Alert
  • Published: 26 May 2011
  • Incident ID: 3177

Seal Failures during Well Testing Operations

Cause & Consequence

  • Failure of vessels or pipework
Incident Consequence
Fatality

Incident Location

Any Location Type

Incident Activity

Drilling, workover

Incident Info Source

Expro, Hank Glansbeek, hank.glansbeek@exprogroup.com

Specific Incident Equipment

5” Stub Acme, 4 TPI landing string connections

Lessons Identified

The lack of groove fill and excessive diametrical clearance resulted in an insufficient seal support. This enabled seal movement during operations, resulting in damage to the seal and causing failure.Even though these configurations had been used successfully on numerous occasions in the past without incident, historical designs should be reviewed to identify opportunities for improvement.

Incident Recommendations

Ensure that the seal configurations used, match the design of the seal groove and housing dimensions.

Ensure proven historical practice is reviewed on a regular basis to identify opportunities for improvement.

Ensure workshop and operational staff have sufficient knowledge of seals and configurations in accordance with engineering specification and manufacturer’s guidelines.

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