Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors
  • Reliability.fm
    • Speaking Of Reliability
    • Rooted in Reliability: The Plant Performance Podcast
    • Quality during Design
    • Critical Talks
    • Dare to Know
    • Maintenance Disrupted
    • Metal Conversations
    • The Leadership Connection
    • Practical Reliability Podcast
    • Reliability Matters
    • Reliability it Matters
    • Maintenance Mavericks Podcast
    • Women in Maintenance
    • Accendo Reliability Webinar Series
    • Asset Reliability @ Work
  • Articles
    • CRE Preparation Notes
    • on Leadership & Career
      • Advanced Engineering Culture
      • Engineering Leadership
      • Managing in the 2000s
      • Product Development and Process Improvement
    • on Maintenance Reliability
      • Aasan Asset Management
      • CMMS and Reliability
      • Conscious Asset
      • EAM & CMMS
      • Everyday RCM
      • History of Maintenance Management
      • Life Cycle Asset Management
      • Maintenance and Reliability
      • Maintenance Management
      • Plant Maintenance
      • Process Plant Reliability Engineering
      • ReliabilityXperience
      • RCM Blitz®
      • Rob’s Reliability Project
      • The Intelligent Transformer Blog
    • on Product Reliability
      • Accelerated Reliability
      • Achieving the Benefits of Reliability
      • Apex Ridge
      • Metals Engineering and Product Reliability
      • Musings on Reliability and Maintenance Topics
      • Product Validation
      • Reliability Engineering Insights
      • Reliability in Emerging Technology
    • on Risk & Safety
      • CERM® Risk Insights
      • Equipment Risk and Reliability in Downhole Applications
      • Operational Risk Process Safety
    • on Systems Thinking
      • Communicating with FINESSE
      • The RCA
    • on Tools & Techniques
      • Big Data & Analytics
      • Experimental Design for NPD
      • Innovative Thinking in Reliability and Durability
      • Inside and Beyond HALT
      • Inside FMEA
      • Integral Concepts
      • Learning from Failures
      • Progress in Field Reliability?
      • Reliability Engineering Using Python
      • Reliability Reflections
      • Testing 1 2 3
      • The Manufacturing Academy
  • eBooks
  • Resources
    • Accendo Authors
    • FMEA Resources
    • Feed Forward Publications
    • Openings
    • Books
    • Webinars
    • Journals
    • Higher Education
    • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • 14 Ways to Acquire Reliability Engineering Knowledge
    • Reliability Analysis Methods online course
    • Measurement System Assessment
    • SPC-Process Capability Course
    • Design of Experiments
    • Foundations of RCM online course
    • Quality during Design Journey
    • Reliability Engineering Statistics
    • Quality Engineering Statistics
    • An Introduction to Reliability Engineering
    • An Introduction to Quality Engineering
    • Process Capability Analysis course
    • Root Cause Analysis and the 8D Corrective Action Process course
    • Return on Investment online course
    • CRE Preparation Online Course
    • Quondam Courses
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Live Events
  • Calendar
    • Call for Papers Listing
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Calendar
  • Login
    • Member Home

by Doug Lehr Leave a Comment

Ballistic Setting Tools

Ballistic Setting Tools

Ballistic setting tools (wireline setting tools) have been used for over sixty years to convey downhole packer devices, including frac plugs, into oil and gas wells. The principle of operation is simple: at setting depth, current sent down the electric line ignites the on-board power charge, which burns and liberates high-pressure gas, which displaces a piston over a fixed distance. This creates the mechanical force used for “setting” the frac plug in casing.

Frac Plug conveyed into ell on a ballistic setting tool (left) and set in casing (right). Perforating guns shown firing first cluster

Ballistic setting tools have two missions. The 1st is to apply force to set the frac plug (~10 seconds +). The 2nd is to apply a higher force to disconnect from the frac plug through a tension or shear connection. After retrieval from the well, the high-pressure gas is bled off (some auto-bleed downhole), and the tool is serviced. Thus, a setting tool’s reliability is a function of its configuration and servicing (human factors) between runs into the well.

Three ballistic setting tool configurations are commercially available today. One is known as the Baker style, another is the Owens style, and the third is a disposable-recyclable product. The components in these tools must resist the high mechanical forces generated (greater than 60,000 lbs.), contain the high-pressure gas, work at hydrostatic pressures up to 20,000 psia, resist alternating collapse and burst pressures, operate routinely between ~0 ºF and ~350 ºF, be insensitive to large thermal cycles (power charges generate heat), enable safe pressure relief, and tolerate field disassembly and assembly. The materials used are typically AISI 4100 series carbon steels (Sy min = 110 ksi), and the rubber seals are typically nitrile compounds.

As stated in The Plug and Perf Process, frac plug reliability also depends on the reliability of the power charge. Power charges vary in chemistry and temperature ratings. The burn rate of a given power charge also increases as temperature at setting depth increases. The faster the burn rate, the faster the ballistic setting tool tries to set the frac plug. Conversely, frac plugs and packer devices generally respond best to slower setting. Most setting tools accept a variety of brands and styles of power charges. Thus, power charge and ballistic setting tool selection must be correct for the application and the frac plug selected. For an OEM, this is a system integration and system reliability challenge.

TRUTH: Frac plug reliability depends on ballistic setting tool and power charge reliability.

This is the 3rd in a series of five articles on why Frac Plugs fail in Plug and Perf applications.

  1. The Plug and Perf Process
  2. Frac Plug Reliability
  3. Ballistic Setting Tools
  4. The Pump-In Process
  5. Well Tortuosity

Filed Under: Articles, Equipment Risk and Reliability in Downhole Applications, on Risk & Safety

« So it’s COTS – of course you demand that it be reliable!
Is There a Better Way Than RPN? »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Articles by Doug Lehr, P.E., Founder and Principal, Integris Technology
in the Equipment Risk and Reliability in Downhole Applications series

Join Accendo

Receive information and updates about articles and many other resources offered by Accendo Reliability by becoming a member.

It’s free and only takes a minute.

Join Today

Recent Articles

  • Risk Prioritization in FMEA – a Summary
  • What Are Best Practices for Facilitating Qualitative Assessments?
  • So, What’s Still Wrong with Maintenance
  • Foundation of Great Project Outcomes – Structures
  • What is the Difference Between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?

© 2023 FMS Reliability · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Cookies Policy

This site uses cookies to give you a better experience, analyze site traffic, and gain insight to products or offers that may interest you. By continuing, you consent to the use of cookies. Learn how we use cookies, how they work, and how to set your browser preferences by reading our Cookies Policy.