Evolution of a Hybrid Roller Cone/PDC core bit

The development of the hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal resource, as presently being accomplished by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), requires that sufficient quantities of good quality core be obtained at a reasonable cost. The use of roller cone core bits, with tungsten carbide inserts, was initiated by the Deep Sea Drilling Program. These bits were modified for continental drilling in deep, hot, granitic rock for the LASL HDR Geothermal Site at Fenton Hill, New Mexico in 1974. After the advent of monocrystalline diamond Stratapax pads, a prototype hybrid roller cone/Stratapax core bit was fabricated by Smith Tool, and tested at Fenton Hill in 1978. During the drilling for a deeper HDR reservoir system in 1979 and 1980, six of the latest generation of these bits, now called Hybrid Roller Cone/Polycrystalline Diamond Cutter (PDC) core bits, were successfully used in granitic rock at depths below 11,000 ft.