University of Zakho

College of Engineering
Petroleum Engineering Department

6/15/2020

DRILL BITS
Prepared By: Nazeer Alyas Khalaf

Supervisor:Mr. Ali Ilias

 Table of Contents
1.Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................2
2. Types of drill bits.....................................................................................................................................................2
2.1. Roller Cone Bits................................................................................................................................................2
2.2. Fixed Cutter Bits...............................................................................................................................................3
2.3. Core Bits...........................................................................................................................................................6
3. Optimizing Drilling Parameters...............................................................................................................................6
4. Effect of mud hydrostatic pressure on ROP............................................................................................................7
5. Effect of mud solids content on ROP......................................................................................................................8
6. Drilling Hydraulics...................................................................................................................................................8
7. Grading the Dull Bit................................................................................................................................................9
8. Bit Selection..........................................................................................................................................................10
9. Drillbit Economics.................................................................................................................................................11
10. Summary.............................................................................................................................................................11
11.Reference............................................................................................................................................................12

Table of figures
Figure 1Types of drill bits.....................................................................................................3
Figure 2Selection of bits (clockwise from top left): PDC bit, TCI bit, natural diamond bit,
and mill tooth bit...................................................................................................................4
Figure 3 PDC cutter...............................................................................................................5
Figure 4Bit pro les (diamond bits).........................................................................................6
Figure 5Fishtail bit................................................................................................................6
Figure 6Rock core sample.....................................................................................................7
Figure 7 PDC bit showing nozzles........................................................................................9
Figure 8Broken TCI cutters.................................................................................................10

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1.Introduction
In This report I will describe the basic classifications of drill bits and the major design
features of each type. The process of bit selection, which is actually quite complicated if
done properly, will be outlined in sufficient detail to show the main considerations
involved. It will hopefully give an accurate impression of the complexity of bit selection
and how critical this is to operational economics. Drill bits can be separated into two major
categories: roller cone bits and fixed cutter bits (Figure 1and Figure 2).

Figure 1Types of drill bits

2. Types of drill bits

2.1. Roller Cone Bits
Roller cone bits have one, two, or three cones that have teeth sticking out of them. These
cones roll across the bottom of the hole, and the teeth press against the formation with
enough pressure to exceed the compressive strength of the rock. Roller cone bits can
handle rougher drilling conditions than modern fixed cutter bits, and they are also a lot less
expensive. On a relatively cheap drilling operation (land rig), it is usually more
economical to use roller cone bits except in the smaller hole sizes (8½" or smaller). Roller
cone bits are available with steel teeth milled from the same block of metal as the cones.
These are called steel tooth bits or mill tooth bits. The other type of roller cone bit consists
of steel cones fitted with teeth made of tungsten carbide, which are fitted into holes drilled
into the cone surface. Mill tooth bits are very robust and will tolerate severe drilling
conditions, but they wear out relatively quickly. Tungsten carbide tooth bits will not
tolerate shock loadings but can drill for long distances before wearing out. Of the two
types, tungsten carbide teeth bits are more expensive than the same size of steel tooth bit,
all else being the same.

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Figure 2Selection of bits (clockwise from top left): PDC bit, TCI bit, natural diamond bit, and mill tooth bit.

Recently the technology was developed that allows tungsten carbide teeth to be coated
with a layer of diamond. This can significantly increase the useful life of a TCI bit in
abrasive rock. The outside cutters on a roller cone bit cut at the outside diameter of the
hole. These cutters, called gauge cutters, are especially vulnerable to wear, and if drilling
in an abrasive sandstone, these outer teeth lose material and cause the hole to be drilled
undergauge. (As previously explained, underguage refers to a less-than-normal bit
diameter. For example, if a 12¼" drill bit wears at the outer edge, and as a result, drills a
12" hole, the hole is considered undergauge because it is less than the unworn (new) bit
diameter.

