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Deep leach cutters give oil and gas directional drillers the edge

Published by , Editorial Assistant
Oilfield Technology,


Directional drillers

Directional drillers have a new edge for developing deep, long bores of unconventional oil and gas wells. Atlas Copco Secoroc PDC bits feature deep leach cutters created with MegaDiamond’s proprietary, patented deep leaching technology.

Internal lab testing has been confirmed by field tests in such demanding areas as the North Dakota oilfields. Curtis Larson, Atlas Copco Applications Engineer – oil and gas, said, “We have been seeing good results from many of our customers after multiple runs in deep drilling applications.”

In a “Williston drill-out” between a bit with MegaDiamond cutters and another, the MegaDiamond cutter sharpness outlasted the non-MegaDiamond bit 2 to 1.

The MegaDiamond cutters have also shown similar results in West Texas, South Texas, and Oklahoma through additional competitive runs, often outperforming standard deep leach cutters.

What is deep leaching technology?

Deep leach cutters stand up better to drilling the deeper holes at longer intervals due to high thermal resistance.

While other PDC inserts, with their typical, highly abrasion-resistant cutting edge, are ideal bits for oilfield use as a whole, they tend to convert to graphite at a lower temperature than a simple diamond. This is due to the presence of cobalt, which acts as a catalyst to sinter the diamond-to-diamond bond, unitising the diamond layer to the tungsten carbide substrate.

During heating, cobalt expands at a higher rate than diamond, causing the thermal stress in the diamond table to increase and the structure breaks down. The cobalt between the diamond crystals expands and breaks diamond-to-diamond bonds, resulting in reduced cutter life and cutter failure due to the heat created from the friction on the cutters during drilling.

The deep leaching process selectively removes cobalt from the diamond table of the PDC cutter. Leaching increases cutter thermal stability, which reduces damage and extends bit life in difficult and abrasive formations.


Adapted from a press release by Louise Mulhall

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/product-news/16092015/deep-leach-cutters-give-oil-and-gas-directional-drillers-the-edge/

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