Monday, January 9, 2017

Facts About Deep Hole Drilling

By Catherine Parker


Drilling has been a human activity since the ancient civilizations and beyond. Basic and very ineffective methods were in use back in those days, which made it impossible to engage in the activity on a large scale. Technology limitations in this industry have however been broken in the recent past and methods together with tools have advanced a lot. Deep hole drilling is now done on large scales at low cost and at faster speeds.

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 reason for which holes were drilled initially was to extract underground water. The digging was done in places where the water table was determined to be near the surface. That made the holes shallow and wide in diameter. Masonry and wood was used to line the walls so that the wells do not collapse over their own weight. Accidents were thus reduced and kept in check.

Today there are two options to choose from when digging holes, that is, manual and mechanical options. Equipment used vary from simple and cheap to very complex and costly devices. Modern drilling techniques are very advanced and they make use of long drill shafts. These long drill shafts produce wells that are much deeper and narrower than those that are dug by hand.

It can sometimes be difficult to choose a drill bit because there are many of them in existence today. However, the process of choosing is made a little simpler by the fact that there are several holes that have been dug worldwide. These holes offer a basis for selecting drill bits if they are located nearby. It is also possible to change the bits in the middle of the job if it becomes necessary.

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 contrary, roller drill bits are composed of moving parts so that the movement is responsible for drilling through rocks and soil. Milled tooth and tungsten carbide inserts are the two kinds of materials used in making roller bits. If the rock formation is hard, tungsten carbide inserts are used while milled tooth is preferred for soft rocks.

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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