Casing hangers

All subsea casing hangers are mandrel type, as shown in Fig. 5. The casing hanger provides a metal-to-metal
sealing area for a seal assembly to seal off the annulus between the casing hanger and the wellhead. The
casing weight is transferred into the wellhead by means of the casing hanger/wellhead landing shoulder. Each
casing hanger stacks on top of another, and all casing loads are transferred through each hanger to the landing
shoulder at the bottom of the subsea wellhead. Each casing hanger incorporates flow-by slots to facilitate the
passage of fluid while running through the drilling riser and BOP stack, and during the cementing operation.

Fig. 5Illustrations of the subsea casing hangers. Notice features to accommodate casing, a seal assembly,
and a running tool.

Metal-to metal annulus seal assembly

The seal assembly (Fig. 6) isolates the annulus between the casing hanger and the high-pressure wellhead
housing. The seal incorporates a metal-to-metal sealing system that today is typically weight-set (torque-set
seal assemblies were available in earlier subsea wellhead systems). During the installation process, the seal is
locked to the casing hanger to keep it in place. If the well is placed into production, then an option to lock down
the seal to the high-pressure wellhead is available. This is to prevent the casing hanger and seal assembly
from being lifted because of thermal expansion of the casing down hole.

Fig. 6Photo of the 18-in. seal assembly (left), and illustration of the metal-to-metal seal that seals off the
annulus between the casing hanger and the wellhead.

Bore protectors and wear bushings

Once the high-pressure wellhead housing and the BOP stack are installed, all drilling operations will take place
through the wellhead housing. The risk of mechanical damage during drilling operations is relatively high, and
the critical landing and sealing areas in the wellhead system need to be protected with a removable bore
protector and wear bushings, as shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7Photos of the nominal bore protector, 13 /8-in. wear bushing, and 9 /8-in. wear bushing. These
wellhead components are run on a multipurpose tool.

Running and test tools

The standard subsea wellhead system will include typical running, retrieving, testing, and reinstallation tools
(seeFig. 8). These tools include:

Fig. 8Illustration of the SS-15 Subsea Wellhead System running tool family.

Conductor wellhead running tool

The conductor wellhead running tool runs the conductor casing, conductor wellhead, and guide base. This tool
can be used for jetting in the conductor, or cementing the conductor into a predrilled hole. The tool is a camactuated tool that minimizes any high torque that may be encountered during operations.

High-pressure wellhead running tool

The high-pressure wellhead running tool operates just like the conductor wellhead running tool, but it runs the
high-pressure wellhead and 20-in. casing. It is a cam-actuated tool that minimizes any high torque that may be
encountered during operations.

Casing-hanger seal-assembly running tool

The casing-hanger seal-assembly running tool runs the casing, casing hanger, and seal assembly in one trip. It
also allows testing of the seal assembly (after installation) and the BOP stack, and it has the additional benefit
of bringing back the seal assembly, if debris is in the way and the seal assembly cannot be installed.

Multipurpose tool and accessories

The multipurpose tool runs and retrieves the nominal bore protector and all wear bushings. A jet sub and/or jet
sub extension can be attached to the multipurpose tool so that wellhead washout can occur during the retrieval
process. The multipurpose tool also retrieves the seal assembly, and becomes a mill-and-flush tool by
attaching the mill-and-flush adapter.

BOP isolation test tool

The BOP isolation test tool allows testing of the BOP stack without allowing pressure to be applied against the
casing-hanger seal assembly. The BOP isolation test tool can land on the casing hangers or wear bushings.

Seal-assembly running tool

The seal-assembly running tool is used in the event that a second seal assembly needs to be run. The sealassembly running tool is a weight-set tool, and, like the casing-hanger seal-assembly running tool, it allows
testing of the BOP stack and recovers the seal assembly if it cannot be installed (because of debris in the
sealing area of the annulus).

Big bore subsea wellhead systems

As the offshore oil and gas industry has continued to explore in progressively deeper waters, the requirements
for well components have changed, as a result of the challenges associated with deepwater drilling. Oceanfloor conditions in deep and ultradeep water can be extremely mushy and unconsolidated, which creates wellfoundation problems that require development of new well designs to overcome the conditions. Second,
underground aquifers in deep water have been observed in far greater frequency than in shallower waters, and
it quickly became clear that these zones would have to be isolated with a casing string. Cementing
requirements changed, and wellhead equipment designs would also have to change to accommodate the
additional requirements.
With subsea wellhead systems, conductor and intermediate casing strings can be reconfigured to strengthen
and stiffen the upper section of the well (for higher bending capacities), and overcome the challenges of an
unconsolidated ocean floor at the well site. Each water flow zone encountered while drilling requires isolation
with casing and, at the same time, consumes a casing-hanger position in the wellhead. It became obvious that
more casing strings and hangers were required to reach the targeted depth than the existing wellhead-system
designs would accommodate.
The 18-in. Big Bore Subsea Wellhead System (Fig. 9) was designed for wells that will be installed in
unconsolidated ocean-floor conditions and penetrate shallow water-flow zones. These well conditions require
additional casing strings. The wellhead system incorporates an 18-in. high-pressure wellhead housing
designed for 15,000 psi and 7 million pounds end-load carrying capacity. Unlike conventional subsea wellhead
systems, the big-bore high-pressure wellhead housing (Fig. 10) is run atop 22-in. pipe (as opposed to 20-in.

pipe), and has a large minimum ID bore to pass 18-in. casing. The wellhead system incorporates a rigid
lockdown mechanism to preload the connection between the high-pressure wellhead and the conductor
wellhead. A supplemental hanger adapter is installed in the 22-in. casing to provide a landing shoulder and seal
area for the 18-in. and 16-in. supplemental hangers and their testable, retrievable seal assemblies.

Fig. 9Illustration of the Big Bore Subsea Wellhead System with the 18-in. and 16-in. supplementalcasinghanger systems.

Fig. 10Deepwater subsea wellhead, designed specifically to meet the requirements of higher-strength and
pressurized shallow-zone water flows associated with ultradeepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Optional 28-in., 26-in., and 24-in. supplemental casing-hanger systems can be incorporated into the design to:
1. Accommodate a secondary conductor string.
2. Increase the overall bending capacity of the upper section of the well.
3. Provide an additional barrier for a water-flow zone.
All casing hangers and seal assemblies are run, set, and tested on drillpipe in a single trip. These subsea
wellhead systems can easily accommodate alternative casing programs, and can be configured to address any
deepwater (and shallow-water) drilling application.

References
See also
PEH:Introduction_to_Wellhead_Systems
Wellhead systems

Noteworthy papers in OnePetro

External links
Category
Categories:

1.3.2 Subsea wellheads

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