HALLIBURTON SUBSURFACE-CONTROLLED

WIRELINE-RETRIEVABLE SAFETY VALVES

DESIGN OVERVIEW

Subsurface-controlled safety valves often referred to as direct-controlled or Storm Chokes are

actuated by changing well conditions. Increases in flow rates or decrease in pressure downhole
serve as the closing force for these valves. This is in comparison to surface or remote-
controlled safety valves that are actuated by a command from the surface normally by means of
a hydraulic control line that carries the command downhole to the valve. Direct-controlled
safety valves are automatic safety shut-in devices installed downhole in the tubing of oil and
gas wells. They can be located in any Halliburton Landing Nipple. The only function of these
valves is to shut-in the well at the point of valve installation if a sudden abnormal change in well
pressure occurs.

Conditions that might cause a sudden change in well pressure include:

1. Loss of wellhead integrity, such as total or partial loss of the Christmas tree,
2. Flow line breaks,
3. Flow-cut chokes,
4. Sand slugging through the valve.

Some conditions will not cause a direct-controlled valve to shut-in. For instance, a slow leak in
a surface flange may not cause sufficient pressure drop downhole to close the valve. Even if a
flow line broke downstream of a choke, the choke might hold enough back pressure on the
tubing to keep the valve in the open position. This is why surface-controlled valves and surface
safety valves are an important part of an over-all well safety system. A direct-controlled valve
should be thought of as a catastrophe valve.

There are two different operating principles for direct-controlled safety valves: (1) the pressure
differential principle and (2) the ambient pressure principle. The first principle, pressure
differential, simply means a difference in pressure. A bean insert (choke) is incorporated in this
type of valve to create this pressure differential during flowing well conditions. Thus, a
differential operated valve is a valve where the pressure upstream of the bean is different from
the pressure downstream of the bean. Pressure differential valves are also known as "velocity"
valves due to them being actuated by an increase in flow rate. They are designed for use on
high volume wells.

All pressure differential valves are normally open. A spring is used to hold the valve open. The
spring holds the closure mechanism off seat until the well flow reaches a predetermined rate.
When the pressure differential across the bean exceeds the spring force (due to a rupture in a
flow line, surface equipment, etc.), the valve is designed to close and shut-in the well.

The second type of operating principle for direct-controlled safety valves is the ambient
pressure principle. Ambient pressure is the surrounding pressure. An ambient valve has a
deliberately charged pressure chamber that is opposed by the surrounding well bore pressure.
The charged pressure in these valves is as important as the size of the bean in a differential
valve. Well conditions determine the pressure charge.
The pressure chamber is charged at a pressure less than the well pressure at the valve's
setting depth. It is charged at the surface prior to running. A computer program which takes
into consideration the type of charging gas and temperature is used to determine the correct
dome pressure charge. The charged pressure will hold the valve in the closed position until the
valve is installed in the well. Once installed at the proper location, the well pressure at the valve
will be greater than the charged pressure in the valve and the valve will open. When the well's
flowing pressure drops below the predetermined dome-charge (due to rupture in flow line,
surface equipment, etc.), the dome pressure and valve spring are designed to close the valve
and shut-in the well.

Ambient pressure valves are used primarily on low-velocity wells that do not have flow rates
capable of closing a pressure differential valve. They have a larger unrestricted flow area than
differential valves, which makes them ideal for low-pressure wells that would not flow with a
bean restriction. Leakage of the precharged dome pressure would also cause the ambient
valve to close adding to the safety characteristics of this valve. Leakage from the tubing to the
pressure chamber will equalize pressure working on the valve to keep it open. Because of this
possibility, the ambient valve includes a spring to assist in closing. All ambient valves are
normally closed.

As with most downhole safety valves, it is recommended that direct-controlled safety valves
(Storm Chokes) be set shallow in a well whenever possible. This will minimize the well fluids
lost if there is a catastrophe. Also, a valve set shallow is easier to service. However, since the
setting of a direct-controlled valve is based upon well parameters, it is typically considered best
to set a direct-controlled valve deep to assist in obtaining stable well conditions for closure
consistency. This particularly applies to pressure differential safety valves that are subject to
inadvertent closures due to surging or slugging.

