SOME PROBLEMS IN THE CASTING OF

BLOW-OUT PREVENTER BODIES

S.R. Mamedov and M.L. Sanadze UDC 621.74.002.6-213

The c a s t body is the m o s t i m p o r t a n t p a r t of blow-out p r e v e n t e r equipmeht, and d e t e r m i n e s its quality.

I n v e s t i g a t i o n s and e x p e r i m e n t a l w o r k w e r e c a r r i e d out at the Lieutenant Schmidt E n g i n e e r i n g Works during
the d e v e l o p m e n t of b l o w - o u t p r e v e n t e r equipment for an o p e r a t i n g p r e s s u r e of 320 atm (and t e s t p r e s s u r e of
640 atm). The following c o n c l u s i o n s w e r e drawn f r o m the work. To p r o d u c e high quality body c a s t i n g s f o r
p r e v e n t e r equipment the body d e s i g n m u s t be a l t e r e d so that it is e a s i e r to m a n u f a c t u r e , the s t e e l m u s t be
s e l e c t e d to e n s u r e that the body s t r e n g t h is m a i n t a i n e d in both b e n c h - h y d r a u l i c t e s t s and oil field s e r v i c e ;
c a s t i n g technology and heat t r e a t m e n t p r o c e d u r e s m u s t be i m p r o v e d so as to p r o d u c e sound c r a c k - f r e e c a s t -
ings of high d e n s i t y f r o m p u r e m e t a l f r e e f r o m inclusions of slag, sand and other m a t e r i a l s ; the outer s u r -
face of the c a s t i n g should be smooth and f r e e f r o m sand c r u s t , the c a s t i n g should have a s o r b i t i z e d s t r u c -
ture.
The blow-out p r e v e n t e r body d e s i g n which is in p r o d u c t i o n is not e a s y to c a s t . The g r e a t d i f f e r e n c e
between the t h i c k n e s s e s of the flange and of the body, and the c l o s e n e s s of the flanges to one another m a k e s
it difficult to a c c o m m o d a t e r i s e r s . The body is c a s t in a h o r i z o n t a l p o s i t i o n . S e v e r a l v a r i a n t s of r i s e r s
w e r e t e s t e d , but supply of m e t a l to the c a s t i n g was insufficient and consequently, the d e n s i t y was low (Fig. 1).
To i m p r o v e the quality of the c a s t i n g s the body d e s i g n m u s t be a l t e r e d so that it is e a s i e r to m a n u f a c t u r e .
The f a c t o r y w o r k e d on s e l e c t i o n of the m o s t p l a s t i c s t e e l for c a s t i n g b o d i e s . A number of s t r u c t u r a l
s t e e l s 35KhML, 30KhNML, and 25KhGSL w e r e s e l e c t e d . It was found that bodies made of s t e e l 35KhML
f a i l e d m o s t f r e q u e n t l y d u r i n g h y d r a u l i c t e s t s and the n u m b e r s of f a i l u r e s of s t e e l s 25KhGSL and 30KhNML
w e r e about the s a m e .
M e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of s p e c i m e n s a r e shown in Table 1. It will be seen that the s t r e n g t h and p l a s t i c
p r o p e r t i e s of s t e e l s 25KhGSL and 30KhNML a r e s i m i l a r to one another and the p l a s t i c p r o p e r t i e s of s t e e l
35KhML a r e much i n f e r i o r to those of s t e e l s 25KhGSL and 30KhNML. This is the m a i n r e a s o n for the m o r e
f r e q u e n t f a i l u r e s of p r e v e n t e r bodies c a s t f r o m this s t e e l . All the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s quoted for the
s t e e l s s a t i s f y the r e q u i r e m e n t s of A l l - U n i o n S t a n d a r d GOST 7832-55 and the f a c t o r y s t a n d a r d s .
Numerous e x p e r i m e n t s have shown that the b e s t m a t e r i a l for c a s t i n g p r e v e n t e r bodies is m e t a l which
c o m b i n e s the n e c e s s a r y u l t i m a t e s t r e n g t h and y i e l d point with the m a x i m u m r e l a t i v e elongation, r e l a t i v e
c o n s t r i c t i o n and i m p a c t s t r e n g t h .
TABLE 1 At p r e s e n t p r e v e n t e r bodies intended for o p e r a -
tion at a p r e s s u r e of 200 aim a r e c a s t f r o m s t e e l 25-
Ultimate Yield ]Relative Relative Impact
Steel strength )oint kgf IelongatioE constric- strength, KhGSL and for a p r e s s u r e of 320 atm f r o m s t e e l 30-
kgf/~m2 / ram2 ] % tion, % kgf.m/crrf KhNML which has b e t t e r s t r e n g t h , p l a s t i c , and t e m p e r -
.66,I 15,8 37,5 7,8
ing p r o p e r t i e s . Metal p r o d u c e d in e l e c t r i c - a r c f u r -
25KhGSL 80,I
"~--74 68-57 ~0 1~2--K 3-6 naces is of b e t t e r quality (containing l e s s d i s s o l v e d gas
81,3 66,2 14,4 29,3 7,1 and n o n - m e t a l l i c inclusions and being b e t t e r reduced)
30KhNMI
a0-~ -7T2~5 -1~--10 17-~ 4--6
83,0 66,4 11,7 26,6 7,0 than m e t a l f r o m o p e n - h e a r t h f u r n a c e s : all types of
35KhML
85:-~- 10-~- ~1,2-3 p r e v e n t e r b o d i e s a r e c a s t only f r o m s t e e l p r o d u c e d in
NOte:. The numerators give the mean indices of mechanical e l e c t r i c - a r c f u r n a c e s . In o r d e r to m i n i m i z e s t r e s s
properties of samples from 15 test melts. (Brinell hardness c o n c e n t r a t i o n when the r i s e r s a r e cut off and to obtain
HB 240-260): the denominators give indices of the mechani-: m a x i m u m u n i f o r m i t y of fine s t r u c t u r e and a l s o r e d u c e
eal properties of the specimens cut from castings of bodies d e n d r i t e s in the c a s t i n g out to avoid t e m p e r i n g b r i t t l e -
that failed (HB 229-235). n e s s , a f t e r a s e r i e s of e x p e r i m e n t s the following opti-
mum heat t r e a t m e n t conditions for p r e v e n t e r bodies

