CLEANWELL^®: outstanding performance in the Zohr project

For the Zohr project, the largest ever natural gas discovery in the Mediterranean, located 190km off the Egyptian coast in water depth of 1,500 meters, Vallourec has provided its latest CLEANWELL® multi-functional coating. It was specifically developed to replace storage and running compounds (dope). Applied directly in mills after machining VAM® connections, it reduces pipe handling operations, rig running time and environmental impact while improving rig safety for customers.

To produce gas from the field, Petrobel* uses corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) materials containing up to 28% chrome for the production tubing. The cost of CRA material is significantly higher than carbon steel material, and requires specific storage and handling conditions to avoid damages. CRA pipes are subject to galling, so they need to be run much more slowly than carbon steel pipes, to avoid rejects. Faced with these constraints, a technology that protects the pipe, reduces the risk of damage and speeds up running time can generate significant savings in the field. For CRA materials, CLEANWELL® provides the additional benefit of protecting the connection against galling to ensure faster, smoother and more efficient pipe installation, which results in significant productivity increase.

VAM® Field Services were on the rig to assist the running crew with the first running of CRA pipes using CLEANWELL®.

David Crane, VAM® Field Services Engineer, confirmed: “Running CRA pipe with CLEANWELL® was fantastic compared to standard running compounds. Over 5,000 meters of 7” 28CR with VAM® 21 CLEANWELL connections were run into the wells with not a single reject. Back-outs showed no surface damage and we were able to make-up and brake-out with total confidence.” 

VAM® 21 with the latest CLEANWELL® technology has been fully tested to API 5C5 2017 CAL IV specifications to withstand the most challenging environments.