Saturday, January 7, 2017

Facts About Deep Hole Drilling

By Catherine Parker


Human beings have engaged in the process of drilling holes for long period now. Initially, the methods used were basic and not very effective. However, as a result of technological advancements, deep hole drilling methods have advanced a lot. It is currently possible to reach great depths very fast and less costly. Drilling operations are also currently done on a much larger scale as before.

There are many reasons why people drill holes in the ground. One of these reasons is to extract natural resources that are found underground. Among the natural resources that are sought include natural gas, ground water, petroleum, and brine. Sometime holes are made so that subsurface reservoirs can be injected with fluids from the surface. Lastly, the study of subsurface formations by researchers also necessitates the drilling of holes. The term borehole drilling is used when holes are drilled to explore natural resources.

The main purpose of excavating holes initially was to extract water. The holes were dug in areas with shallow water tables and as such, the holes were only shallow and very wide. To prevent the holes from collapsing back in, the sides were lined with masonry or wooden walls. This reduced accidents and increased the life span of the wells.

Well drilling can be done manually or mechanically as deemed suitable. Manual options are more cheap and less complex while mechanical ones can be very sophisticated and expensive. Modern methods make use of long drill shafts for the operation. This kinds of drill shafts allow holes made to be deeper and narrower in a way that it would not be able to achieve if manual methods are used.

Different kinds of drill bits exist today that it can be difficult to choose which one to work with. Lucky enough, there are many holes that have been drilled in the world so far, with some locations having several holes in one place. As such, information from adjacent wells is often based upon when choosing the kind of drill bits to use in an operation. It is also possible to change the drill bits as deemed appropriate during the process.

Roller cone and fixed cutter are the two kinds of drill bits that exist in the industry today. Fixed drill bits are made of no moving parts. As such, abrasion, scrapping, and shearing forces are relied upon to gouge through rock to make wells. Materials used to make these bits include natural diamond, hotpressed inserts, and polycrystalline diamond compact.

On the other hand, roller drill bit is composed of moving parts and drilling occurs as a result of movement applied against the rock. These kinds of bits are made from tungsten carbide inserts or milled tooth. Tungsten carbide inserts is used for harder formations while milled tooth is preferred for softer rocks formations.

There are several different versions of the two kinds of drill bits. The manufacturing of each version and the addition of composites is done to suit the kind of drilling situation it is intended for. Enhancements are often added into the bits to match the application as necessary and to improve efficiency.




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