Slickline device provides improved lifespan analysis
Sandvik Materials Technology has introduced a portable ductility unit for slickline optimization. The device’s name – Wraptor – reflects its ability to perform both wrap testing and torsion testing.
Slicklines in a well are exposed to high temperatures, corrosive environments, and other demanding downhole conditions that can cause embrittlement and eventually failure, leading to the loss of expensive tools and unproductive time spent fishing them out. It is therefore important to be able to judge when a line is reaching the end of its useful life.
Typically, service companies perform manual tests of their slicklines after longer operations, cutting off lengths and tying knots in them to check for the cracks which indicate embrittlement, says Phil Etheridge, SMT’s marketing manager for energy products. Such an operation is potentially unsafe, risking injury to the operating individual, and can lead to inconsistent results.
Wraptor, which is claimed to be quick and easy to operate, removes the element of personal risk and enables the user to make accurate and repeatable predictions of the state of a slickline and its optimal retirement time. This in turn brings savings as the potential for failure arising from embrittlement is reduced, and less spare equipment needs to be kept on site.
Wrap testing – wrapping the line around its own diameter – is the recommended method for testing the ductility of stainless steel and alloy wirelines. For carbon steel slicklines, which are isotropic and therefore ductile in all directions, torsion testing – twisting the line until it fails – is appropriate.
When wrap testing with the Wraptor, the length of the wire tested can be as much as 1 m (3 ft) for a 0.125-in. line, and more for a 0.108-in. line. The surface area which is examined can be up to 100 times greater than when a line is manually knotted.
The device and its case together weigh just 13 kg. Other equipment supplied includes chuck, bushing, and wire guide for wrap tests, and spindle and chuck for torsion tests.
For more information, contact Phil Etheridge, Sandvik Materials Technology. Tel +46 2626 3120, fax +46 2627 4720,[email protected], www.smt.sandvik.com.
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