该闸门设计用于解决晚年、枯竭和关闭的海上油井的问题，在这些井中，油管头压力太低，无法有效地固定闸门并密封油井。Unity 的专利设计将闸门的重量减轻了约 60%，同时保留了其内在强度，并且通过更换单个表面组件而不是完整的井控套件，每口井可为操作员节省约 25 万英镑。完全更换定制的低压井口设备也需要大量的停机时间，因此这种新的解决方案提供了快速修复问题并最大限度地减少相关生产损失的机会。

UKCS 和其他地区拥有许多低压棕地井，并且越来越多的井继续进入这一阶段。英国北海过渡管理局于 2022 年 10 月发布的最新“贝尔斯洞察报告”指出，当前活跃的 UKCS 井筒包括 2629 个井筒，其中 1661 个井筒正在生产，而2021 年，关井数量增加了 65 口，达到 781 口。目前关井数量处于历史高位，所有油井中有 30% 被关停，对基础设施的重大干预被认为是三大限制因素之一因素。这远高于油井工作组设定的 10% 的 KPI，并且如果恢复生产，其中许多油井可能仍然有价值。

Unity 技术销售总监斯图尔特·斯莱特 (Stuart Slater) 解释道：“使用金属增材制造意味着我们可以为行业提供极具吸引力的成本节约和效率，减少原材料、浪费和运营商的库存投资。与传统锻件相比，单件产品的交付速度更快、更节能，交货时间平均缩短了 90%，令人印象深刻。但在这种情况下，真正的节省是通过从不同的角度解决问题来实现的，因此我们可以快速更换一个小部件，而不是更换整个地面井控套件，这提供了巨大的成本和效率优势。”

凭借由 Unity 团队设计的专利设计，这项新技术正在进入开发的后期阶段。2-1/16” 闸门的原型测试已经完成，5-1/8” 闸门现已投入生产，以进一步证明这一概念并使产品具备商业化资格。

在线阅读文章：https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-product/14022023/unity-in-development-of-an-additive-manufactured-well-control-component/

The gate has been designed as a solution for late life, depleted and shut-in offshore wells, where the tubing head pressure is too low to effectively seat the gate and seal the well. Unity’s patented design reduces the weight of the gate by around 60%, while retaining its intrinsic strength and would save operators in the region of £250 000 per well by replacing a single surface component rather than the complete well control package. A full replacement of bespoke, low-pressure wellhead equipment would also require significant downtime, so this new solution offers the opportunity to rapidly remediate the issue and minimise associated production loss.

The UKCS and other regions have many low-pressure brownfield wells, with increasing numbers continuing to enter this phase. The most recent ‘Wells Insight Report’ from the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority, published in October 2022, states that the?current active?UKCS well stock?comprises?2629 wellbores,?of which 1661 are?producing, while the number of shut-in?wells rose by 65 to 781?in 2021. Shut in well stock is now at a historical high with 30% of all wells being shut in, with significant intervention on infrastructure cited as one of the top three limiting factors. This is well above the KPI of 10% set by the Wells Task Force and many of these wells might still be valuable if production was restored.

Stuart Slater, Technical Sales Director at Unity explained: “The use of metal additive manufacturing means that we can offer attractive cost-savings and efficiencies to the industry, reducing raw materials, waste and operator investment in stock holding. The delivery of single items is fast and more energy efficient than traditional forgings, with an impressive 90% average reduction in lead times. But the real saving in this case is achieved by approaching the problem from a different angle, so rather than replacing the whole surface well control package we can quickly replace just a single small component, which offers huge cost and efficiency benefits.”

With a patented design, engineered by the team at Unity, the new technology is entering the latter stages of development. Prototype testing has already been completed on a 2-1/16” gate and a 5-1/8” gate is now in manufacture to further prove the concept and qualify the product for commercialisation.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/14022023/unity-in-development-of-an-additive-manufactured-well-control-component/