New products

Vol. 233 No. 2

New downhole motor increases load capacity by 18%

Mpact Downhole Motors recently launched a new 43/4-in. downhole motor that increases load capacity by 18%, improving reliability and increasing weight-on-bit to enable higher penetration rates. The new motor features a heavy-duty thrust bearing that can easily handle the increased load capacity. Mpact motors  feature rugged transmissions and bearing assemblies that deliver high performance, reliability and long service life for low total cost of ownership.

Hyundai Heavy Industries  has  developed its own Hyundai FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Plant) model in association with Linde AG, the industrial gases and engineering company of Germany. The Hyundai FLNG has an annual production capacity of 2.5 MMt of LNG and can store about 193,800 sq m of LNG with its compact size—355 m long, 70 m wide and 35 m high. The FLNG, existing only as a concept for now, is a special floating vessel that can produce natural gas, liquefy it, and offload it directly to an LNG carrier. Hyundai Heavy conducted risk and safety evaluations of the FLNG and received an approval-in-principle from the Norway’s DNV. The FLNG consists of hull and topside facilities. The topside includes not only liquefaction and pre-treatment units, but also utilities, such as a fresh water supply unit, air compression, heat source and power generation systems.

Expanded shale water conservation capabilities

Halliburton is now offering enhanced water management services to operators working in the Permian basin, and Niobrara and Eagle Ford shales. These services include several aspects of water conservation, including recycling and reusing flowback and produced water, while also adding the ability to provide fresh water as needed in certain high-activity areas. This capability will help enable operators to optimize their water use and well economics. Halliburton’s water conservation initiative is focused on reducing the amount of fresh water used in fracturing, with the eventual goal of eliminating the need for fresh water for fracturing. In addition to recycling, Halliburton can also supply the volume of fresh water needed to supplement available recycled water and can manage the transport and storage of the required water volume.

Wet gas test stand for industry R&D programs

McCrometer has installed a new wet gas test stand to pursue a series of new research and development initiatives. The new test stand is already in use at McCrometer as a simulation tool.  Operating a privately owned wet gas test stand gives McCrometer the unique opportunity to advance the physical understanding of wet gas flows without the constraints of traditional third-party testing.  The knowledge gained from McCrometer’s wet gas test stand will be applied to improve the measurement of wet gases, as well as better understand the nature of entrained liquids in wet gas flows.

Extreme temperature monitoring system

Zenith Oilfield Technology introduced its new XT extreme temperature monitoring system, which pushes artificially lifted, well temperature monitoring boundaries up to 500°C. The XT system follows on from Zenith’s HT high-temperature gauge, which monitors wells, including steam flood and HPHT operations, and has been successfully proven at temperatures of up to 260°C.

High voltage power system

Power supply manufacturer UltraVolt, Inc. has launched  a new high-voltage power system – the HV Rack Advanced and HP Advanced Series. The power systems offer more advanced controls and interfaces. They also launched UltraVolt products into exponentially higher power, into the multi-kilowatt range. Previously, the maximum output power of UltraVolt products was 1kW. The new systems are able to deliver up to 90kW.

Lower completion ball drop sleeve system reduces well stimulation time

Well technology company i-TEC has developed a lower completion ball drop sleeve system, which can radically reduce the time it takes to stimulate a well. The i-Frac system allows operators to bring wells in tight formations on-line much more quickly than other methods, resulting in potential cost savings and earlier production revenues. The system recently reduced stimulation of a North Sea well on the Norwegian Continental Shelf to one-and-a-half days, as compared to the normal of 40-50 days. It allows for more than 20 sleeves per stage to be installed in a cemented liner and opened sequentially with a single ball. A number of stages can be run in a single well. The use of i-TEC’s technology enables the well to be completed in a single, continuous process, with the additional environmental benefit of a reduction in water use.

New proppant designed to enhance oil production

The Oilfield Technology Group (OTG) of Momentive Specialty Chemicals has introduced a new resin-coated proppant for fracturing services.  Momentive’s new OilPlus proppant is an advanced, curable resin-coated fracturing sand available in a 20/40 mesh size.  OilPlus is specifically designed for fracturing treatments in oil and liquids-rich reservoirs. The resin system of this patent-pending proppant increases the relative permeability to oil in the proppant pack, resulting in higher oil production. Laboratory tests have shown that the proppant demonstrated 283% more oil flow through the pack than conventional proppant.

Compass technology for reliable depth measurements

Radiodetection’s new compass technology provides a visual indication of the direction of the target relative to the cable and pipe locator. The operator can quickly follow the target by simply following the direction indicated by the dynamic line indicator on the screen of their locator. A common cause of inaccuracy when measuring the depth of a buried utility is incorrect alignment of the locator. To reduce the risk of false readings, Radiodetection developed TruDepth, a technology that suppresses depth readouts unless the locator is correctly lined up with the target—be it a pipe, a cable or a sonde.