To overcome the current difficulties of high-precision machining and the high manufacturing and maintenance costs of spherical seals for deep-water drilling ball joints,a new spherical seal technique is proposed in th...To overcome the current difficulties of high-precision machining and the high manufacturing and maintenance costs of spherical seals for deep-water drilling ball joints,a new spherical seal technique is proposed in this paper.The spherical seal is mainly composed of silicone rubber and polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE).Rational structural design makes the seal independent from the ball and other components,making it easy to replace if leakage occurs at its surface.PTFE can elastically deform over a certain deformation range,which guarantees that two sealing surfaces fit tightly together.O-Ring and PTFE elasticity makes up for any lack of accuracy during spherical machining and decreases the machining precision requirements for spherical surfaces.Using a finite element technique and nonlinear theory,the performance of the spherical seal under the influence of various factors is determined.The results show that the spherical seal designed in this paper exhibits excellent sealing performance under lowtemperature and high-pressure conditions.The spherical seal,a combination of an O-ring and PTFE,has the advantages of cheap manufacturing and maintenance costs and excellent sealing performance.展开更多
The underground water-sealed storage technique is critically important and generally accepted for the national energy strategy in China. Although several small underground water-sealed oil storage caverns have been bu...The underground water-sealed storage technique is critically important and generally accepted for the national energy strategy in China. Although several small underground water-sealed oil storage caverns have been built in China since the 1970s, there is still a lack of experience for large-volume underground storage in complicated geological conditions. The current design concept of water curtain system and the technical instruction for system operation have limitations in maintaining the stability of surrounding rock mass during the construction of the main storage caverns, as well as the long-term stability. Although several large-scale underground oil storage projects are under construction at present in China, the design concepts and construction methods, especially for the water curtain system, are mainly based on the ideal porosity medium flow theory and the experiences gained from the similar projects overseas. The storage projects currently constructed in China have the specific features such as huge scale, large depth, multiple-level arrangement, high seepage pressure, complicated geological conditions, and high in situ stresses, which are the challenging issues for the stability of the storage caverns. Based on years’ experiences obtained from the first large-scale （millions of cubic meters） underground water-sealed oil storage project in China, some design and operation problems related to water curtain system during project construction are discussed. The drawbacks and merits of the water curtain system are also presented. As an example, the conventional concept of “filling joints with water” is widely used in many cases, as a basic concept for the design of the water curtain system, but it is immature. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the conventional concept are pointed out, with respect to the long-term stability as well as the safety of construction of storage caverns. Finally, new concepts and principles for design and construction of the underground water-sealed oil storage caverns are proposed.展开更多
文摘To overcome the current difficulties of high-precision machining and the high manufacturing and maintenance costs of spherical seals for deep-water drilling ball joints,a new spherical seal technique is proposed in this paper.The spherical seal is mainly composed of silicone rubber and polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE).Rational structural design makes the seal independent from the ball and other components,making it easy to replace if leakage occurs at its surface.PTFE can elastically deform over a certain deformation range,which guarantees that two sealing surfaces fit tightly together.O-Ring and PTFE elasticity makes up for any lack of accuracy during spherical machining and decreases the machining precision requirements for spherical surfaces.Using a finite element technique and nonlinear theory,the performance of the spherical seal under the influence of various factors is determined.The results show that the spherical seal designed in this paper exhibits excellent sealing performance under lowtemperature and high-pressure conditions.The spherical seal,a combination of an O-ring and PTFE,has the advantages of cheap manufacturing and maintenance costs and excellent sealing performance.
文摘The underground water-sealed storage technique is critically important and generally accepted for the national energy strategy in China. Although several small underground water-sealed oil storage caverns have been built in China since the 1970s, there is still a lack of experience for large-volume underground storage in complicated geological conditions. The current design concept of water curtain system and the technical instruction for system operation have limitations in maintaining the stability of surrounding rock mass during the construction of the main storage caverns, as well as the long-term stability. Although several large-scale underground oil storage projects are under construction at present in China, the design concepts and construction methods, especially for the water curtain system, are mainly based on the ideal porosity medium flow theory and the experiences gained from the similar projects overseas. The storage projects currently constructed in China have the specific features such as huge scale, large depth, multiple-level arrangement, high seepage pressure, complicated geological conditions, and high in situ stresses, which are the challenging issues for the stability of the storage caverns. Based on years’ experiences obtained from the first large-scale （millions of cubic meters） underground water-sealed oil storage project in China, some design and operation problems related to water curtain system during project construction are discussed. The drawbacks and merits of the water curtain system are also presented. As an example, the conventional concept of “filling joints with water” is widely used in many cases, as a basic concept for the design of the water curtain system, but it is immature. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the conventional concept are pointed out, with respect to the long-term stability as well as the safety of construction of storage caverns. Finally, new concepts and principles for design and construction of the underground water-sealed oil storage caverns are proposed.
