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By absorbing the energy from the pulse wave generated by your system’s positive displacement pump, pulsation dampeners help prevent pressure and excess movement. This in turn protects pipe welds and supports, as well as other components from serious damage, allowing for better, continuous performance.

Pulsation dampeners come in two options:

  1. Gas-Charged Dampeners. These are lightweight and can be installed directly off the discharge manifold. Additionally, gas-charged dampeners leave only a small footprint. The downside, however, is that they are costly and require a great deal of maintenance to ensure they run and work properly.

  1. Maintenance-Free Dampeners. Unlike gas charged options, these dampeners are cost-effective and easier to maintain. They are also considered safer to use, but they’re not without downsides. Reactive spring dampeners are extremely heavy and their initial costs are awfully expensive. In addition, they take a huge amount of space, meaning it’s more than likely you’ll need an extensive redesign of the pump skid.

Options for pulsation dampeners are not only limited–they are also unequipped to handle the many changes in the industry, such as production advances, deeper wells and longer horizontal runs. Gas-charged and maintenance-free dampeners may not be enough to meet greater pressure requirements. Plus, oil prices are fluctuating more than ever, so you’ll need to make better technological choices to lower operational costs. For this reason, it’s best to invest in a more advanced, better-performing pulsation control system instead.

Charge Free Dampener™ (CFD)

This innovative solution features a patent-pending design that effectively solves the operational issues presented by both gas charged and maintenance free options. Charge Free Dampeners are smaller and lighter. They completely eliminate the need for any gas charging and unreliable bladders while handling the highest pressure rating at 10,000 psi. They also don’t need pressure gauges or charging valves.

Charge Free Dampeners come with a weld-free, forged body design and phosphate coated inside and out, allowing for 100% corrosion resistance. They can provide maximized performance with the Charge Free Conversion Kit®, which has revolutionized pulsation control. This means zero maintenance, safer operations, significant performance gains and reduced hassle, drilling time and money. With these, you can expect only reliable, long-lasting performance, minus the constant upkeep and expensive redesigns.

Stay tuned for the second installment of this three-part blog series where we will be taking a closer look at another pulsation control solution: suction stabilizers.

Justin

Justin Manley is the lead inventor and pulsation expert for Sigma Drilling Technologies. He is the author of several patents and trademarks dealing directly with advanced pulsation control, including the highly successful Charge Free Conversion Kit® and the Acoustic Assassin®. He lives in North Texas with his wife and three children.