Kaldera

Roller Cone Products for Geothermal and

High-Temperature Applications
 Kaldera roller cone products are designed
for high-temperature environments
utilizing advanced materials and
specialized components to deliver longer
bit runs with improved reliability that
reduce trip times and lower drilling costs.

Canada North Sea

Europe
Turkey
United States Algeria &
Northwest China
Saudi Arabia Map highlighting major areas of geothermal
Africa
Mexico Egypt & activity and high temperature operations
Venezuela, Tunisia & Libya Jordan
Trinidad & Tobago Nigeria, Oman The Philippines
and Guyana India
Cameroon &
Peru, Colombia Gulf of Guinea Indonesia
& Ecuador
Brazil Angola &
West Africa Australia
New Zealand
Chile

Challenging downhole environments Innovative composite elastomers extend seal durability

High-temperature (HT) drilling applications, particularly in geothermal wells,
present a very challenging environment for roller cone bits. Downhole
operating temperatures can reach 350 degF and exceed 500 degF in some
applications.
Such extreme heat adversely affects traditional bit bearing system materials
causing seals to fail and lubricants to break down. This depletion quickly
erodes bearing functionality, which leads to a premature loss of bit durability
that shortens interval runs and increases bit trips—all of which drive up
drilling costs. Accordingly, improving the reliability of bearing system mate-
rials is essential to operational efficiency in HT applications.
To produce a bit that could drill efficiently in high-temperature applications,
the Smith Bits research and development team undertook a search to find
new materials that could endure extreme heat and degradation. This effort
led to the identification of compounds known as fluoroelastomers, which
display excellent resistance to heat and chemicals.
By augmenting these compounds with new support materials, a seal with an
increased resistance to wear and the durability essential for high-temper-
ature environments was developed. To further extend seal endurance, a
specialized fabric layer was applied to the dynamic face of the seal. This
resulted in a proprietary composite seal that has higher thermal stability,
increased strength, and a greatly improved resistance to wear. Additionally,
an optimized seal gland design was adopted to block abrasive particles from
entering sealed areas and damaging the bearing system.
Load capacity enhancement through 100%
advanced lubrication
Because bearing and seal functionality depend on
lubrication, grease is another key bearing system
80%
material. To ensure adequate lubricity of these
vital components, the R&D team also developed a
specialized high-temperature grease compound.
60%

Load capacity
Using selected synthetic base oils and engineered
additives, the newly developed grease improves
load capacity at elevated temperatures. This
ensures that the bearing system will effectively 40%
support the bit’s drilling capability for the service
life of its cutting structure.

A system solution 20%

The seal and grease developments have been
combined with other aspects of the bit to improve
performance for demanding HT applications.
0%
■■ Finite element analysis (FEA) optimized seal
25 120 150 180 200 260
geometry and gland design
■■ Robust grease reservoir system with fluoro- Temperature, degC
elastomer components
High temperature grease Standard grease
■■ High-load capacity bearing design and mate-
rials The high-temperature grease is engineered to deliver consistent lubrication of the seal/bearing components to
ensure greater reliability, as compared to the standard grease that rapidly decays at elevated temperatures.
■■ Computer numerically controlled (CNC) preci-
sion manufacturing tolerances

Combining these design elements with advanced

cutting structures developed through IDEAS* inte-
grated drillbit design platform, produced a roller
cone bit that offers improved reliability and drilling
performance in the world’s most challenging
downhole environments.
Grease reservoir containing
high temperature grease

Composite fabric seal

Field proven high-load capacity bearing

Robust high-temperature diaphragm
and o-rings

High heat and wear resistant fabric layer

IDEAS certified cutting structure FEA optimized seal gland

Diamond-enhanced options available for maximum Gemini* dynamic twin-seal system

cutting structure and legback protection available for superior reliability

Proven Performance
Larderello, Italy geothermal production well
■■ Three, 8½-in Kaldera* bits were used to drill
hard and abrasive granite/metamorphic forma-
tions with 320- to 350-degF temperatures and
spikes up to 570 degF.
■■ The bit’s new seal and grease formula enabled
a 37% increase in total on-bottom drilling hours
compared to an offset well drilled with stan-
dard roller cone.
■■ A Kaldera bit set a new field record for on-
bottom drilling time of 77 hours; total bit revolu-
tions of 300,000 revs were compiled with all
seals effective; a 20% improvement from the
best offset well bit runs.
Kaldera

High temperatures
Challenging environments
Harsh operating conditions

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