ultra-wear-resistant, impact-resistant PDC cutters (domestic product performance is approaching international advanced levels). Pair with tools like high-torque mud motors to enhance rock-breaking power.
Reduce Friction and Optimize Hydraulics: Select bits with streamlined blades and low-friction crown design. This must be combined with processes like high-performance drilling fluid and optimized flow rate to ensure wellbore cleaning.
Balance Aggressiveness and Adaptability: Select PDC bits with moderate aggressiveness and wide adaptability, or prepare a hybrid "PDC + Roller Cone" bit solution to handle unexpected hard formations.
Advantages of PDC Bits
Advantage Dimension
Specific Manifestation
Benefits for Offshore Drilling
Rate of Penetration (ROP) & Efficiency
Utilizes shear rock-breaking mechanism. Its ROP in hard and medium-hard formations is far higher than that of roller cone bits, which primarily rely on crushing and impact.
Significantly shortens the drilling cycle, directly saving extremely high offshore rig day rates.
High Wear Resistance & Long Life
Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) cutters possess extreme hardness and wear resistance. Having no moving parts (bearings), their lifespan in suitable formations can be several times that of roller cone bits.
Reduces trips for bit changes, lowers operational risk and non-productive time, increases the success rate of "one-run" drilling.
Good Thermal Stability
PDC cutters can maintain performance at high temperatures in deep wells.
Capable of handling high downhole temperatures (e.g., 162°C in referenced cases) and deep/ultra-deep drilling.
Comprehensive Cost-Effectiveness
Although the individual purchase cost may be higher, its high ROP and long life significantly reduce cost per foot, making it highly beneficial from a total project cost perspective.
Effectively controls total offshore operational costs, achieving cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Market data shows fixed cutter bits (primarily PDC) dominate the market share.
Technical Compatibility
The fixed cutter structure operates smoothly and is highly compatible with automated, intelligent drilling systems like Rotary Steerable Systems (RSS) and Logging While Drilling (LWD).
Enables precise, smooth, and efficient well trajectory control, which is key for completing complex offshore directional and horizontal wells.
Expanding Formation Adaptability
Performance in complex, interbedded, and fractured formations is continuously improved through optimized design (e.g., non-planar cutters, reinforced gage) and materials.
The application range has expanded from early homogeneous hard rocks to a wider variety of offshore geological conditions.
The aforementioned advantages complement each other, collectively forming the core competitiveness of PDC bits:
Solving the Core Offshore Pain Point – Extreme Cost Reduction: Offshore rig day rates can amount to hundreds of thousands of USD. Therefore, any technology that shortens the drilling cycle means massive savings. The high ROP of PDC bits directly addresses this pain point, making its high acquisition cost negligible compared to total costs.
Matching Technological Trends – Intelligent Drilling: Modern offshore drilling heavily relies on intelligent technologies like rotary steering and LWD for precise reservoir penetration. The stable operating characteristics of PDC bits make them the ideal "execution terminal" for the efficient operation of these systems. Their combination is an inevitable trend in technological development.
Continuously Broadening Application Boundaries – Material and Design Innovation: As the impact and high-temperature resistance of PDC materials improve (domestic PDC performance is nearing international advanced levels) and specialized designs for vibrating, abrasive formations emerge, their traditional weaknesses are being continually mitigated, and their application scenarios keep expanding.
How does the bearing type impact the performance of a tricone bit?
The Significance Of bearing Types in Tricone Bits
Tricone bits are a type of rock drilling tool are used to bore holes into the ground for different exploration and construction is geological. They are designed with three rollers are cylindrical or cones, that rotate on a bearing system to crush the rock and move the drill bit deeper into the ground. The bearing type is a component crucial of tricone bit, since it straight impacts their performance and durability.
Advantages of Different Bearing Types
Tricone bits can come with various bearing types, including bearing is available sealed bearing, and bearing air-cooled. Each type has its importance are own disadvantages. Open tricone bit bearing are cost-effective and can handle drilling is high, nevertheless they might require regular maintenance and are not suitable for drilling in harsh environments.
Innovation in Bearing Technology
The performance of tricone bits can feel improved through innovative technology are bearing. One example is the use of Tungsten Carbide Inserts (TCIs) on bearings, which can augment their resistance and durability to wear and tear.
Safety Factors:
The tricone drill bit bearing type used in tricone bits has safety implications too. Open tricone is bearing are not recommended for use in underground drilling due to the threat of debris getting in and causing damage or damage.
How to Use Tricone Bits?
Using tricone bits need handling is repair is proper ensure their optimized performance. Before use, the tricone bit must feel inspected for any harm or wear, and the bearing should become lubricated. The tricone bit should feel operated within their created speed and temperature range to prevent damage. After use, the tricone bit should be cleaned and inspected again to detect any wear or damage that will require maintenance or substitution.
Service and Quality
The performance and lifespan of tricone roller bit depend on the quality of the components, like the bearing type. Quality tricone bits come with a warranty and are designed to provide efficiency is optimal the drilling environment. Service providers should ensure that they utilize genuine tricone bits and provide maintenance are timely replacements to ensure the safety and effectiveness of their equipment.
