PDC Drill Bits
PDC Drill Bits are one of the vital and strategic items of drilling a well in the oil and gas industries. The cost of supplying these items in the country is tens of millions of dollars annually. Due to the limited resources to supply this strategic commodity, its preparation is associated with high costs. Additionally, due to the lack of after-sales service for PDC drills in the country, its costs are increasing and ultimately impose a high cost on the country’s oil industry.
The unavailability of PDC Drill Bits design and manufacturing offices also makes drilling companies have to use the same Bits in different conditions. In this case, if the drill in the well is not efficient, drilling problems are doubled and additional costs are incurred by the PDC Drill Bits customers.
The knowledge-based group of Asmary Fields Services Group had decided to solve this strategic problem and make PDC Drill Bits with both matrix and steel bodies. After starting the studies in research and development department of the company, and conducting research, calculations, numerical analysis and optimization, the complete design of the PDC drill was performed. And finally, by doing a lot of experiments and using the most up-to-date knowledge in the world, the construction of this strategic product came to fruition.
With the efforts of the prominent engineers of the company in the Drill Bits unit of the research and development department of Asmary, for the first time in the country, the software for designing and optimizing PDC Drill Bits is completely created and used in designing of PDC Drill Bits. We are proud to produce such drilling and simulation software for PDC Drill Bits in well drilling services. At present, customers can order the best and most optimal bits for drilling operations in their desired wells by referring to this company, and in addition to receiving a PDC bit for their specific use, they will also be able to receive optimal bits’ parameters.
PDC bits are one of the most important types of fixed cutters that are able to drill a wider range of formations at different depths. PDC materials are one of the most important materials used in drilling tools due to their hardness and anti-wear properties. PDC drill bits are designed and manufactured in two completely different ways. These two models include bits with matrix body and bits with metal body (steel). Each of these two products has special differences, capacities and capabilities. PDC bits with a matrix body are composed of a relatively brittle and hard material. Tungsten carbide beads are joined together using metallurgical operations and using metal glue.
Matrices are widely used in the manufacture of PDC drills due to their hardness and resistance to wear and corrosion. Although matrices are less resistant to impact loads than steel, they can withstand relatively high compressive and abrasion loads. Due to the lower resistance of matrices to impact loads than steels, there are limitations in the design of some matrix drill components (such as blade height). But this problem has been solved by placing a steel core inside the PDC drills with a matrix body. On the other hand, the wear resistance and stiffness of drills with matrix body make it possible to use this drill in very hard formations. Characteristics of steel, such as high strength and malleability, give bits with steel body’s high resistance to impact loads. But in very hard formations where abrasion is more effective, steel bits do not perform well. This is because steel body bits are very weak against wear. Also, in this type of formations, due to high wear, steel bits are not economically viable, because they wear out quickly and increase the cost of drilling operations. PDC bits with a matrix body are typically preferred to steel drill bits for high wear environments.
Introduction of different product modules
The PDC bits consists of various parts such as matrix or steel body, PDC cutters, nozzles, blades, steel shank, connecting thread (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Different parts of a PDC drill
PDC cutters are the main components of a PDC bit and the reason for naming this bit is the use of this type of cutters. These cutters consist of two parts, layer and sublayer. The main layer is made of synthetic PDC, which is obtained by compressing carbon at very high temperatures and pressures. The cutting of the formation stone is done by PDC cutters. The types of PDC cutters are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 Different parts of a PDC drill
Performance description
The PDC bits are screwed at the end of the drill string and using the rotational motion of the string and the PDC bit, the surface cut of the formation is done by the PDC drill bits cutters. Simultaneously with applying weight and torque at a certain rotational speed to the bit, the drilling mud is applied through the drill string and nozzles in the bit, which brings the cuttings from the bit cut to the top and the ground surface.
Acquisition of technical knowledge
During the last 5 years, Knowledge based Asmary, with the intention to localize the strategic product of matrix and steel body PDC bits, initially performed the reverse engineering of the most used PDC bits in the oil and gas industry. After many trials and errors, this company was finally able to make a 12-1/4″ PDC bit size and by testing it, it was able to receive the necessary approvals from the main clients.
Then the drilling drill unit in the research and development department of the company with the aim of creating software for designing and optimizing the PDC bit in dimensions and Extensive features based on modern world knowledge of mechanics were researched and achieved after 2 years hard work.
In addition to the native software for designing and manufacturing PDC bits, the engineers of the company’s drilling unit, in addition to creating PDC drill design software, with experience in manufacturing PDC drills at the beginning and using modern manufacturing and metallurgical knowledge, have successfully made PDC bits. , And after various tests, verification of the material and strength of the PDC bit body was approved by independent inspectors.
PDC bit design software is able to optimize and design the PDC bit for the customer’s desired well according to the technical specifications of the well and produce the best PDC bit for a certain well at the customer’s request.
In designing a PDC bit, several parameters such as the quality of synthetic PDC layer production, how to connect the PDC layer to the substrate, cutter geometry, cutter orientation angles and how to connect the cutters to the PDC drill body, which will have a direct impact on bit performance. It is complicated and challenging.
To design and optimize the PDC bit for the customer’s well, a computational system with 80 computational cores is provided to be able to perform more than several million solutions for hundreds of problem input parameters within two days.
Laboratory facilities and quality control
In order to verify and examine the geometric and qualitative characteristics of the product, experienced quality control staff with high experience in various fields of industry, using accurate and standard measuring devices, examine the dimensional controls of the product in all stages of manufacturing. After ensuring the quality of the final product, it will be delivered to the client.
