It is critical that the injector be equipped with a weight indicator that measur

es the tensile load in the CT (above the stripper), with the weight measurement
displayed to the equipment operator during well intervention or drilling service
s. There should also be a weight indicator that measures the compressive force i
n the tubing below the injector when CT is being thrust into the well (often ref
erred to as negative weight). Some weight indicators are capable of measuring a
limited amount of negative weight typically equal to the weight of the chaindrive
assembly mounted in the injector frame. If this type of weight indicator is bein
g used, the thrust force applied during the CT operation should not exceed the w
eight of the chaindrive assembly.
The counter-rotating, opposed-chaindrive injectors used in well intervention and
drilling operations utilize a tubing guide arch, located directly above the inj
ector. The tubing guide arch supports the tubing through the 90+ bending radius a
nd guides the CT from the service reel into the injector chains. The tubing guid
e arch assembly may incorporate a series of rollers along the arch to support th
e tubing or may be equipped with a fluoropolymer-type slide pad run along the le
ngth of the arch. The tubing guide arch should also include a series of secondar
y rollers mounted above the CT to center the tubing as it travels over the guide
arch. The number, size, material, and spacing of the rollers can vary significa
ntly with different tubing guide arch designs.
For CT used repeatedly in well intervention and drilling applications, the radiu
s of the tubing guide arch should be at least 30 times the specified OD of the C
T in service. This factor may be less for CT that will be bend-cycled only a few
times, such as in permanent installations. The continuous-length tubing should
enter and exit the tubing guide arch tangent to the curve formed by the guide ar
ch. Any abrupt bending angle over which the CT passes causes increased bending s
trains, dramatically increasing the fatigue damage applied to the tubing. During
normal CT operations, the reel tension applies a bending moment to the base of
the tubing guide arch. Therefore, the tubing guide arch must be designed to be s
trong enough to withstand the bending caused by the required reel back tension f
or the applicable tubing size.
The injector should be stabilized when rigged up to minimize the potential for a
pplying damaging bending loads to the well-control stack and surface wellhead du
ring the well-intervention program. The injector may be stabilized above the wel
lhead using telescoping legs, an elevating frame, or a mast or rig-type structur
e. The injector support is the means provided to the injector to prevent a bendi
ng moment (such as reel back tension) from being applied to the wellhead of such
magnitude as to cause damage to the wellhead or well-control stack under normal
planned operating conditions. Precautions should be taken to minimize the trans
fer of loads resulting from the weight of the injector, well-control equipment,
and the hanging weight of the CT into the tree along the axis of the wellhead.
Telescoping legs are generally used in rig-ups where the height of the injector
or wellhead does not permit the use of an elevating frame. When telescoping legs
are used, the top sections are inserted into the four cylinders located on the
corners of the injector frame and then secured with pins at the required height.