Subsurface Controlled Safety Valves are used in offshore wells that are actuated by a differential pressure created by the well fluid flowing through the valve. This study intended to evaluate the accuracy of the various sizing models and the ability of the model to accurately predict the closing point of the valves in single-phase and multiphase flow conditions.
Six valves representing the three leading value manufacturers were tested. Each valve was tested with between 2 and 4 configurations to provide a variety of closing points. (Each configuration represents a valve model, size, bean and spacer). Each configuration was tested with between 5 and 8 closing points conducted over a variety of gas-liquid ratios (GLR), which typically ranged from all gas to a GLR of around 2000. This GLR represented well conditions for both oil and gas wells. The final report is linked below.