I N NOVATI N G WH I LE DR I LLI N G
The bit scan generated by the Automated Metrology
Laboratory allows engineers to quantify the amount of
diamond loss on every individual cutter on the bit.
tion occurred, or what was the driving factor behind the wear and
tear seen on the drill bit.”
The issue plaguing the industry is not a lack of trained engi-
neers with the skills and mechanical means to evaluate a drill bit.
Instead, it is the fact that there is too much subjectivity and incon-
sistency in the process. “Our measurement system for evaluating
diamond loss is accurate down to three-thousandths of an inch,”
Mr Lyles said. “We know that it is extremely accurate and consis-
tent across every bit that we run, and evaluating trends with that
system provides insight into our bit design and how we overcome
challenges in today’s drilling environments.”
Understanding the complex relationships between back rake
angle, side rake angle, axial force and tangential force versus cut-
ter damage, which vary across every single bit design, allows for
improvements to drilling performance and reductions in the wear
sustained on a given bit.
Cutter testing and development plays a critical role in advanc-
ing drill bit performance. By having these types of data sets avail-
able, Taurex can work directly with cutter manufacturers to drive
enhancements to their designs before they even leave the lab.
Traditionally, these manufacturers have not had a true feedback
system providing insights from the end user. With the detailed
data coming out of AML, however, these same companies now
have access to the information they need to drive better decision
making in their own design processes, leading to better cutters
being implemented in drill bit design across the industry.
“By application, the manufacturers can now go in and do their
own statistical analyses based on the cutter grade run so that they
can start to better understand and correlate cutter performance
to real-life field applications, on a large-scale basis,” Mr Lyles
explained. There is also the issue of how long it takes for individual
human beings to perform drill bit analyses. A process of mechani-
cal measurements would typically require several hours for an
engineer to complete, but AML can now complete the task – with
improved accuracy and precision– in only a few minutes . This
provides Taurex with the ability to drive iterative improvements
to bit design at a much more rapid pace than previously possible,
especially when multiplied across hundreds of bits.
“Data we get from AML can be used the same day on repairs
going on in our shop,” Mr Lyles noted. “We need to have that data
at our fingertips. It’s all about empowering us to make better deci-
sions, and it really does come down to speed, which is why we
automated as much of the process as we could.”
Within 15 minutes — three to four for the scan and 12 to get
everything uploaded to the database — Taurex engineers can
access live data on every bit, tracking information on which cut-
ters are performing best in which positions and which designs
might have a higher damaged-beyond-repair frequency or higher
rate of failure on a specific portion of the drill bit, Mr Lyles said.
“Data democratization is a really critical component of what we
do, and something we’ve spent a lot of time on,” he concluded. “You
can’t automate producing an optimized drill bit, but you can auto-
mate a lot of that analysis and evaluation methodology. You still
need engineers, and you still need contextual domain knowledge
to interpret the data — at least until we can use machine learning
to build models. That might not be as far away as you think.”
Digital dull analytics and in-bit sensors
Halliburton’s Cerebro in-bit sensor package captures
downhole data, including lateral and axial vibration,
torsional resonance, whirl and stick-sli p. Understanding the
drilling environment with data about downhole conditions
and phenomena coming directly from the drill bit makes it
possible to determine why damage occurred to the bit.
16 Chris Propes, Strategic Business Manager for Halliburton Drill
Bits and Services, said that drill bit forensics are key to how the
company does business. “It involves analyzing the dull condition
of the bit and combining that data with information we know
about the run to develop solutions that improve drilling perfor-
mance,” he explained.
One technology Halliburton uses as part of its bit forensics
program, Oculus, is a big data analytics platform that takes 3D
scans of every drill bit the company runs and uploads them into
a database. This provides insight into cutter and bit-body condi-
tion in every market in which it operates. The massive amount
of information coming in, Mr Propes said, must be understood
before it can become actionable.
“What we’ve done is built internal design platforms that allow
us to search down to a specific application — whether an inter-
mediate section in the Permian or a drill-out run offshore — and
M A R C H/A P R I L 202 2 • D R I L L I N G C O N T R AC T O R