The great majority of roller-cone bits today have three cones, with either milled steel teeth (see Figure 7) that are part of the cone itself or hard-metal (usually tungsten carbide) teeth (see Figure
8) inserted into the body of the steel cone. Milled-tooth bits are less expensive but are suited only for softer formations. Insert bits are used in medium to harder formations, with the size, shape, bearings, and number of inserts varied to fit the specific drilling conditions. The bits are available with either roller or journal bearings, depending on operating conditions, and the bearings, seals, and lubricants should all be specified to withstand high temperatures if the bits are to be used in geothermal drilling. Roller-cone bit technology is very mature—over 100 years since the first patent50. Although bit companies still do constant research, and have made significant progress over the last 20 years, the improvements have been incremental. Since the 1950’s, R&D for roller-cone bits has alternated between better bearings and more durable cutting structures, depending on which is the dominant failure mode at the time. Roller cone bits dominate drilling for geothermal resources because of their durability in the hard, fractured rocks that are characteristic of those reservoirs. Because drag bits reduce rock with a shearing action, they are inherently more efficient than roller-cone bits. Drag bits with polycrystalline-diamond- compact (PDC) cutters (see Figure 9) began to be widely used in the early 1980’s for their ability
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