Drilling and Producing – Equipment, Methods and Materials - Development and Testing of Jet Pump Pellet Impact Drill Bits

A new method for drilling the earth's formations has undergone extensive laboratory and shallow earth drilling experimentation. This method, pellet impact drilling, uses the energy of a large mass of high velocity steel spheres to break and crush the rock. Pellets are confined to a region close to the hole bottom. Motive fluid for transporting and recycling the pellets is supplied by a modified jet pump. The pellet drilling method has inherent advantages over conventional rotary drilling. First, only a nominal amount of weight need be applied to the hole bottom. Second, only a very small amount of torque is required for bit rotation. Third, means are available for continual replacement of the cutter medium. The experimental laboratory work and analytical procedures necessary for the design of a pellet drill bit are described. In the laboratory program approximately half the effort was devoted to the development of a better understanding of the physical process, and half to the empirical testing of new bit configurations. Factors such as pellet size and velocity, jet pump characteristics and modifications, and power distribution are discussed. The design and construction of a pellet impact bit for drilling a 9 in. hole with 1 1/4 in. steel pellets are described. Drilling performance in representative rocks, hydraulic operating characteristics, and metallurgical problems are discussed. INTRODUCTION This paper discusses an attempt to reduce drilling costs through the development of a drilling method basically different from rotary drilling. Publications on drilling research indicate that the major effort on the part of manufacturers and operators has been confined to research in rotary, or rotary-percussion drilling. This applied drilling research has produced significant gains in drilling rates and bit life, but thus far it has failed to achieve any major decrease in general drilling costs. From recent statistics released by Drilling Contractors, it can be shown that the total cost of drilling an "average" well in 1953 was about 2 1/4 times the corresponding cost in 1935. Analysis of the costs will show that they are not due to inefficient field operations; they are due instead to both an inflated economy and greater "average" well depths. Diligent work by the industry has reduced the backlog of potential economic improvements in rotary drilling to a group of rather marginal prospects. Increasing depths and poorer quality reservoirs at these depths continue to make the drilling cost problem more acute. Hence, the aim of the work reported here was to develop a new drilling method not limited by the inherent characteristics of rotary drilling and thus capable of attaining further significant reductions in drilling costs. The effort devoted to research on this proposed new drilling method was of considerable magnitude and represented .in excess of 37 man-years of research. The affiliates of Standard Oil Co. (N. I.) sponsored this development program which was conducted by the Drilling Methods Section of the Carter Research Laboratory in Tulsa, Okla. The purpose of this paper is to