Applications of Tricone Bits
Tricone bits are used in a variety of applications, including oil and gas drilling, gathering data for geological surveys, mining operations, and water well drilling. Understanding the requirements of the drilling environment, including the rock formation and the desired drilling depth, can help in choosing the tricone are appropriate with the right bearing type for the job.
The bearing type used in tricone bits is vital to their durability and performance. Open, sealed, and bearing is air-cooled each need their own advantages and disadvantages. Innovative bearing technologies, such as for example TCIs and bearings are diamond-enhanced can enhance the efficiency of tricone bits.
Maintenance knowledge of down-the-hole drilling rig
1. Installation of the unit:
① Prepare the rock drilling space. The size of the space can be determined according to the type and method of drilling.
② Lead air and water (when water is needed for dust removal) pipelines, lighting lines, etc. to the vicinity of the working point for later use.
③According to the requirements of hole position design, ensure the reliable positioning of the drilling rig.
2. Inspection before homework:
① When starting work, carefully check whether the air and water (when water is needed for dust removal) pipelines are firmly connected, especially the connection between the wind and water pipe joints and the wind and water pipes must be firm to prevent tripping and injury. Air leakage and water leakage.
②Check whether the oil mist device has been filled with organic oil (it should not be filled too much).
③Check whether the screws, nuts, joints, etc. of each part have been tightened, and whether the various positionings are firm and reliable.
3. Drilling procedure and unloading method:
①When opening a hole, first drill with a small impact energy, propulsion force and low speed to facilitate the positioning of the drill bit. (When dust removal is required, give a proper amount of water to reduce dust) When the drill bit is drilled about 10 cm, Then use the full air door impact, and appropriately increase the propulsion force, increase the speed (to keep the air-water mixture in an appropriate ratio when dust is required), and perform normal rock drilling. After drilling a drill pipe, stop the operation of the air motor and stop the feed. The impactor sends air and water, inserts the fork into the drill pipe slot of the drill holder, makes the wind motor reverse, the sliding plate moves backward, and the joint is separated from the drill pipe, and then the second drill pipe is connected for drilling, and so on.
②Rod unloading method: This drill rod unloading is carried out semi-automatically, which is realized by the cooperation of the rod unloader, the drill holder and the reversal of the two forks and their air motors. When unloading the rod, the rotary machine moves backward. When the second groove of the drill pipe (the groove at the middle of the drill pipe end) is directly opposite to the square frame of the bracket, use a fork to insert the second groove firmly, and then reverse Motor, when the square frame of the rod unloader and the first groove of the drill pipe (the groove on the end of the drill pipe male joint end of the drill pipe) are directly opposite, use the second fork to insert it firmly, and take out the first fork (square bracket The fork in the frame), manipulate the propulsion cylinder to make the rod unloader drive the drill rod to move backward, when the second slot of the second drill rod is aligned with the bracket slot, reverse the motor, when the screws of the two drill rods After the buckle is released, remove the first drill rod, and then remove each drill rod in turn.
4. Matters needing attention in operation:
①At any time, check the connection of the screws, nuts and joints of each part of the air and water (when dust is removed with water) and the fastening of the frame and the host.
②At any time, observe the working conditions of the lubricator and check the lubrication of the wind motor and impactor.
③ Regularly clean the impactor and wind motor with gasoline or diesel, and observe the damage of the motor blades.
④Reverse rotation is not allowed when drilling to prevent the drill rod from tripping.
⑤When the machine stops working in a short period of time, give a small amount of air pressure to avoid mud and sand from entering the impactor. If it stops working for a long time, the impactor needs to be lifted to a distance of 1-2 meters from the bottom of the hole. Fix it again.
⑥ During the work, pay attention to whether the sound of the impactor and the operation of the machine are normal. If any abnormal phenomenon is found, the machine should be shut down immediately for inspection.
⑦; When adding a new drill pipe, pay special attention to the cleaning of the drill pipe to avoid sand mixing into the impactor to damage the parts or cause a shutdown accident. (Usually use compressed air to blow and wash several times).
⑧When there is water on the working surface, use a large-diameter drill bit to open the hole, and then insert the casing, and make the casing 100-200 mm long to expose the ground to prevent slag mud from entering the hole.
5. Machine maintenance and lubrication:
①At the end of each work shift, the dirt on the surface of the machine must be removed.
②It is strictly forbidden to dismantle and unload it on the working surface (except when disassembled into components for easy transportation), so as to avoid losing other parts and damaging the key parts of the other parts.
③Fill the lubricator with oil regularly to ensure that the control valve, wind motor and impactor have good lubrication.
④The gearbox is lubricated with a mixture of calcium-based grease and engine oil. Lubricants should be added regularly. It is appropriate that the lubricant occupies 1/3-2/3 of the box gap to ensure the lubrication of the gearbox.
⑤In the propulsion joint part, due to the relative movement of the sliding plate and the sliding frame, the sliding frame and the pressure plate and the sliding plate can be worn. For slight friction, the adjustment pad under the pressure plate can be removed. When the friction is heavy, the pressure plate, sliding plate or sliding frame can be replaced. To ensure high drilling accuracy.
