Hughes Christensen
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Hughes Christensen, a division of Baker Hughes Inc., is a large oil and gas drill bit company. Howard Hughes, Sr. founded the company early in the 20th century. His two-cone, rolling-cutter rock bit—whose patent was issued by the US Patent Office on August 10, 1909—launched operations of the Houston-based Sharp-Hughes Tool Company. The bit design enabled drillers to drill through hard rock. Previous drag-type, or fishtail bits, limited rotary drilling to soft geological formations because the bits only could scrape rather than drill vertically.
The company established the first research laboratory in 1910 to study rock bit performance.
Hughes ran the company until his death in 1924 when his only son, Howard Hughes, Jr., became president. Nine years later, the Hughes Tool Co. commercialized the Tricone or three-cone bit.
In 1976, the company introduced bits with synthetic diamond cutters called polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits.
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[edit] History
Founders
The roots of Hughes Christensen Company—embodying the legacies of three oil and gas pioneers—date to the turn of the 20th century. Howard Hughes, Sr. and Carl Baker revolutionized rotary drilling. The patents for their inventions in the early 1900s launched the businesses that led to the establishment of Baker Hughes Incorporated. Add to their legacies the name of Frank Christensen who was the driving force behind the creation of Christensen Diamond Products in the 1940s.
Hughes Tool Company
Howard Hughes, Sr. first became interested in developing a rock bit to replace the largely ineffective fishtail-type bit around 1906. His invention—a rotary rock bit equipped with two conical cutters—would revolutionize rotary drilling.
In 1909, the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company of Houston began manufacturing the new bit. With the death of Sharp in 1912, Hughes purchased his half of the business. He changed the name to Hughes Tool Company in 1915.
Howard Hughes, Sr. died in 1924, leaving his then-thriving business to his only child, Howard R. Hughes, Jr.
Hughes Tool Company became a publicly traded company in 1972. Fifteen years later, the 1987 merger with Baker International spawned what is now Baker Hughes Incorporated. In 1992, Baker Hughes changed the division’s name to Hughes Christensen following the acquisition of Christensen Diamond Products.
Baker International
Carl Baker formed the Baker Casing Shoe Company in 1913 after receiving three patents that formed the basis of his new organization. The patents were awarded for his invention of the Baker Casing Shoe, the first Baker Cement Retainer, and an offset bit for cable tool drilling.
Five years later, Mr. Baker was producing casing shoes and dump bailers, cleanout balers, and other oilfield equipment that he had been licensed to manufacture. In 1923, Baker introduced the Baker Float Shoe and, four years later, he revolutionized the tool with the introduction of guiding floating and cementing equipment.
Between 1948 and 1959, a total of 50 branch offices had been established in 16 states. Baker retired in 1956 and died after a brief illness at 85.
Christensen Diamond Products
Former professional football player Frank Christensen is recognized as the driving force behind the introduction of diamond drill bits into the petroleum exploration industry. Originally, the company manufactured diamond drill bits for the western mining industry, but the founders quickly envisioned a strong market in petroleum. By 1946, Christensen diamond bits were introduced into the Rangley field of Colorado. The bits were successful so the company decided to make petroleum drilling its primary market.
By the 1960s, the company was expanding into international markets. Christensen also developed an erosion-resistant matrix for diamond bits and introduced the 250P-core barrel system that quickly became the industry standard. In the 1970s, downhole tools and motors formed the basis for a broader drilling package that included the Navi-Drill downhole motor. Later in the decade, Christensen Diamond Products introduced the synthetic polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bit.
In 1978, Christensen Diamond Products was acquired by Norton Co. of Worcester, Mass. The company’s name was changed to Norton Christensen in 1983. In 1986, Norton Christensen merged with Eastman Whipstock, the world’s largest directional drilling company, to form Eastman Christensen. Baker Hughes Incorporated acquired Eastman Christensen in 1990. Two years later, Baker Hughes merged the two divisions—Eastman Christensen and Hughes Tool Company—into Hughes Christensen Company.
[edit] PDC Technology Improvements
In 1992, Hughes Christensen introduced the AR Series, the newest antiwhirl technology capable of penetrating a much wider variety of tough formations without the catastrophic cutter fracture experienced by conventional PDC bits. With technology licensed from Amoco, AR Series bits were designed to resist bit whirl by directing load forces through low-friction gauge pads.
The industry began using more diamond bits; 10% of all oil and gas wells at that time were drilled with PDCs.
By 1995, its Gold Series PDC line with stress-engineered and polished cutters increased drilling efficiency by reducing the frictional forces that can accumulate in front of the cutting edge, reducing the energy required to remove the rock. A year later, patented ChipMaster PDCs with rear-impact hydraulics and optimized chip management were built on the success of the Eggbeater product line. ChipMaster PDCs extended the range of soft formation drilling.
In just five years, PDC footage drilled worldwide more than doubled to more than 20%.
With the development of faster computers, company engineers determined how to make more improvements. Using a 3D model of the fluid surrounding the bit, they used computational fluid dynamics to design the Genesis product line at the end of 2000.
Genesis PDC Technology
The first-generation Genesis PDCs were the result of a multimillion dollar R&D project with 35 dedicated engineers who developed a bit with the optimum combination of drilling efficiency and durability for specific formations.
Next, Genesis HCM bits for steerable motors with patented EZSteer depth-of-cut control technology were introduced. This same technology was adapted to Genesis HCR bits for rotary steerable systems, such as the Baker Hughes AutoTrak rotary closed loop system.
Genesis ZX PDCs followed with new Zenith cutters.
In the six years ending 2006, PDC footage as a percentage of all footage drilled tripled to 60% with roller cone bits drilling the remaining 40%.
[edit] PDC and Tricone Technology firsts
- first two-cone rotary rock bit
- first R&D lab specifically for rock bit analysis and performance
- first self-cleaning cones
- first hardfacing on roller cone bits
- first antifriction ball and roller bearing
- first and only Tricone drill bit>
- first use of bit records
- first tungsten carbide insert (TCI) bits
- first surface-set diamond drill bit
- first effective self-lubricated sealed-bearing bit
- first oilfield impregnated diamond bits
- first steel tooth bit with an O-ring-sealed journal bearing
- first PDC diamond drill bits in the oil field
- first scoop-shaped chisel insert
- first thermally stable diamond bits
- first metal-sealed roller cone bit bearing
- first polished PDC cutters
- first PDC drillable casing bit system
- first drill-out ream-while-drilling tool
- first PDC cutters with greater impact and abrasion resistance
- first post-on-blade impregnated cutting-structure
- first depth-of-cut control technology
[edit] Products
Tricone
MXL long-life motor bits
GX elastomer-sealed bits
GX HardRok bits
MX high-speed performance bits
STAR2 slimhole bit
FastMax high-ROP technology
MaxLife total hardfacing
GTX steel tooth and TCI bits
AirXL bits
Diamond
Quantec premium PDC bits
D Technology directional PDC bits
Genesis ZX PDC
Genesis XT PDC
Genesis PDC bits
EZCase casing bit system
RWD2 ream-while-drilling and drillout technology
HedgeHog impreg bit
Natural diamond bits
SpeedMill natural diamond bits
BallaSet thermally stable polycrystalline diamond cutters
SideTrack PDC and natural diamond bits
