OTC Technology Review: TMK

In 2019, TMK manufactured 3.8 million t of various pipes, including oil country tubular goods (OCTG) equipped with the company’s UP threaded connection.

The threaded connections are used for the construction of extended reach drilling (ERD), steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and HPHT wells and enable the application of techniques such as lowering with turning, casing drilling, etc.

The gas-tight connections have been tested in compliance with the ISO 13679 and API 5C5 CAL IV standards, and the results have confirmed the operability of the joints under the high intensity of wellbore deviation, high internal/external pressures and axial loads.

The company manufactures four generations of connections:

• LITE series – for facilitating drill string rotation while lowering and drilling on string.
• CLASSIC series (100/60) – equipped with a gas-tight metal-to-metal unit, which facilitates reliable operations in the wells of difficult geological conditions, and a compression efficiency of 60%.
• PRO series (100/100) – designed to offer resistance to compression and bending loads at excessive internal and external pressures, with a compression efficiency of 100%.
• TORQ series – high-torque connections capable of withstanding increased torques.

When building modern wells with the gas factor, it is necessary to use gas-tight connections with a compression efficiency of no less than 80% and relatively high operation torque. The UP Centum has a compression efficiency of 100% and an operational torque that makes it possible to conduct string rotation while cementing. The technology has the following design features:

• Sealability envelope equal to 100% of pipe body strength.
• Fast assembling connection.

These characteristics make it possible to achieve quick and stable joint assembly even in the event of considerable skewing of pipe and coupling axes.

Figure 1. UP Centum.

In order to decrease the total duration of drilling tool round trip operations, the lubricant-free coating Green Well has been developed that removes the need to apply preservation lubricants and thread-tightening lubricants. Its application makes it possible to reduce waste and increase cleanness at the well, due there being no need to remove preservation lubricants or apply pipe seal lubricant.

So far, more than 1 million t of OCTG with UP connections and more than 100 000 t tones of OCTG with GREENWELL have been supplied to industry projects.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/offshore-and-subsea/14052020/otc-technology-review-tmk/