MetaPlex Sealing Technology
MetaPlex technology is an innovative, high-performance, hybrid metal-elastomer sealing system certified to the highest ISO 14310-V0 standard. The MetaPlex seal system is ideally suited to both retrievable and life-of-well products such as plugs, packers and straddles and also to a wide range of technical challenges including: high pressure, high temperature, high expansion, high flow rate and chemically hostile conditions.
Importantly, the MetaPlex sealing element has a high expansion ratio, expanding and retracting significantly further than conventional V0 sealing technologies. The seal will retract to a smaller-than-original outside diameter (OD) without relying upon the memory of the elastomer and this, combined with the high expansion ratio, ensures reliable system retrieval every run.
Features
- The MetaPlex seal operates by radially expanding a solid metal envelope into sealing contact with a tubular bore
- Its metallic structure is layered both internally and externally with polymeric materials which assist in the formation of the sealing boundary
- By combining the benefits of both metal-to-metal seals and traditional elastomeric seals, the MetaPlex system can operate at temperatures and pressures far exceeding the current capabilities of traditional technology
- It eliminates all traditional elastomeric failure modes including failures through extrusion; explosive decompression; chemical degradation and crystallization; cyclic failure and abrading/nibbling
- The use of a metallic envelope rather than a traditional elastomeric element not only enables the seal to withstand very high pressures, but it also ensures a much larger throughbore in packer and straddle solutions using the MetaPlex sealing system
Benefits
- Reduced operating time as a result of consistent, reliable and effective seal deployment and recovery
- Reduced operating time through the rapid deployment of a life-of-well wellbore seal without the need for cement above the seal
- Increased production as a result of maximization of the downhole flow through straddle and packer isolation and lift systems
- Increased production by using MetaPlex high performance solutions to enable completion and intervention operations under previously inaccessible well conditions
- Increased operational flexibility with the ability to deploy MetaPlex enabled systems easily and safely on all conveyance systems: slickline, e-line, coiled tubing, drill-pipe and tractor
