Well drilling
Well drilling is the process of drilling a hole in the ground for the extraction of a
The earliest wells were water wells, shallow pits dug by hand in regions where the water table approached the surface, usually with masonry or wooden walls lining the interior to prevent collapse. Modern drilling techniques utilize long drill shafts, producing holes much narrower and deeper than could be produced by digging.
Well drilling can be done either manually or mechanically and the nature of required equipment varies from extremely simple and cheap to very sophisticated.
Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) is defined by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) as “an adaptive drilling process used to more precisely control the annular pressure profile throughout the wellbore." The objectives of MPD are “to ascertain the downhole pressure environment limits and to manage the annular hydraulic pressure profile accordingly."
History
Earliest Record
The earliest record of well drilling dates from 347 AD in China.[1] Petroleum was used in ancient China for "lighting, as a lubricant for cart axles and the bearings of water-powered drop hammers, as a source of carbon for inksticks, and as a medical remedy for sores on humans and mange in animals."[2] In ancient China, deep well drilling machines were in the forefront of brine well production by the 1st century BC. The ancient Chinese developed advanced sinking wells and were the first civilization to use a well-drilling machine and to use bamboo well casings to keep the holes open.[3][4]
Modern Era
In the modern era, the first roller cone
Drill bits in mechanical drilling
The factors affecting drill bit selection include the type of geology and the capabilities of the rig. Due to the high number of wells that have been drilled, information from an adjacent well is most often used to make the appropriate selection. Two different types of drill bits exist: fixed cutter and
A major factor in drill bit selection is the type of formation to be drilled. The effectiveness of a drill bit varies by formation type. There are three types of formations: soft, medium and hard. A soft formation includes unconsolidated sands, clays, soft limestones, red beds and shale. Medium formations include dolomites, limestones, and hard shale. Hard formations include hard shale, calcites, mudstones, cherty lime stones and hard and abrasive formations.
Until 2006, market share was divided primarily among
By 2014, Ulterra (then a subsidiary of ESCO Corp.) and Varel International (a subsidiary of Swedish engineering group Sandvik) had together gained nearly 30% of the U.S. bit market and eroded the historical dominance of the Smith, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes. By 2018, Schlumberger, which acquired Smith in 2010,[5] became dominant in international markets thanks to packaging drill bits with their other tools and services, while Ulterra (owned by private equity firms Blackstone Energy Partners and American Securities) continued a Stark growth trend, becoming the market share leader in drill bits in the US according to Spears Research [6] and Kimberlite Research.[7]
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Tricone bit for well drilling (medium worn-out)
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PDC bit for well drilling
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Multiple Tricone Bits
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Tricone Bit
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Drill Bit
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Damaged Drill Bit, pieces missing on the left hand cone
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Mud login process, a common way to study the lithology when drilling oil wells
Evaluation of the dull bit grading is done by a uniform system promoted by the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC). See Society of Petroleum Engineers / IADC Papers SPE 23938 & 23940. See also PDC Bits
See also
- Blowout (well drilling)
- Borehole
- Deep well drilling
- Driller (oil)
- Drilling mud
- Drilling rig
- Slickline
- Underbalanced drilling
- Water well
- Manual well drilling methods
References
- ISBN 978-1-136-53060-9.
The first record of drilling for oil occurred in China in 347 CE
- ISBN 978-0-521-58000-7.
- ISBN 978-0135655320.
- ISBN 978-1404205581.
- ^ "StackPath".
- ^ "Reports".
- ^ "MARKET SHARE REPORTS│KIBERLITE RESEARCH". kimberliteresearch. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
Bibliography
- Australian Drilling Industry Training Committee Ltd (1996). Drilling: the manual of methods, applications and management (4th ed.). ISBN 978-1-56670-242-3.
External links
- Drilling Equipment
- Drilling a Well by Automobile, Popular Science monthly, February 1919, Page 115-116, Scanned by Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=7igDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT33
- Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary
- Oil and gas well drilling, US Department of Labor [1]
- Water Well Drilling Ireland [2]
- "Mechanical Mole Bores Crooked Wells." Popular Science, June 1942, pp. 94–95
- Engineering a new approach to fixed cutter bits