The oil and gas industry requires a wide range of springs from torsion to compression. There are plenty of processes involved in this industry and each deploys a variety of equipment and machines which contain springs of various forms.
Each of these machines operates in different environments involving high temperature, harsh environment. Coiling Technologies, Inc., has years of experience in manufacturing high quality and reliable springs to operate in these extreme environmental conditions.
Springs from materials like Inconel X750 can withstand high temperatures and resist corrosion, making them well suited for oil and gas applications. At Coiling Technologies, Inc., each spring undergoes heat treatment, shot peening, and coating to improve the performance and reliability in even the harshest environment.
Coiling Technologies, Inc. has produced springs for a variety of oil and gas applications including:
- Extraction machinery
- Gas & oil pumping equipment
- Oil refinery equipment
- Valves
- Turbines
Please contact us, to know more about our services in the oil and gas industry.
Oil & Gas Spring Manufacturer FAQs
What oil and gas equipment uses custom springs?
CTI's page lists extraction machinery, gas and oil pumping equipment, oil refinery equipment, valves, and turbines. In practice the spring populations are downhole tools and completion hardware, wellhead and surface valve actuation, relief and safety valve assemblies, pumping unit and rod pump components, compressor valve springs, turbine and rotating equipment hardware, and refinery process valves. Both compression and torsion springs are common across that equipment. The engineering problem changes with location. Surface refinery service is largely a temperature and media question, while downhole service adds pressure, H2S, chlorides, and very limited access for replacement.
Why do oil and gas springs require different materials than general industrial springs?
Standard spring steel gets ruled out by the combination of temperature, hydrogen, and chlorides. Downhole temperature rises with depth and holds there, so the spring has to retain load for years without relaxing. H2S in sour wells introduces atomic hydrogen into the steel, which embrittles high strength carbon and low alloy grades and causes sulfide stress cracking at stress levels the material would otherwise handle easily. Chlorides in formation water attack passive films and pit stainless grades. Nickel and cobalt nickel alloys answer all three at once, which is why they dominate the material list for this work.
Which alloys are specified for sour service springs?
The alloys that see this work are Inconel 718, Inconel 625, Inconel X-750, Hastelloy C-276, MP35N, and Monel K-500. Each answers a slightly different problem. Inconel 718 gives the highest strength of the group and is the common downhole choice where load capacity governs. Inconel 625 and Hastelloy C-276 carry heavier molybdenum for pitting and crevice corrosion resistance in chloride and acid service. MP35N combines very high strength, corrosion resistance, and non-magnetic behavior. Monel K-500 handles seawater and hydrofluoric acid exposure. CTI's own page names Inconel X-750 for high temperature, corrosion resistant oil and gas springs.
Is Coiling Technologies NACE accredited or API certified?
No. ISO 9001:2015 is the certification CTI holds, and there is no NACE accreditation, no API 6A or other API certification, and no third party sour service qualification to claim. NACE MR0175 and ISO 15156 are material, hardness, and processing requirements a customer specifies, and CTI builds and heat treats to what your drawing calls out, then documents the result with material certifications and inspection reports. If your project requires an API certified or NACE qualified supplier at the spring level, state it in the RFQ so it gets settled up front rather than at receiving inspection.
How does sulfide stress cracking actually damage a spring?
A spring is held at high sustained tensile stress by design, which is exactly the condition sulfide stress cracking requires. In the presence of H2S and water, hydrogen generated at the metal surface diffuses into the lattice and collects at grain boundaries and dislocations, lowering the stress needed to initiate a crack. Failure is brittle and sudden, with little deformation to warn anyone, and it can occur at loads far below yield. Susceptibility rises with strength and hardness, which is why sour service specifications cap hardness instead of asking for maximum strength. Design stress has to be de-rated accordingly.
Why do MWD and LWD tools require non-magnetic springs?
Measurement while drilling and logging while drilling tools locate the borehole using magnetometer readings of the earth's field. A ferromagnetic component near the sensor distorts that field and puts a bias into the survey, which compounds into real directional error over thousands of feet of hole. Springs inside those tools therefore have to be non-magnetic and stay that way after cold working, which rules out most stainless grades, because cold coiling transforms austenite to martensite and raises permeability. MP35N and Inconel 718 hold low permeability in the cold worked and aged condition, which is why they get specified.
What temperature and pressure conditions can these springs be designed for?
Provide the actual metal temperature, the hold time at temperature, and the differential pressure across the part, because those set the design stress rather than the alloy alone. Nickel base precipitation hardened alloys hold load at temperatures well above where carbon and stainless spring steels have already relaxed, and the useful ceiling for a spring is the point where stress relaxation takes load or free length out of tolerance, not the point where the metal itself degrades. CTI's deep sea work is the relevant reference, including special Inconel springs for the research submersible ALVIN, which operates to 21,000 feet (6,500 m).
What secondary processing does CTI apply to oil and gas springs?
The page names heat treatment, shot peening, and coating as standard steps for improving performance and reliability in harsh service, and all three are in-house CTI services alongside non-destructive testing. Each does specific work. Heat treatment develops the mechanical properties, and on a precipitation hardened nickel alloy the aging cycle is what creates the strength rather than only relieving forming stress. Shot peening puts the wire surface into residual compression, which raises fatigue life and reduces sensitivity to surface initiated cracking. Coating adds a barrier where a carbon steel spring has to work in a wet environment.
