Wellhead Component with Seal Surface and Method of Forming the Seal

摘要

A subset wellhead component has a metal seal surface having voids. The voids are initially filled with an elastomeric substrate having hollow beads. When lowered into the subsea assembly, the beads have sufficient strength to resist collapsing under a hydrostatic pressure of liquid within the subsea wellhead assembly to prevent shrinking of a volume of the substrate. Exerting a setting force on the metal seal surface to form the sealing engagement causes the beads to collapse and reduce the volume of the substrate within the voids. The seal surface may be folds of a bellows-type nose ring of a seal assembly. The seal surface may alternately be wickers formed in the bore of the wellhead housing.

主权项

1 A method of forming a sealing engagement in a subsea wellhead assembly having an axis, comprising:
providing a subsea wellhead component with a metal seal surface having voids; filling the voids with an elastomeric substrate having hollow beads embedded therein; then, lowering the wellhead component into the sea and installing the wellhead component in the subsea wellhead assembly, the beads having sufficient strength to resist collapsing under a hydrostatic pressure of liquid within the subsea wellhead assembly to prevent shrinking of a volume of the substrate; and then, exerting a setting force on the metal seal surface to form the sealing engagement, the setting force being at a level sufficient to collapse the beads and reduce the volume of the substrate within the voids.