A more environmentally friendly smooth electromechanical cable

An electromechanical cable is produced to be used for pump down perforating opera~ons and wireline tractor deployment in deep wells with elevated pressures (25,000 ft, 15,000 psi). A smooth surface of this cable gives the opportunity to eliminate the need for lubrication when "packing otr for pressure control on the well head and reduce its detrimental effect on environment. In order to keep the seal without any lubricant, the surface of the cable is jacketed with a thermoplastic material. The material was selected such that it can tolerate the high temperatures in deep wells. This jacketing material should fully fill the voids between wires, be flexible enough to withstand bending over sheaves when in use, and hard enough to tolerate the erosive environment inside the well. In order to achieve these goals three different designs were prepared and five different plastic materials were extruded over cables. After evaluation of these various trials, one sample with the best design and jacketing material passed all the tests.