1 November - Camcon Technology, the UK developer of the digital valve, today announced that it has completed the first phase of the development of a compact valve to maximise yields from down hole oil wells in a project sponsored by Shell.
Camcon is issuing this press release to counter speculation in the media relating to the relationship between Camcon and Shell.
The Camcon compact valve is intended to form part of a hydraulic switching system to enable individual tributaries within a downhole well to be opened, closed, or closed off partially.
This approach has the potential to significantly increase yields by allowing contaminated tributaries to be identified and closed rather than the entire well being closed.
“Camcon’s technology could radically improve the efficiency of oil recovery from deep sea oil wells. The initial results from our R&D trials show that the compact valve could improve oil output from deep sea wells by more than a third. We now look forward to live trials,” said Danny Chapchal, chairman, Camcon.
Using Camcon's patented binary actuation technology, the compact valve is far more energy efficient than comparable valve actuation technologies, such as solenoids, only requiring power to switch from one state to the other. The valve is designed to function under high pressure, in harsh environments experienced at the bottom of an undersea oil well.
The compact valve has completed an initial set of endurance tests up to 200,000 switches with no adverse effects and reliably switches up to a pressure of 5,000psi (345 atmospheres). The construction of the valve itself will have to withstand a hydrostatic pressure of 20,000psi (1,380 atmospheres).
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About Camcon
Based in Cambridge, UK, Camcon Technology is a small fast growing company focused on the research and development of the Camcon® binary actuator. The high-speed, low energy consumption, low heat dissipation and long life characteristics of the Camcon® binary actuator mean that it has applications in a whole new range of areas, as well as being a replacement for existing actuator and valve technologies.
Camcon Technology licenses its technology to customers, typically on a field-of-use basis. The company develops pre-production prototypes for customers on a consultancy basis and then hands over designs either to its customers to manufacture in volume, or to a manufacturing partner.