32 FEBRUARY 2022 WorldWide Drilling Resource® ION+ PDC Cutter Technology Adapted from Information by NOV Inc. The next generation of premium polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutter technology from NOV Inc., a gas and oil equipment and services company based in Houston, Texas, has arrived. With enhanced design characteristics delivering unparalleled drilling efficiency and durability, the new ION+™ PDC cutter provides superior drilling performance.As drilling cam- paigns become increasingly more difficult and require higher performing technologies for efficient drilling, and as operators face newchallenges, a highquality, consistent drill bit incorporating the newest technologies is necessary to overcome these challenges. The ION+ PDC cutter design builds upon the industryleading line of ION PDC cutter technologies which delivered record-breaking performances in tough drilling applications around the world, including the Middle East, Latin America, Canada, and the United States. This cutter has a wide range of application-specific grades incorporating refined diamond feeds, higher manufacturing pressures, new nonplanar interfaces, and thicker diamond tables with enhanced thermal stability. Such enhancements allow the ION+ cutter to stay sharper longer, providing higher rate of penetration (ROP) and longer single bit intervals. The highly polished diamond surface reduces friction, improves efficiency, and avoids balling in high depth-of-cut applications. To steadily improve the cutters they produce, the company’s experienced development engineers utilize cutter-by-cutter dull drill bit analysis combined with downhole drilling data. The resulting analysis allows them to continuously update cutter grades to meet thermal, abrasion, and toughness requirements for the application. The ION+ cutters are coupled with shaped technology and tested using state-of-the-art equipment to ensure unparalleled drilling efficiency. Full-bit lab tests support shaped cutter placement optimization for the perfect balance of efficiency and durability. Incorporated into the design are several key elements: efficient rock failure, improved directional control, cutter temperature stability, and maximized cuttings evacuation. For efficient rock failure, the cutter integrates the latest technology to achieve maximum ROP for each fraction of energy expended in drilling, allowing cuttings to move up the front face of the cutter more efficiently. Engineers set the bit to a desired optimal depth of cut, which keeps the ROP at acceptable levels, as well as optimizing the torque component to reduce fluctuations. This keeps the bit oriented and eliminates costly slides and corrections. For cutter temperature stability, every new drill bit is designed with a novel and proprietary heat transfer analysis, which predicts cutter temperature and cooling rate from hydraulics. Cutter life improvements come from distributing more fluid flow to cutters which perform more work and experience higher frictional heat. To evacuate cuttings more efficiently and minimize the potential for bit balling in sticky formations, each cutter is incrementally offset from adjacent cutters at an optimized interval. The incremented cut profile also reduces the amount of energy required to initiate rock failure. ION+ PDC Cutter. G&O
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