New subsea capping system targets improved portability

Boots & Coots Services, a Halliburton business, announced that it has developed the Global Rapid Intervention Package (GRIP), a suite of services to help reduce costs and deployment time in the event of subsea well control events. GRIP provides well planning and well–kill capabilities facilitated by the company’s global logistics infrastructure and existing product service lines. This includes both an inventory of well test packages, coiled-tubing units and relief well ranging tools.

In addition, GRIP features the new high-temperature, 15,000-psi RapidCap Air-Mobile Capping Stack. Sourced from Trendsetter Engineering, RapidCap incorporates a specially designed gate valve-based system making it significantly lighter, less expensive and more mobile than options currently on the market.

Currently available capping stack systems can be difficult to deploy due to their size and weight (roughly 220,000 – 300,000 lb) and expensive to transport and reassemble on a job site. It can take weeks to deploy, especially from locations that lack the infrastructure to timely move the systems into position.

To address the need for a more portable and cost-effective solution, RapidCap aims to reduce deployment time by up to 40% over competing systems. Rather than requiring specialized infrastructure, RapidCap can be air transported on a Boeing 747-400F and lifted by a 110-ton or lighter crane.

“We are proud to offer the Global Rapid Intervention Package that will provide our customers with easy access to containment and relief capabilities even in the most remote areas,” Jim Taylor, Vice President Consulting & Project Management, said.

GRIP and the RapidCap Air-Mobile Capping Stack are expected to be ready for deployment by the end of 2016.