What is downhole stabilizer?

A downhole stabilizer is a piece of downhole equipment used in the bottom hole assembly (BHA) of a drill string. It mechanically stabilizes the BHA in the borehole in order to avoid unintentional sidetracking, vibrations, and ensure the quality of the hole being drilled.It is composed of a hollow cylindrical body and stabilizing blades, both made of high-strength steel. The blades can be either straight or spiralled, and are hardfaced for wear resistance.

There are mainly three types of drilling stabilizers used in the oilfield today.
1. Integral stabilizer, which is fully machined out of a single piece of steel. This type tend to be norm and widely used.
2. Replaceable sleeve stabilizer, where the blades are located on a sleeve, which is then screwed on the body. This type can be economical when no repair facilities are available close to the well being drilled.
3. Welded blades stabilizer, where blades are welded onto the body. This type is usually not advised on oil wells due to the risks of losing blades, but is regularly used when drilling water wells or on low-cost oilfields.

Usually 2 to 3 stabilizers are fitted into the BHA, including one just above the drill bit (near-bit stabilizer) and one or two among the drill collars (string stabilizers).

Why use carbide inserts for hardfacing?

Tungsten carbide is approximately twice as stiff as steel, it's hardness can reach 94HRA. Due to its high hardness, it's a very suitable material for wear resistant application, including hardfacing. Tungsten carbide hardfacing has the highest level of abrasion resistance available. The high level of abrasion resistance is offset by lower impact resistance than other types of hardfacing.

To meet a variety of the most demanding drilling conditions, we offer various sizes and shapes of tungsten carbide inserts for hard-facings in different options for your stabilizers. Each carbide insert is tailored to your specific needs and our expert application ensures exceptional resistance to wear and tear, prolonging the life of your stabilizers. Such as HF2000, geothermal hard-facing utilizes tungsten carbide bricks, brazed to the stabilizer blade and surrounded by tungsten impregnated composite rod; HF3000, A hard-facing method that applies the maximum amount of premium tungsten carbide on any wear surface. It can be applied in varied thickness and uses tungsten carbide inserts to maximize abrasive and impact durability; and so on.

Zhuzhou Hongtong can offer their expertise in selecting the carbide grade, size and shape which best suited to solve your exact needs.