Claxton upgrades well decommissioning tools

Sept. 21, 2016
Claxton has introduced modular versions of its conductor recovery tower and SABRE abrasive cutting system for decommissioning and late-life projects.

Offshore staff

NORWICH, UK -- Claxton has introduced modular versions of its conductor recovery tower and SABRE abrasive cutting system for decommissioning and late-life projects.

SABRE, first developed in 1999, features an abrasive jet that exits the tool at transonic speeds, allowing it to cut through composite materials such as cemented casings.

It employs a combination of garnet, water, and air, and can be deployed from variousvessel types or platforms, allowing simultaneous abrasive cutting of multiple well casings without impacting adjacent infrastructure.

The latest version is fully NORSOK Z-015 compliant, allowing it to operate onNorwegian installations; has a reduced system footprint; and is modular, making it suited to a wider range of applications and deck layouts.

Its cutting manipulators are said to be compatible with all standard casing sizes down to 6-5/8-in.; it can operate at pressures of up to 20,000 psi (1,379 bar) and includes a packer system to improve cutting performance.

The new version of the Claxton conductor recovery tower can handle and recover tubulars from production tubing to 30-in. casing during well abandonment.

It is designed to reduce rig-up complexity, increasing efficiency. Claxton claims that the system is also able to move from well to well quickly.

Matt Marcantonio, R&D Manager, Claxton, said the latest version of SABRE was firstused in July on an 8 x 8-m (26 x 26-ft) weather deck footprint on the Horne and Wren platform in the southern UK North Sea, where the abrasive cutting system severed two multi-string wells.

9/21/2016

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