UTP, MOGS and OMNI ink an agreement to develop the PDC drill bit.
THE demand for energy, in particular by the oil and gas sector, is pushing the drilling and exploration industry to continuously innovate and create solutions that optimise resources, address equipment failure and reduce costs.
Time is of the essence in the upstream oil and gas industry – every day or hour lost to equipment failure can lead to significant financial losses.
In the offshore drilling industry, deeper wells and harder, more abrasive geological formations require equipment that can perform to the highest of expectations at costs that are competitive. To that end, improving the rate of penetration has been a focus of drill bit technology.
A drill bit is the tool that cuts into the rock during the drilling of an oil or gas well, and since its introduction in the 1970s, the polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bit has become one of the industry’s most important drilling tools.
It was in this area that Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) saw an opportunity to make an impact. Although the PDC drill bit technology has evolved in the last five decades, gaps exist, particularly in Malaysia and the South-East Asian region where geological formations are characterised as being interbedded.
‘There are drill bits that are sourced from around the world, but these are not customised for Malaysian drilling conditions especially the challenging conditions of drilling in interbedded formations,’ said Ahmad Majdi.
According to Associate Professor Dr Ahmad Majdi Abdul Rani, interbedding occurs when beds or layers of a particular lithology lie between or alternate with beds of a different lithology – a characteristic that’s more prevalent in this region.
Ahmad Majdi who is a member of the Advanced Biomedical Material and Manufacturing Group, which in turn is one of the centres within UTP’s Institute of Health and Analytics, capitalised on his expertise in advanced manufacturing technology, reverse engineering, 3D laser scanning and 3D printing to delve deeper into the PDC drill bit innovations.
“The global demand for drill bits in 2022 stands at US$7.62bil. There are drill bits that are sourced from around the world, but these are not customised for Malaysian drilling conditions especially the challenging conditions of drilling in interbedded formations.
“Drilling activities are central to oil and gas exploration, and these are undertaken from drilling rigs which cost US$300,000 to US$500,000 a day in rental.
“So, imagine the losses incurred if after two days of drilling, the drill bit balls up (the wheels on the bit stop turning and the bit stops cutting) or the PDC cutter breaks. When these happen, work stops.
“Drill bit selection is therefore very crucial,” he says.
First Malaysian made PDC Drill Bit is customised design for Southeast Asia region including Sabah, Sarawak and Pantai Timur multilayer formation.
Innovative PDC drill bit features
With the wealth of data that UTP has on the geology and lithology datasets for Malaysia and the region, the university saw an opportunity to design a PDC drill bit that is customised for Malaysia’s offshore drilling conditions.
UTP’s PDC drill bit includes features such as an impact-resistant PDC cutter to mitigate PDC cutter breakage especially during the transition from soft to hard formations, an additional row in the cutting structure to enhance the durability of the drill bit, and the inclusion of a depth-of-cut bullet on the bit to limit the cutter’s aggressiveness and mitigate breakage and vibration especially when transitioning from soft to hard formations.
In addition, UTP’s drill bit includes a back ream cutter to reduce the risk of the drill bit getting stuck in a tight hole, spiral blades to enhance bit stability, as well as additional features that offer extra protection from wear and tear resulting from formation abrasiveness.
The customised PDC drill bit is one of several innovations that are being commercialised by UTP’s Research, Innovation and Commercialisation Unit. Through multidisciplinary research institutes, UTP undertakes research that are anchored on addressing industry pain points and positioning itself as a partner to industry.
Through collaborations with industry partners and stakeholders, research that from the labs of UTP are tested and commercialised. In the case of the PDC drill bit, much of the project advancements are attributed to the strength of the Institute of Health and Analytics in materials and manufacturing.
“We have been working on this project for six years, taking into consideration the industry pain points, and their needs,” says Ahmad Majdi, adding that the goal was to design a PDC drill bit that has strength and functionality without the premium price tag.
To advance UTP’s innovation, the university is collaborating with OMNI Oil Technologies to manufacture the PDC drill bit and Mulk Oil and Gas Synergy Sdn Bhd (MOGS), which will undertake the testing and marketing of the product. UTP recently signed a research collaboration agreement (RCA) with both these companies.
At the signing, MOGS chairman Tan Sri Dr Aseh Che Mat said collaboration offers an opportunity for MOGS to commercialise the first made-in-Malaysia PDC drill bit.
“The purpose of this tripartite RCA is to promote and commercialise local R&D and manufacturing of a high-performance tools given the fact that the oil and gas drilling activities in the Malaysian waters has been traditionally dominated by imported products,” he said.
OMNI managing director Nik Mustapha Fathil Nik Mahmud said the RCA would pave the way for OMNI to further expand its manufacturing capabilities of high precision tools.
“Once this project is fully rolled out, Malaysia will have the PDC drill bit manufactured locally at our plant in Nilai which adopts the implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to deliver the full value of first made-in-Malaysia PDC drill bit,” he said.
The PDC drill bit is expected to hit the market in 2024 and will be targeted at oil and gas players such as PETRONAS as well as oilfield services providers such as Halliburton and Schlumberger.
“It’s definitely an exciting development for the Malaysian oil and gas industry, and we hope to come up with more designs of the PDC drill bit in the future,” says Ahmad Majdi.
