TPI July 2014

After 25 successful years, PIPE Ltd (Prestige Industrial Pipework Equipment) has now ceased trading, following a

shareholders disagreement But don’t worry....

We are pleased to inform you that the Tagliaferro’s (TAG’S) and several former PIPE employees have started a new company: . . . Offering you the following products:

PLUS… Exciting new products & solutions on the way

Visit: www.TAG-PIPE.com or contact us: sales@TAG-PIPE.com 0044 (0) 1869 324144

Our new mailing address: UNIT 18 WEDGWOOD ROAD, BICESTER, OXFORD, ENGLAND OX26 4UL

Heavy-duty landing system for ultra-deep offshore

as well as physical tests performed with a specifically designed pulling unit.

high-strength material section to ensure slip crush resistance in the slip area, a lightweight tube, and rotary shouldered connections. One of the current operational challenges with existing heavy-duty landing strings is linked to the positioning of the slips, in particular when using extended slip designs. The limited length of the slips area requires additional time for proper positioning and set up. To address these issues, a new slip proof section design has been developed: the combination of an extended crush proof section and the absence of a heat affected zone in that particular area decreases running time while completely eliminating the risk of setting the slips on a weak point. The ‘Spiri-Reinhold pipe crushing’ formula has been used to design this system. However, considering the approximation of this model’s results, crushing performance has been assessed using finite element analysis,

The offshore industry’s current trend is driving towards ultra-deepwater wells (up to 12,000ft water depth), combined with deeper total depths. In order to be able to set and run larger and heavier casing strings with hook loads approaching or exceeding 2.5 million lb, an innovative heavy-duty landing system has been developed by Vallourec Drilling Products. Such landing string systems must be capable of landing heavy loads while ensuring the absence of damage due to the slips (a device used to grip the drill string and suspend it in the rotary table). Under extremely heavy loads, such as those seen during deepwater operations, the slips can damage the pipes, and in the worst case might even completely crush the pipe section; this phenomenon is called ‘slip crushing’.

Two full-scale tests have been performed on CrushFree Landing String joints, in order to assess the product performance. The first test consisted of applying 2.5 million lb load on both the slips and elevator areas. The results have shown the absence of any dimensional change, proving that the material has not yielded in any part of the landing string joint. The second test aimed to pull the material up to failure; the CrushFree Landing String joint was pulled up to 4.4 million lb, which was the maximum capacity of the pulling unit. Such a load exceeded the yield tension of the tube and elevator shoulder, as it theoretically should. However, the load did not break either the tube or the pipe section gripped by the slips.

Vallourec Drilling Products – USA www.vallourec.com

The new CrushFree™ Landing String consists of a pipe with a thick-walled

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July 2014 Tube Products International