Common troubleshooting
1. Broken drill pipe:
① Most of the drill pipe fractures are caused by friction between the drill pipe and the hole wall, which reduces the thickness of the drill pipe wall and weakens the strength too much, causing the drill pipe to break.
②Preventive treatment: pay attention to inspection when adding drill pipes, and stop using drill pipes with excessive wear.
2. The impactor does not sound:
① There are four common situations: (1) The valve is broken; (2) The broken ballast at the tail of the drill bit enters the cylinder block and jams the hammer body; (3) The exhaust hole is blocked by rock dust; (4) When chiseling, there is a lot of water in the hole and the exhaust resistance is large, and the impactor is not easy to start.
② Treatment method: When the impactor does not sound, check according to the above four reasons; the check method is to raise the impactor for a while, reduce the exhaust resistance, spray a part of the water, and then slowly push it to the bottom of the hole. When this method does not work, it is likely to belong to the first three reasons, and the impactor needs to be removed for cleaning or replaced.
3. Stuck
1- In addition to the complex formation that can cause the machine to jam during normal drilling, there are also the following reasons: ①. The drill bit has broken wings; ②. The new drill bit is larger than the original diameter; ③. The machine is displaced during rock drilling. As a result, the drilling tool is deflected in the hole; ④. Rocks fall from the hole wall or opening or encounter large cracks or caves during rock drilling; ⑤ When there is a broken zone with yellow mud and broken stones, the rock dust cannot be discharged; ⑥. Negligence in operation. When the drilling was stopped for a long time, the rock dust was not blown off, and the drilling tool was not lifted, so that the impactor was buried by the rock dust.
2- Processing method: As far as the strength of the current drill bit is concerned, the broken wing has been basically eliminated. In case of special circumstances, the rock dust at the bottom of the hole can be blown off first, and then a section of seamless pipe with a diameter similar to the hole diameter can be installed inside. Filled with butter or asphalt, connect the drill pipe to the bottom of the hole, and take out the broken wing at the bottom of the hole. When encountering the last five stuck drills, the more serious situation is that the drill cannot be lifted and cannot be put down. The wind motor does not rotate and the impactor does not sound. At this time, the only way to turn the drill tool is to apply torque or use auxiliary tools to help lift it, and then lift the drill tool while air is being supplied until the fault is eliminated. When re-drilling the rock, apply pressure first, and then gradually increase to normal working pressure.
4. Bit fragments, corners, and chips:
① When the drill pipe is bounced, it may be the exchange place of the change of the rock formation or the stone block or the alloy sheet has fallen into it. Judging from the appearance, if the alloy sheet is dropped, the footage can hardly be taken, and the drill pipe beating is more rhythmic.
②When it is confirmed that the alloy piece has been dropped, the drill tool can be lifted to blow out the alloy block with a strong blowing method. When it cannot be blown out, it can also be taken by treating the broken wing of the drill bit, such as when there is a fault or broken zone in the hole. , Squeeze the alloy into the wall of the hole in these places, or not take it out, replace the drill bit and continue drilling.
5. Precautions for the use of wind motors:
①Before connecting the motor and the hose, the hose should be cleaned carefully. You can open the air valve of the pipeline for a few seconds, and then blow the hose with compressed air before connecting.
②The connection between the motor and the hose must be firm.
③Before operation, it is necessary to ensure that the lubricator has lubricating oil and the lubricating oil path is unblocked. It is not allowed to work in the absence of lubricating oil.
④ When the motor is found to be running abnormally, stop work immediately and perform maintenance. It is forbidden to dismantle and unload on the working surface.
PDC Bit vs Tricone Bit, Which is The Better Option for You
PDC Bit and tricone bit are used for oil well drilling, gas well drilling, geothermal well drilling, mining, geological survey, hydrographic survey, water well drilling, HDD pipelines projects, foundation projects.
But how to choose the suitable drill bit?Now let us help to choose the suitable drill bits for you.
1.What is the difference?
The most straightforward difference is that there is no moving part in PDC Bit. Their structure as below:
Tricone bits consist of three “cones” which must all rotate on lubricated bearings. This lubrication in turn requires a grease reservoir and for any medium or large scale project some sort of bearing seal to prevent debris from entering the tricone and stopping rotation.
PDC fixed cutter bits are solid and consist of no moving parts. PDC bits are made by combining fine grained artificial diamonds and tungsten carbide under extremely high heat and pressure.
PDC & Tricone cutting type is different as well. PDC is shearing the rock while tricone is grouping, crushing.
Tricone bit requires relative higher WOB to perform good. Otherwise its inserts may premature wearout.
2.Advantage of PDC bit & tri-cone bit
3.Conclusion
PDC is idea choice for some formation condition. It works well in consolidated, homogeneous rock, such as shale, sandstone, limestone, sand, clay.
When your rock as about mentioned, you can try out PDC bit as a fast, safe, rebultable ( low cost in long run) solution.
Otherwise, Tricone is your better option.