Annular blowout preventer packer actuation system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current annular blowout preventers face challenges in reliability and operational performance, particularly in subsea applications, where maintenance is time-consuming and expensive, and the packer arrangement's ability to fully open is hindered by material fatigue or loss of elasticity.
Innovation Solution
A packer actuation system with a contractor and retractor arrangement that moves the packer from an expanded to a contracted position and vice versa, utilizing hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators, and a position sensor to monitor and ensure proper operation, allowing for efficient sealing and maintenance planning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a packer arrangement is used in annular blowout preventers, then sealing capability is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to material fatigue and loss of elasticity
Solution Approach 1:
The packer arrangement is designed to be movable between an expanded sealing position and a contracted maintenance position. This dynamic capability allows the packer to adapt its state - expanded for reliable sealing during operations, and contracted for maintenance access and material replacement, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining sealing reliability and extending service life
Solution Approach 2:
The packer's physical parameters (volume, shape, position) are changed between expanded and contracted states. In the expanded state, the packer provides optimal sealing parameters for reliability. In the contracted state, the parameters are modified to enable maintenance access and facilitate timely replacement before material fatigue causes failure, thus addressing both sealing reliability and service life duration
2Productivity
If the packer arrangement is left in place for extended operations, then operational continuity is improved, but maintenance difficulty increases due to material fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The movable packer arrangement can be dynamically repositioned from an installed sealing position to a removed or contracted maintenance position. This dynamic repositioning enables operational continuity when the packer is installed, while simultaneously providing ease of repair when removed, as maintenance personnel can access and replace the packer without complex disassembly procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The packer arrangement is designed as a separable component that can be independently removed from the blowout preventer assembly. This segmentation allows the packer to be replaced as a discrete unit, improving maintenance accessibility while maintaining operational continuity through quick replacement procedures
3Reliability
If the packer arrangement is designed for full expansion, then sealing performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The packer arrangement incorporates self-actuating features where the expansion and contraction are driven by the packer's own structural properties and stored energy mechanisms rather than complex external actuation systems. The packer's resilient material properties provide the force for expansion, while gravity or simple spring mechanisms enable contraction, thereby achieving full expansion for optimal sealing performance without proportionally increasing device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A packer actuation system for a blowout preventer includes a packer arrangement with an axial passage therethrough, an actuation system which is releasably mechanically connected to the packer arrangement, a contractor arrangement, and a retractor arrangement. The actuation system moves the packer arrangement from an expanded position to a contracted position so as to decrease a dimension of the axial passage, and to move the packer arrangement from the contracted position to the expanded position so as to increase the dimension of the axial passage. The contractor arrangement moves the packer arrangement from the expanded position to the contracted position. The retractor arrangement moves the packer arrangement from the contracted position to the expanded position.