CVD Vale is developing a new synthetic diamond drill bit for the Brazilian pre-salt drilling operations which will soon be tested by Petrobras.
CVD Vale is a Brazilian company located in São José dos Campos in the State of São Paulo. They specialize in manufacturing high grade synthetic diamonds for industrial use.
Next month two CVD Vale prototype diamond tipped drill bits will start being tested by Petrobras at selected pre-salt plays. According to company founder Vladimir Airoldi.” We´ve made synthetic diamond fillings produced from gases for the drill bits, a pioneer initiative in the world”.
According to Airoldi, the big differential with this technology is the greater durability of the drill bit, an important advantage when drilling kilometers down in deep water, as is the case in the pre-salt.
The technology for diamond tipped drill bits was first developed by the company for dental therapy use. Since last year the company has over 2,000 dentists using their products. Other than the O&G industry the company is also looking at entering the mining market. If onshore pre-salt plays are discovered on the Brazilian mainland, which is still a possibility, it may be another good marked for the diamond drill bits.
Drilling specialists confirm that not only is the salt medium touch on the bits, but also the sheer depths being drilled call for highly resistant bits as the job of retrieving a drill bit from that kind of depth, which can be over 6,000 meters, is complicated and time consuming.
The product conception and development program being undertaken by CVD Vale are very important for the Brazilian industry as it involves high-end technology totally developed in the country, whereas normally such products are important. This actually involves a wide range of industrial products not yet manufactured in Brazil related to the O&G industry specifically and also to various other industries.
CVD Vale has among its partners Criatec, a investment fund specialized in investing in companies with this profile and also has BNDES (National Industry Investment Bank) and Banco do Nordeste as shareholders. Without this support the company stresses that it could not have pursued this kind of development. The fact that they are dealing with nationally developed high-end technology directly related to pre-salt exploration seem to be a guarantee that they will have priority in receiving investment funds from government and industry related funding programs.
Claudio Paschoa
Paschoa, Claudio
Claudio Paschoa is Marine Technology Reporter's correspondent in Brazil.
Email: [email protected]