Storm Chokes are designed to be attached to any Halliburton Lock Mandrel and located in any
Halliburton Landing Nipple. A Halliburton Equalizing Sub is recommended to be installed
between the Lock Mandrel and Storm Choke. It is used to equalize the pressure above and
below the valve after the valve has closed. Once a Storm Choke is in the closed position, it can
be reopened either by applying pressure to the tubing above the valve or by wireline methods
with the use of an equalizing sub.

It should be noted that direct-controlled Storm Chokes have limitations that must be recognized
by the operator. The most important limitation to remember is that for the valve to close, a
differential must exist at the setting depth in the tubing. Also, as well conditions change, the
setting of the safety valve must be changed to meet these new conditions. A routine evaluation
of flow rates and bottom hole pressure surveys is recommended. Finally, a regular routine
maintenance program is needed to insure proper operation of the valve. Each time a direct-
controlled safety valve is redressed or recalibrated, the valve should be closed to verify that it is
in working condition.

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PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL SAFETY VALVES

There are two primary Halliburton pressure differential safety valves in use today. They are the
J and M Wireline Retrievable Velocity Valves. Both of these valves are normally open, direct-
controlled valves that operate on a spring loaded, flow bean, pressure differential principle.
They are designed for high volume wells. The J Storm Choke Safety Valve incorporates a ball
closure mechanism while the M Storm Choke Safety Valve uses a flapper closure mechanism.

The J Storm Choke with its ball type closure is normally recommended for use over the flapper
type closure of the M Storm Choke due to the following:

1. Ball closure has a shorter closure stroke distance than the flapper. This provides a
more controlled closing mechanism that allows the ball closure to be more accurate and
easier to set.
2. Ball closure contains a detent mechanism that provides a positive snap-action
closure.
3. Flapper closure with its longer closure stroke distance may have a tendency to
throttle causing unnecessary wear on the closure mechanism.

Pressure Differential Safety Valve Calculation Procedure

Prior to installing a Halliburton J or M Storm Choke, calculations must be run to determine the
appropriate bean size and spring setting for the particular valve to be run. The valve setting
calculations are run on the Velocity program found in the Halliburton eFlow web-based
application. Several feasible bean and spring setting combinations may be computed for a
given flow rate. Note that the spring setting is adjusted by the quantity of spacers used. A
person directly acquainted with the well's flow characteristics should choose the best sizing
combination and closure rate.

For a specific flow rate, the pressure drop across the safety valve decreases when the bean
size is increased and increases when the bean size is decreased. Any pressure drop across
the safety valve at its setting depth reduces the flowing tubing pressure at the surface. It is
obvious that the pressure drop across the subsurface safety valve should be kept relatively
small; thus, the bean size normally should be relatively large. If the well produces at a constant
flow rate with very little slugging or surging, the smallest permissible pressure drop and largest
bean combination can be used. This combination is, however, sensitive to relatively small
pressure changes, and the safety valve may close inadvertently under seemingly routine
production.

To avoid inadvertent closures caused by slugging or surging, a larger pressure drop with the
corresponding smaller bean should be considered without changing the closure rate. This
would be advisable in wells that might be inaccessible or inconvenient to equalize after the
safety valve has closed.

Another consideration in the choice of pressure drop to set the safety valve is that at high
pressure drops there is increased drag caused by the o-ring squeeze. Halliburton has found
through testing that a pressure drop between 100 psi and 200 psi gave the best repeatability of
closure. Therefore, Halliburton recommends a combination that gives between 100 psi and 200
psi pressure drop where the circumstances permit. However, with the larger I.D. valves this
may not be possible because of the areas and spring forces involved.

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Prior to running the bean and spacer calculations, the operator must supply Halliburton the
following information:

1. Gas/Oil Ratio
2. Oil or Gas Production at Desired Closing Rate (If this is not supplied, Halliburton will
generally assume a desired shut-in rate of 50% above the current production rate.)
3. Current Oil and Gas production rates
4. Specific Gravity of Gas
5. API Gravity of Oil
6. Depth of Safety Valve From Surface
7. Completion Schematic (if available)
8. Well Temperature at Valve Setting Depth (If unavailable, supply Flowing Wellhead
Temperature and Flowing Bottom Hole Temperature.)
9. Wellhead Temperature
10. Quantity of Water at Closing Rate (If unavailable, supply percent water cut for
current production.)
11. Current water Production Rate
12. Specific Gravity of Water
13. Flowing Wellhead Pressure or Flowing Bottom Hole Pressure
14. Tubing Size and Weight

The other input data required to run the calculations, i.e., the design specifications and
constants, can be found on a specific valve's Engineering Data Sheet (EDS).

