Oil and Gas Well Drill Bits

In the past, there were two types of drill bits utilized in oil and natural gas drilling rigs—a drag bit and a rock bit.

A drag bit is used to drill into soft rock, like clay or sand. As the drill stem rotates, the drill bit’s teeth shave off the rock. A rock bit, which is also known as the roller cone bit, consists of teeth on wheels which rotate as the drill stem is turned. The rock bit’s teeth apply a serious pressure to the rock which it is drilling to break it up into small pieces which are easily extracted or moved through.

The rotary rock bit’s original patent was issued to Howard Hughes Senior in 1909 for his dual cone roller bit. Hughes’ dual cone roller bit consisted of two interlocking wheels. Hughes worked directly with Walter Benona Sharp to develop the rock bit. This rock bits success in the oil and natural gas well drilling industry led to the foundation of the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company.

Engineers with the Hughes company invented the tricone bit in 1933. The tricone bit has three wheels and is the bit that is largely used in the oil and natural gas well drilling industry today. Other companies began making similar bits around 1951, nullifying the Hughes patent for the tricone bit. However in the year 2000, 40 percent of the world’s drill market still use Hughes’ drill bits.

Today’s modern oil and natural gas well drilling industry use two types of drill bits classed as Polycrystalline Diamond Compact, or PDC drill bits, and Roller Cone drill bits. The tricone drill bit still dominates the market, however bi-cone and mono-cone drill bits are used in the industry as well. Diamonds, both synthetic and natural are used in coring drill bits for very hard rock drilling and also utilize mud motors and turbines.

Technology has considerably advanced both drill bit types, providing enhanced durability and rate of penetration of the rock to be drilled. These changes have been partially driven by the financial aspects of the oil and natural gas well drilling industry as well as by the change from the experimental approach of Hughes’ in the 30s to the modern domain “Finite Element” codes for both hydraulic and cutter placement software.

 

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