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What is difference between Tricone Bit and PDC bit?

What Does Tricone Bit Mean?

Tricone Bit is a type of drill bit that can be used for drilling soft, medium, and hard formations, using its rolling cutters to cut away the surface of the drilled rock.

It has three rolling cutters, which must all rotate on lubricated bearings. The bearing surfaces are made of tungsten carbide, and the cones are usually steel-made. Tricone bits have two types body. One is Milled Teeth Body, which can be used in soft and medium formations; another is Tungsten Carbide Teeth Body (Inserted Teeth), which can bite into harder rock formations such as granite and limestone etc.

Application: Widely used for Oil & Gas, Water well, Mining, Geothermal, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), Blast holes, etc.

What Does PDC Bit Mean?

A PDC bit is a rock drill bit fitted with industrial diamond cutters. Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) fixed cutter bits with Polycrystalline diamond materials. Fixed-head PDC bits rotate as one piece without moving parts. PDC bits combine fine-grained artificial diamonds and tungsten carbide mixed under extremely high heat and pressure. After the metal is cooled, the tungsten carbide shrinked, kept the diamonds and tungsten carbide suspended in a matrix. When fixed-head bits use cutters, it means PDC bits.

Application: Widely used for Oil & Gas, Water well, Mining, Geothermal, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), Blast holes, etc.

Structure Difference:

Tricone Bit structures:

  • Three rolling cutters (called three cones) must rotate on lubricated bearings. The bearing surfaces are made of tungsten carbide, and the cones are usually steel-made. Seal bearing type tricone bit to prevent debris from entering the tricone and stopping rotation; To save Cost, Standard open roller bearings tricone bits are bearings without a seal. Debris can go through bearing to enter the cones, but it is cheaper to use on drilling holes in the hundreds of feet;
  • Most tricone bits are designed to install nozzles of different sizes. Drilling fluid travels quickly through the bit nozzles to clean the bit teeth and clear the bottom of the hole of debris;
  • The bit nozzles are made of hard metal to resist erosion. Bit nozzle diameters often are expressed in 32nds of an inch. For example, if the bit nozzles are described as “12-13-13,” this denotes that the Bit contains one nozzle with a diameter of 12/32 inch and two nozzles with diameters of 13/32 inch. Odd-numbered nozzles are not available for nozzle sizes above 20. ( Reference for Boyun Guo Ph.D, Gefei Liu, in Applied Drilling Circulation Systems, 2011)
  • Tricone drill bits have two types of body: Milled Teeth Body, which can be used in soft and medium formations, and tungsten carbide teeth, which can bite into harder rock formations such as granite and limestone, etc. 
  • Balanced cutting: To distribute the load over the bearings more evenly, the geometry of the bearings and the positioning of the inserts have been adjusted. The result is a cutting structure that is smoother and more balanced, allowing sustained penetration rates over longer times with a lower danger of bearing failure. Full body armor has the added benefit of reducing sleeve and shirt tail wear.

PDC Bit structures:

  • The clearest difference is that PDC Bit fixed-head bits rotate as one piece (PDC fixed cutter bits are solid.) and contain no separately moving parts.
  • PDC (polycrystalline diamond) bits are made from synthetic diamonds and tungsten carbide inserts. The tungsten carbide shrank, keeping the diamonds suspended in a matrix within the tungsten carbide. When fixed-head bits use cutters, it means PDC bits.
  • PDC bit drilling is highly resistant to wear and provides excellent drilling performance in hard under high-temperature and pressure drilling operations.

Tricone Bit Features:

  • Since 1908, the design, materials, and manufacture of tricone bits to advance significantly, Tungsten Carbide Inserts and Sealed Journal Bearings were good progress, easpecially, Sealed Journal Bearings type tricone bit, prevent debris from entering the tricone and stopping rotation;
  • More Control Options: Tricone bits are also easier to control in extreme situations, providing more options regarding torque and Weight On Bits, which is suitable for enlarging drilling holes; A tricone bit’s each roller cutters work to fracture the rock, making it more flexible;
  • Better in Hard Rock Formation, for example, in medium and hard rock formations, tricone bits with tungsten carbide inserts (TCI) are employed. These bits are designed with smaller teeth, which are more closely arranged together. Drill speeds are higher when the rock face is harder, and TCI can withstand the heat generated from these conditions. Mud is pumped down the drill string and out through the tricone Bit to keep the Bit clean from cuttings and to move these cuttings back to the surface.;
  • In the right formation and application, tricone drill bit costs less, but in water well drilling, PDC bit costs less than tricone drill bit; 
  • Sealed Roller Bearings have a longer life because it has O’ Ring Seal, lubrication, and compensator system that prevents leakage into the bearing system and stop the possibility of debris blocking the bearing as leakage of grease. Acidic and negatively affect bit bearings, so we recommend using a sealed bearing tricone bit, this is appropriate for drilling situations when there is groundwater present in holes or from water injection into air streams;
  • Standard open roller bearings tricone bits are bearings without a seal. Debris can go through bearing to enter the cones. However, using it to drill shallow holes hundreds of feet deep is less expensive. If using an open bearing bit to drill deeper holes, you will probably need to remove it every several hundred feet to clear out the cones’ obstructions and free them up;
  • In soft rock formations, tricone bit with milled teeth are employed. Wide gaps between the protruding teeth prevent them from becoming blocked with material as they cut through the surface material.
  • Short lifespan, tricone bits consist of several moving parts, additionally, with PDC bits, there is no risk of losing parts, but tricone bit will lose cones in the borehole;
  • Tricone bits are designed with streamlined lugs allowing larger pieces of rock to be ejected. In the end, you can anticipate more excellent bit life, faster penetration rates, and much cheaper drilling costs. The time needed to complete the drill work has decreased;

PDC Bit Features:

  • Solidity and Strong strength;
  • Cost: Drill faster and further with the correct formation; a single PDC Bit can bring the Cost per foot down below that of a tricone bit;
  • Compared to tricone bits, PDC bits can attain a higher Rate Of Penetration;
  • PDC bits last longer than tricone bits, they don’t require replacement as frequently.

Tricone Bit History:

In 1908 Mr. Howard Hughes invented the two-cone drill bit. Then in 1933, Mr. Hughes furthered his two-cone invention by inventing the tri-cone drill bit. The two-cone and the tricone revolutionized the oil drilling business at that time. Starting from 1933, materials, technology, and efficiency have all been improved. The drill rigs have also improved along with various other aspects of the drilling industry. The tricone drill bit is no longer exclusive to oil and gas but also in other drilling industries, such as water well drilling, geothermal, HDD drilling, foundation, construction, mining, etc.

PDC Bit History:

With the introduction of PDC (polycrystalline diamond compact) cutter bits in 1976, the drilling industry saw another transformation. PDC bits were expensive when they were initially created, and only the largest oil and gas business could afford to employ them.. PDC bits, like tricone bits, are currently used in all drilling industries as technology has advanced; 

PDC bits and various other drilling items are part of our commitment to maximizing drilling efficiency and reducing drilling costs via quality and performance. The good PDC bits and other drilling products in the industry are made by our fully equipped manufacturing facility, experienced engineering design team, experienced management, and experienced technicians using proprietary systems and processes. We do this by constantly enhancing product design, performance, and durability by coming up with creative solutions for the drilling challenges of the present.

Below video show the differece drilling between tricone bit and pdc bit.

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