TUBING-PRESSURE (AMBIENT) SAFETY VALVES

Two types of ambient safety valves are in use today. They are the H and K Wireline
Retrievable Ambient Safety Valves. These valves are normally closed, direct-controlled valves
that are precharged with a set dome charge and operate on an ambient principle. The H Storm
Choke Safety Valve utilizes a ball closure mechanism while the K Storm Choke Safety Valve
uses a poppet closure mechanism.

Both the H and K Safety Valves are ideal for protecting wells with declining bottom hole
pressure since these valves are tubing-pressure sensitive instead of velocity sensitive. They
are designed to resist pressure surges. The K Safety Valve has the largest flow area of any
direct controlled safety valve on the market that makes it ideally suited for high volume, low
pressure wells.

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Ambient Safety Valve Calculation Procedure

The Ambient program found in the Halliburton eFlow web-based application is used to calculate
the surface setting dome pressure for type H and K Safety Valves. The program corrects the
difference in the surface setting temperature and the downhole operating temperature. Prior to
running these calculations, the following information is required:

1. Surface Setting Temperature - This is the temperature of the charging facility when
the valve is charged.
2. Specific Gravity of Charging Gas
3. Desired Closing Pressure of Valve - This is the dome pressure of the valve at its
setting depth and flowing temperature of the well. (If unavailable, supply the Flowing
Wellhead Pressure or the Flowing Bottom Hole Pressure and the valve's setting depth.)
4. Well Temperature at Valve Setting Depth (If unavailable, supply the Flowing
Wellhead Temperature and Flowing Bottom hole Temperature.)
5. Charging Gas to be used - The opportunity is given here with this variable to choose
the gas that the valve is to be charged with because nitrogen and natural gas have
different Z factors. In theory, valves with o-ring seals should be charged with a gas
similar to the well gas to inhibit transmigration of the gas. For dome charged pressures
over 1000 psi, nitrogen is recommended for use due to safety considerations.

VARIATIONS THAT AFFECT AMBIENT VALVE OPERATION

Because ambient type subsurface-controlled subsurface safety valves (SSCSV) sense

conditions at their location, their operation is tied directly to the well’s downhole conditions.
There are several factors that can significantly affect valve operation.

A. SSCSV variations:
- Dimensional variations
- O-ring friction
- SSCSV working condition
- Flow induced pressure drop across the SSCSV:
- Ball type closures (“H” valve) have flow assist closure and sense the actual flow
induced pressure drop (Bernoulli principle) through the ID of the valve. The ball
type utilizes a straight flow path through the valve to reduce turbulence.
- Poppet type closures (“K” valve) sense the pressure directly above the poppet,
where there could be significant turbulence from converging flow or other
conditions that could resist valve closure at high flow rates. They rely on spring
force and the ∆P across the piston to kick the poppet head into the flow stream.

B. Well conditions and fluid medium:

- Flow induced tubing frictional pressure losses from the SSCSV to the surface.
- Temperature change due to changing well conditions.
- Well medium variations.
- Flow rate variations.
- Pressure drops from restrictions upstream/downstream of SSCSV.

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C. Other notes:
- SSCSV’s have a minimum closing pressure of approximately 30 psi with 0 psi (zero)
dome charge.
- SSCSV’s require a minimum of 150 psi well pressure above the charging
pressure to fully open the SSCSV.
- The minimum pressure at which ambient valves can be set is with atmospheric dome
charge (zero gauge pressure). At the zero psi gauge pressure setting, the well pressure
must drop 20 psig to close the valve. This number will increase with an increase in
temperature.
- The minimum spread between valve closure and well flowing pressure is 30 psi at a
flowing well pressure of ≤ 200 psi. At higher pressures, a minimum spread of about 10-
20% below the flowing pressure should be adequate to prevent nuisance closures.