2.2. Fixed Cutter Bits

Fixed cutter bits are divided into diamond bits and polycrystalline diamond compact
(PDC) bits (Figure 3). Fixed cutter bits have no moving parts, so they can drill for a long
time as there are no bearings to wear out, only the cutting surfaces. Diamond bits drill by
wearing out the rock under the bit, producing very small cuttings called rock flour.
Although diamond bits can drill the hardest rock, they drill slowly and are very expensive.
Diamond bits are generally used in the formations with the highest compressive strength
or in formations that are very abrasive and thus would destroy other bit types too quickly.
The diamonds used in these bits are normally naturally occurring industrial-grade
diamonds. PDC bits drill with a disk of diamond mounted on a tungsten carbide stud. The

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cutting action is similar to a lathe tool cutting steel. In the right conditions, they can drill
very fast (over 100 ft/hr) for great distances (thousands of feet). They are quite costly,
especially large ones. PDC bits may be constructed from a machined steel body, where the
tungsten carbide studs are mounted on steel pegs that fi t into holes machined in the body.
They may also be constructed from molded tungsten carbide; these are called matrix body
bits. As always, there are trade-offs; steel bodies are cheaper to produce than matrix
bodies, but matrix bodies are harder wearing and can be produced in complex shapes more
easily.

Figure 3 PDC cutter

PDC and diamond bits are made in many different shapes. The shape of a bit will
influence whether the bit can be easily made to drill directionally or whether it will tend to
drill straight ahead. The shape also affects how many cutters can be mounted on the bit
(due to the different surface area). Examples of two extremes are shown in( Figure 4)The
bit to the left has cutters mounted on the side. Combined with its slightly concave, almost
flat profile, this bit cuts sideways easily. The parabolic profile bit on the right will be much
more stable directionally. One other type of fixed cutter bit should be mentioned. In the
early days of the oil well drilling industry, the drill bit was made from steel and was
resharpened at the wellsite by a blacksmith. These bits resemble a fish’s tail when viewed
from the side and thus were called fishtail bits (see Figure 5). They work by scraping the
rock and were only suitable for soft formations. It was not until the advent of the roller
cone drill bit (invented by Howard Hughes and patented in 1909) that the capability of
drill bits extended to drilling at greater depths and harder rock.

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Figure 4Bit pro les (diamond bits)

Figure 5Fishtail bit

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2.3. Core Bits
Core bits cut a doughnut-shaped hole, leaving a column of rock sticking up the middle of
the bit (Figure 6). Behind the bit is a special tube that holds this core of rock and recovers
it to the surface. Core bits were mainly diamond bits, though some core bits were made
with a ring of small roller cones and steel teeth. Since PDC bits were invented, core bits
are now predominantly PDC designs, with natural diamond core bits being used for very
hard, abrasive formations. Core bits often drill faster in the same formation than equivalent
regular bit designs. This may be because they have less rock to cut.

Figure 6Rock core sample

3. Optimizing Drilling Parameters

As the bit drills, it starts to wear out. The teeth that cut into the formation in order to drill
will wear. The bearings that allow the cutting cones to turn will wear. The more weight put
on the bit, and the faster it turns, the greater the rate of wear. Also (up to a point), the
faster it drills. As the bit wears out, it will not drill as efficiently, and the rate of
penetration (ROP) will decrease. (The rate of penetration is the speed at which the bit
drills, usually measured in feet per hour or meters per hour.) Eventually the bit slows
down so much that it is not economic to leave it drilling any longer, so it is pulled out of
the hole and changed for another one. The faster a well can be drilled, the cheaper it is.
Time-related costs on a drilling operation are high (up to $950,000 a day on a modern
generation floating rig offshore; a land operation probably costs more like $80,000 a day).
In general, to drill faster, the weight on bit (WOB) and the rotary speed (revolutions per
minute, abbreviated to RPM) can be increased. Increasing either or both of these

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parameters also increases the rate of wear. So it is very important that the driller can fi nd
the optimum set of drilling parameters to achieve a good rate of penetration and a
moderate rate of wear. If the WOB is increased, the teeth penetrate deeper into the
formation and create larger cuttings. However, there is a point beyond which increasing
the WOB does not increase the ROP. This can be because the teeth fully penetrate the
formation, and the formation then touches parts of the bit that do not drill. It could also be
that at the RPM used, the teeth do not have time to penetrate further before they get pulled
out again as the bit rotates. So the driller can keep a constant RPM and increase the WOB
a little at a time, each time measuring the ROP. Eventually he can recognize the point at
which increasing WOB does not significantly improve performance. If the RPM increases,
a tooth penetrates the formation more times in a minute. However, there is a point beyond
which increasing the RPM does not increase ROP. This is because the teeth do not have
time to penetrate as much as the WOB would otherwise allow. So by fi rst establishing the
optimum WOB, and then holding that constant while increasing the RPM, the driller can fi
nd the best combination of WOB and RPM with which to drill. In general, drilling
economics are improved by drilling as fast as possible (but within the constraints that other
factors might place on ROP) while not exceeding the optimum drilling parameters so that
the bit drills for a reasonable time. The procedure for optimizing the drilling parameters is
called a drilloff test.