T r a n s l a t e d f r o m K h i m i c h e s k o e i Neftyanoe M a s h i n o s t r o e n i e , No. 6, pp. 30-31, June, 1968.

502
 Fig. 1. M i c r o s e c t i o n taken : along f r a c t u r e of blow-out p r e v e n t e r body.
Fig. 2. View of blow-out p r e v e n t e r body after
hydraulic testing.
w e r e developed: annealing before cutting off r i s e r s ;
heating to 900~ for 4 h, holding for 4 h, cooling in
the furnace to 550~ The r i s e r s w e r e cut off after
heating the bodies to a t e m p e r a t u r e of 150-200~ nor-
malization was: heating to 920~ for 4 h, holding for
4 h, cooling in air, hardening, heating to 900~ for
4 h, holding f o r 4 h, cooling in oil, t e m p e r i n g at a
t e m p e r a t u r e of 550-580~ holding for 5 h and cooling
in oil.
A p r e v e n t e r body which failed in a hydraulic r i g
t e s t is shown in Fig. 2. The bodies n e a r l y always fail
at this p a r t i c u l a r place which shows that the body is
not s t r o n g enough t h e r e . The e x p e r i m e n t s have shown
that the m a x i m u m s t r e s s e s at these sections r e s u l t s
f r o m design deficiencies of the body and the low den-
sity of the m e t a l at this place.
E x p e r i m e n t a l w o r k is now in hand to develop
m o r e reliable designs of p r e v e n t e r bodies intended for
operation at p r e s s u r e s of 320 and 500 aim.
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