08.05.2008
A deep drilling hose for oil production from ContiTech Rubber Industrial in Szeged, Hungary, is the first in the world to meet the requirements of the highest level of the API 7K standard of the American Petroleum Institute (API).
In the latest version of the standard, the Institute sets out three quality and safety levels - FSL (Flexible Specification Level) 0 for the minimum requirements, FSL 1 for higher quality and safety requirements and FSL 2 for highest quality and safety, even in the most critical conditions.
ContiTech Rubber Industrial's rotary hose was tested and deemed to
conform to the standards of FSL 2 by the Southwest Research Institute
in Texas, an independent testing laboratory. "Although all of our
hoses meet the requirements of FSL 0 and FSL 1, we had to put in a lot
of development work to achieve the highest level," explains Dr. Tamas
Katona, Managing Director of ContiTech Rubber Industrial. The
development department and the experienced production team in Szeged overcame the challenge together.
In addition to all of the tests which are necessary for FSL 0 and FSL
1, FSL 2 hoses are also required to withstand 10,000 high frequency load
cycles (two seconds per cycle) with pressures of between 70 and 350
bar, a four-hour pressure test at 700 bar and a burst test at 863 bar
without damage. "After all of these tests, our hose didn't burst until 1,070 bar,"
reports Katona. Material fatigue was able to be minimized by using
high-quality rubber and the fixed connection between the hose components.
"The fact that we are the world's first manufacturer to be able to
offer an FSL 2 product gives us a clear competitive advantage for
challenging applications such as offshore platforms and special
applications in directional drilling," Katona is certain.
High-frequency loads, as simulated in the tests, occur in directional
drilling with so-called downlink technology.
Source: Contitech
