Metal-to-Metal Completion Plug for High Temperature Sealing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing completion plugs rely on elastomers for sealing, which can fail at high temperatures or in fire conditions, and require rotational installation, posing limitations for permanent, heat-resistant closure of cylindrical passageways.
Innovation Solution
A metal-to-metal completion plug system featuring a plug body with circumferential beads and a lock ring that expands into a groove for secure, rotation-free installation, providing a heat-resistant seal without elastomeric materials, using a completion tool and insertion member for telescopic assembly and locking within a flange fitting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If elastomeric materials are used for sealing in completion plugs, then sealing capability is improved, but heat resistance deteriorates at high temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameter from elastomeric to metal, and changes the sealing mechanism parameter from deformable sealing to metal-to-metal contact sealing. The plug body and seat are both made of metal materials that maintain structural integrity and sealing contact at high temperatures, eliminating the thermal degradation issues of elastomeric materials while achieving reliable sealing through precise metal-to-metal contact between the plug body sealing surface and the seat sealing surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs composite material strategy by combining metal plug body with metal seat, creating a metal-to-metal sealing system. This composite approach uses two different metal materials (plug body material and seat material) that are both heat-resistant, allowing the sealing interface to withstand high temperature environments while maintaining sealing effectiveness, thus resolving the contradiction between sealing capability and heat resistance.
2Ease of operation
If rotational installation is used for completion plugs, then installation flexibility is improved, but installation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the traditional rotational installation approach by adopting linear push-through installation. Instead of requiring the plug to rotate into place (which involves threading or splines), the plug body is simply pushed linearly through the opening until it engages with the seat. This inversion of the installation motion simplifies the installation process, reduces the need for complex rotational mechanisms, and lowers installation complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes the rotational installation mechanism from the completion plug design. By eliminating threads, splines, or other rotational engagement features, the plug body becomes a simpler component that installs through direct linear insertion. This extraction of the rotational element reduces device complexity and installation complexity while preserving the essential sealing function, effectively resolving the contradiction between installation flexibility and installation complexity.
3Temperature
If metal-to-metal sealing is used instead of elastomers, then heat resistance is improved, but sealing reliability may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the sealing interface parameter from elastomer-deformable contact to metal-to-metal contact with precise surface geometry. The plug body sealing surface and seat sealing surface are designed with complementary geometries that ensure reliable metal-to-metal contact. This parameter change enables the sealing interface to withstand high temperatures without thermal degradation while maintaining sealing reliability through precise geometric contact and appropriate material selection for both the plug body and seat.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs composite material strategy by selecting specific metal materials for the plug body and seat that are compatible for metal-to-metal sealing. Both materials are chosen to be heat-resistant and to maintain appropriate surface properties for reliable sealing contact at elevated temperatures. This composite material approach ensures that the metal-to-metal sealing interface achieves both heat resistance and sealing reliability, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves a reliable, leak-proof, heat-resistant metal-to-metal seal that withstands high temperatures and eliminates the need for rotational installation, ensuring permanent closure of cylindrical passageways without relying on elastomeric materials.
Implementation Method 1
a lock ring that must be radially expanded to be confined within an external circumferential groove formed on the plug body outer end
Implementation Method 2
The completion plug provides a leak proof seal in a high temperature environment by providing metal to metal sealing contact between the plug body and the flange fitting
Data Source
AI summary
For use in closing a cylindrical passageway through a working member in which the passageway is defined in part by a reduced diameter internal circumferential sealing surface and an internal locking groove, a completion plug having a plug body with a cylindrical external surface receivable within the cylindrical passageway of the working member and having an external circumferential sealing surface dimensioned to radially compressibly engage the working member internal circumferential sealing surface. The plug body has on its cylindrical surface an external locking groove. A locking ring is received in the working member internal locking groove and simultaneously in the plug body external locking groove and serves to lock the plug body within the working member.