Valve simplifies downhole maintenance

Offshore staff

CAMBRIDGE, UK --Camcon Technology has completed the first development phase of a compact valve designed to maximize oil recovery.

This development, sponsored by Shell, is designed to form part of an hydraulic switching system that allows individual contaminated tributaries in a well to be opened, closed, or partly shut off – rather than having to close the entire well down.

Camcon claims this could benefit deepwater operations in particular. Trials to date suggesting the compact valve could lift oil yield in deepwater wells by more than a third.

The valve incorporates patented binary actuation technology which is said to be far more efficient than other actuation devices as it only requires power to switch form one state to the other. It has completed initial endurance tests of up to 200,000 switches with no adverse effects, and according to Camcon, reliably switches in pressures up to 5,000 psi (345 atm).

11/01/2007