4. Effect of mud hydrostatic pressure on ROP

Normally, the hydrostatic pressure of the mud is greater than the formation pore pressure.
This is deliberate to maintain control of the well. This overpressure gives rise to a
condition known as chip hold down. As a tooth penetrates into the formation, a chip of
rock is dislodged. Underneath the chip is the native formation pore pressure, and above it
is mud hydrostatic pressure. This pressure differential tends to hold the chip in place. If
this happens and the chip’s departure from the bottom is delayed by a small fraction of a
second, the next tooth down may hit the chip instead of virgin rock. The overall effect is to
slow the progress of the bit. In practice, with tricone drill bits, it can be seen that there is in
fact a strong correlation between mud overbalance and rate of penetration. This
phenomenon can be turned to advantage. If the bit penetrates a region where pore
pressures start to increase, the rate of penetration will also increase. As the natural
tendency of a bit in a particular formation is to decrease the rate of penetration with depth,
an increase (unless explained by a change in lithology) is one signal that a kick might be
imminent, and it should be investigated. PDC bits are less affected by chip hold down.
Thus, in exploration wells, tricone bits are preferable so that changes in the pore pressure
regime can be identified

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5. Effect of mud solids content on ROP
A low solids content mud will give a better rate of penetration in a similar fashion to low
mud overbalance. The reason is not clear, but it is speculated that the mud solids may slow
down the equalization of pressure under the chip. With a solids-free system, the drilling
fluid can more easily penetrate past the chip to reduce the hold down effect.

6. Drilling Hydraulics
Most drill bits incorporate nozzles, which direct the flow of drilling fluid so as to
efficiently clean cuttings from the bottom of the hole and from the cutting structure. If
cuttings are not moved away from the bottom quickly, the cutting structure may end up
cutting on cuttings, which reduces the ability to cut virgin rock. These nozzles fit into
holes (called nozzle pockets) on the bottom of the drill bit (Figure 7). This allows the
drillers to be able to select nozzles with different inside diameters. A smaller diameter
nozzle will increase the speed that mud flows through it (for a given flow rate). If the mud
flows faster through the nozzle, it will expend more energy at the bottom of the hole,
which may give greater drilling penetration.

Figure 7 PDC bit showing nozzles

The rate of penetration of any drill bit is limited by the ability of the mud to clean the
bottom of the hole. Up to a point, increasing the flow rate and increasing the speed with
which the mud flow hits bottom will increase the rate of penetration. In softer formations,
this force can be sufficient to remove rock by hydraulic force. Unfortunately, this often
causes an overgauge hole to be drilled as rock is eroded from the gauge area of the bit.

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7. Grading the Dull Bit
When a bit is pulled out of the hole after drilling, it is referred to as being dull (as opposed
to sharp). The dull bit will have various features caused by downhole conditions
encountered by the bit. If these features are properly recognized, together with information
recorded while drilling, an accurate picture of downhole conditions can be built up. This
then allows a better choice of bit to be made for the same depth in the next well to be
drilled. These drilling records and dull bit analyses (called dull bit gradings) are therefore
very important to improving future performance. It is also important to properly grade the
bit in order for the next bit in the hole to be properly selected and run.
For instance, tungsten carbide teeth are quite brittle, so they can break when shock loads
are encountered (Figure 8). If a dull TCI bit has a high proportion of broken teeth, one
possible cause may be excessive vibration of the drillstring while drilling. Other causes
could be hitting the bottom of the hole too hard with the bit, excessive drilling parameters
(high WOB and high RPM at the same time), or some steel junk in the hole. If tungsten
carbide teeth are not properly cooled due to insufficient flow rate or clogging up of the bit
with formation cuttings, they go through many cycles of heating and cooling as the bit
rotates.
This causes cracking of the teeth (called heat checking), and it also leads to broken teeth. It
is very important that the true cause of these broken teeth is established before decisions
are made on the next bit to run in the same well and at the same depth in the next well.
Dull bit gradings are recorded using a standard system of letters and numbers. There are
eight characteristics that are noted under this system. Four relate to the cutting structure,
one relates to the bearings, one to the wear of the bit gauge, one to any other dull features,
and the last shows why the bit was pulled out of the hole.

