| Issue 38, November 2011 |
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| MERLIN CONTROL SYSTEM, CUTTING EDGE COILED TUBING UNITS CONTROLS |
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Randy GRAVES, NOV Hydra Rig
To meet the demands of today’s evolving coiled tubing service market, NoV® Hydra
Rig® has developed a hydraulically powered, computer controlled system that provides
unprecedented operational performance and safety for coiled tubing unit operation.
Since the early days of the coiled tubing industry, all the components of the
coiled tubing unit have been designed to be driven by hydraulics, with an operator’s
cabin for remotely controlling the injector, reel, BOPs, and power pack. The operational
functions of the unit are controlled with manual hydraulic valves and gages mounted
into a central control console in the cabin. Since all monitoring and control
is manual, a high degree of operator training and awareness is needed to properly
control the unit throughout the job; with many chances for error that can cause
damage to the tubing, the unit, and ultimately, the well being worked on in extreme
cases. As the work that coiled tubing is asked to perform has become more complicated,
so has the hydraulic control system of the coiled tubing unit (CTU) further increasing
the chance for error. full text of the article | all articles of this issue
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