How tricone drill bits work - video

[Altair]

How tricone drill bits work. Slow motion video of a tricone drill bit cutting through rock.

Previously:

Drill-powered stake puller - videos
Failed attempt to drill a hole in tempered glass panel - GIF
Snake arm robot for inspecting tunnel boring machine - GIF

[Radioman]

Didn’t the Hughes family have something to do with inventing these bits?

[PJs]

Didn’t the Hughes family have something to do with inventing these bits?

Absolutely correct!

[MeJasonT]

yep sure did

it only took me ten years to realise the drill string rotating on the surface had nothing to do with powering the drill bit, but there again I was working with ROVs and not the drilling side. My last job involved designing and testing control electronics and instrumentation for use in the drill string for a company called Arrival Oil Tools in Canada.

Makes perfect sense that they use the drill mud for hydraulics and rotate the drill string to stop it getting stuck. can only rotate in one direction of course or it has a tendency to unscrew at the joints. Then there is stick, slip, weight on bit, torque on bit etc. White mans magic, that's what it is.

The rotating cutters can be adjusted to make the drill cut harder to one side effectively steering the drill (know as directional drilling). many people think that the oil/gas is extracted from drilling straight down into a cavern of oil. the reality is that the well is drilled to depth where the structure of the hole can withstand pressure and not collapse for argument sake 300m and then steer off on a horizontal trajectory into a seam of chalk or salt containing the hydrocarbons. A drill pipe charged with explosives is used to collapse the seam pooling the hydrocarbons around the drill entry. approximately 30% of the hydrocarbon will come out under its own pressure then an injection system is used to force the remaining oil/gas from the well (by drilling another hole into it). under the rig/sea floor looks like a spiders web of drilled holes.

The operation starts with the installation of casings large steel pipes which get smaller in diameter as the well gets deeper for example it mat start at 26" diameter, casing is installed then cement is pumped into the casing which returns up the side of the casing cementing it in, then a hole will be drilled for a 22" casing it will be installed and cemented in but will be longer than the 26" casing. when finished the casing will end up like a Russian doll with staggered casing length all the way down to the working depth. Drill is extracted a package or BOP is fitted and the drill is then sent down through the casing and starts drilling towards the well.
the dramatic gushers seen on tv with John Wayne and red-a-dare (as discussed on this site before) happens when they finally punch through and that 30% pressure makes a break for it.

That's my take on it anyways, we will have experienced drillers who are members on the site and will be most welcome in correcting or adding to my brief layman's explanation.

[MeJasonT]

Who is Mr Baker then. did he get into bed with Mr Hughes so to speak.

[Frank S]

Who is Mr Baker then. did he get into bed with Mr Hughes so to speak.

Rubin Baker was a man with a 3rd grade education who went to Calif. to make his fortune with .95 cents in his pocket wound up with 150 patents formed Baker tool co. Acquired or merged with Hughes tool sometime in the mid 1980s and formed BJ services prior to that

[MeJasonT]

Hi Frank,
Thanks for the background on Rubin Baker, I didn't know that.
when you mentoned BJ services i remembered a cementing company who were always around on jobs i worked on.
they were https://www.bjservices.com/our-compa.../the-bj-legacy
and not connected to Baker Hughes.
The only direct involvement i have had with Baker Hughes was in writing a safety report on the use and implications of using ROVs when interfacing with assets. The guy was called David Bailey, apparently he wasn't the Royal photographer- David Bailey.

[Frank S]

Hi Frank,
Thanks for the background on Rubin Baker, I didn't know that.
when you mentoned BJ services i remembered a cementing company who were always around on jobs i worked on.
they were https://www.bjservices.com/our-compa.../the-bj-legacy
and not connected to Baker Hughes.
The only direct involvement i have had with Baker Hughes was in writing a safety report on the use and implications of using ROVs when interfacing with assets. The guy was called David Bailey, apparently he wasn't the Royal photographer- David Bailey.

Trying to sort out who owned what or who was in bed with whom can be a bit daunting in the late 70's anyone with a few bucks in his pockets or someone who was a good pitch man could could raise money to start up a small drilling company, procure a couple of drill leases cobble together a rig or platform for land based or sea based, and sink a bit in the ground. Make a couple of significant strikes and all of the big names would clamor to hang their sign on the location. just as long as you used their products THen the 80's came along and many of the big names started merging with one another or certain divisions of these big names would join with this company or that company Parts of Slumberger was prt of Halliburton parts of Halliburton was in bed with Baker Hughes Small companies were bought up by famous names but retained their logo so you might buy pipe dope you thought was made by one company when in fact it was made by someone no one had ever heard of or vice versa. Call out Halliburton to cement your surface casing and a Big blue Slumburger rig would show up and you didn't even know that they did cementing for surface Sandia logging services would have a logging truck on location but the geologist would be wearing Weltex coveralls
I reverse engineered an annular blowout preventer made and sold several tested and certified for 3000 PSI the machine shop that was doing my machining started making them under the diamond name not long after that you could find some with the name of Reagan embossed in them Reagan was the brand name I had reversed engineered from and had made several cost cutting and strengthening improvements to their design. I felt it flattering to see that Reagan had incorporated naby of the design changes I had done but a bit disconcerting that they were touting them as 5000 PSI rated. When I had had mine tested they showed a high leakage percentage at pressures that high but zero leakage at 4000 PSI hence the certification of 3000#. To be fair though it could have been that a different bladder may have been used to achieve the 5000# figure. Structurally my units could take many times that pressure before noticeable stress signs. In a test with both ends capped the top and bottom did not begin to deform and allow the o ring gasket to rupture until 15,000 PSI and that may have been due to an under or over torqued bolt.