Figure 8Broken TCI cutters

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8. Bit Selection
There are many different drill bits to choose from. Good bit selection is vital to achieve the
best drilling performance and therefore to reduce the cost of drilling. The most important
source of data for analysis is the drilling records of other wells in the vicinity. The
performance of other bits that have drilled through the same formations in other wells
shows what particular bit features are important and which should be avoided or are not
needed. Dull bit gradings are especially important, but to see the full story, it is also
important to be able to analyze the drilling performance (rate of penetration) and the
drilling parameters (WOB, RPM, and flow rate) for each foot drilled. This takes some time
to complete, especially if there are a lot of wells to analyze, but the work will be amply
repaid in optimized performance.
Electric log data can also contribute to bit selection. Sonic logs (which measure the speed
of sound through the formations) can be interpreted to give rock compressive strengths,
which clearly help in bit selection. Gamma ray logs analyze clay content and may indicate
the best size of PDC cutters to use if PDC bits can be economically run.
If a directional well is drilled, bits that resist a change of wellbore direction should be used
in the straight sections. Bits that do give some side cutting action can be run over the hole
sections where a change of direction is required.
On exploration wells where pore pressures are poorly known, it is better to avoid PDC bits
because it is important to recognize changes in pore pressure while drilling. As PDC bits
are less sensitive to pore pressure changes, predictions are better with tricone bits.
In deeper, small-diameter holes, PDC bits start to give some significant advantages as they
have no moving parts. Small roller cone bits have small bearings and the bearing
condition, usually monitored by watching torque while drilling, cannot be monitored
properly due to the high torque from the long hole. The cost difference between small
PDC bits and small roller cone bits is also relatively small, certainly when compared to the
larger bit diameters.

9. Drillbit Economics
If a bit is used past the end of its economic life, the rate of wear accelerates, and eventually
parts of roller cone bits might drop off in the hole. This is a problem that will cost a lot of
money to solve because special tools have to be used to recover the bits of junk from the
hole before drilling can resume. This is called fishing, which can be defined as “a set of
activities to remove unwanted material from the wellbore before normal operations may
resume.” Fishing is discussed in more detail in chapter 13, “Drilling Problems and
Solutions.” The economic life of a drill bit is measured by calculating how many dollars
are spent to drill the distance drilled with that bit. This calculation is repeated frequently as
drilling continues. Within the economic life, the cost per foot (or cost per meter)

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decreases. Eventually the cost per foot starts to increase. This indicates the end of the
economic life of that drill bit.
The cost per foot is calculated by adding together the cost of the bit and the cost of the
time spent so far during that bit run (dollars per hourly rig operating cost × hours), and this
figure is divided by the distance drilled:
Bit cost $+(tripping hours × $ 1500)+(drilling hours × $ 1500)
Cost per Foot =
Feet drilled

The time starts when the new bit is screwed onto the BHA, and it includes the time taken
to run it in the hole. The estimated time to pull out of the hole at the end of the bit run is
also added. Assuming the hourly operating cost is $1,500, with a low-cost rig (e.g., a land
rig) and a high-cost drill bit (e.g., large PDC bit), the bit would have to drill extremely fast
and for a long time if the economics were to compare favorably with a roller cone bit. The
dominant factor in this case is the bit cost. However, with a high-cost rig (latest generation
semisubmersible in a high-cost area like the North Sea), a high-cost bit is justified if it
drills fast and stays drilling for a long time. Sometimes the bit is pulled out before the
minimum cost per foot is seen. This happens if conditions indicate that the drill bit is
damaged, if casing point is reached, or if logging is required before the next casing depth.
There may be many reasons why the bit run might terminate early.Leaving the bit in after
cost per foot starts to increase should seldom, if ever, be done.

10. Summary
All major types of drill bits were discussed in this report. The relative advantages and
disadvantages of each were covered, demonstrating the many factors that have to be
considered when deciding which drill bit to use and what drilling parameters to
recommend. Drilloff tests, drilling hydraulics, and grading the dull bit were described.
Drillbit economics and how to calculate the end of the economic life of a bit were
examined.

11.Reference
1. [ CITATION Dev99 \l 1033 ]
2. [ CITATION Mit11 \l 1033 ]
3. [ CITATION Fin15 \l 1033 ]
4. [ CITATION Hos15 \l 1033 ]

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