Designing equipment for hostile environments

In this paper, two case histories detail how a specially constructed deep well simulator was able to isolate deficiencies with elastomeric and metallic components of wellbore completion equipment. Correcting these problems before tools are installed greatly minimizes the chances of malfunction and the potential for environmental damage. Reliability of downhole completion equipment is greatly influenced by ambient conditions where the equipment must function. These conditions or environment nominally consist of mixtures of solids, liquids and gases under pressure, either produced by the well or injected into it. This is sometimes called the service the equipment sees. The term sour service denotes well environments containing the compound hydrogen sulfide, H2S as opposed to those that contain none, which are called sweet or standard-service environments