FRAC PLUG COMPOSITE LOWER SLIPS


APPLICATION:

Energy. Oil and gas down hole application.

PREVIOUS LIMITING TECHNOLOGY:

Many “composite frac plugs” still utilize metallic lower slips since the slips are so highly loaded during plug set. The metallic slips can take the load, but are more difficult to drill out after the frac.

CHALLENGE:

The customer requested development of a composite lower slip that could withstand the high loads yet still drill out as easily as the rest of the composite plug. The slips were required to resist the high loads at a temperature as high as 300°F.

SOLUTION

Rock West compression molded slip “petals” using a short 2” glass fiber with phenolic resin. The slips are held together on the plug using two thin filament wound rings.

Image of technician's hand placing chopped glass fiber bundle into a compression molding tool, part of the frac lower slip production.
Image of compression molding equipment in a warehouse setting.
Image of several frac plug composite lower slip components laid out on a granite surface. There are six semi-circular black segments and two loops.
Image of a frac plug composite lower slip, assembled, sitting on a granite surface. It has a short, thick, tubular shape with five forged glass fiber segments held together with two rings.