Every plug, packer or cement retainer has a force window: too little axial load leaves slips unset and the element unenergised, too much shears the release stud or damages the casing behind it. Powder-charge tools deliver that load in one irreversible event, and hydraulic tools need fluid handling and surface pressure relief before the string comes out of the hole. An electric setting tool turns the problem into a controlled, recorded stroke, which is why it is increasingly specified for bridge plug and packer work where the set has to be verified rather than assumed.
Roller Screw Power Train Replaces the Burn Charge
VEST is a pure electric drive built from three modules. The control unit handles communication, motor control and data storage, and exists in two versions, one for wireline operation and one for slickline operation. The power unit carries the motor, gearbox and thrust bearings and converts electrical energy into rotation and then into linear output; it runs in both directions. The heavy-duty output unit sits below, coupling the generated force into the load through a heavy-duty roller screw, which is what allows a compact body to produce a large setting load without any explosive charge or hydraulic oil in the tool. Because the conversion happens through a screw rather than a burn chamber, the load can be held, paused or reversed mid-stroke, and the rate of load application stays under the control of the surface operator instead of being fixed by a propellant burn curve.
Electric Setting Tool Force Ratings Across Three Sizes
Output is graded by body diameter, and the three models share a 10 inches stroke, equal to 0.254 meters, and a 51.18 inches connection length, or about 1.30 meters:
VEST-54: 2.125 inches body, 24,250 lbs maximum setting force
VEST-73: 2.875 inches body, 44,092 lbs
VEST-92: 3.625 inches body, 77,160 lbs
The largest body carries a 1-5/8 inches stub acme pin mono-core top connection with a 3.125 inches casing collar locator; the mid-size version uses the same pin with a 2.75 inches collar locator, and the smallest a 1-3/16 inches pin with a 2.125 inches locator. Selection is therefore driven by the completion restriction first and by the required setting load second, since the force ratings step up by roughly a factor of three across the range.
What the Electric Setting Tool Records During a Run
Because the drive is electric, the whole stroke can be instrumented. Working current, voltage, tension and stroke position are displayed in real time, and the resulting trace shows where the slips engaged, where the element packed off and where the release parted. Engineers read that trace to judge load condition, and accumulated records support analysis of plug behaviour across a campaign as well as self-diagnosis of the tool itself. Field convenience follows from the same architecture: one-click reset, no programming at the wellsite, and no surface pressure relief before the tool is brought back to surface.
Dual-Directional Output Widens the Intervention Envelope
The power unit drives in both directions, so the tool can push and pull. That capability covers duties beyond setting, because optional devices can be fitted at the bottom of the tool: sleeve shifting, casing punching, casing patching, anchoring and fishing. Anti-shock performance supports running in combination with perforating hardware, and the modular layout lets one power section serve several bottom configurations on a single trip, which is what turns a setting tool into a general intervention actuator rather than a single-purpose device. Reversibility also simplifies recovery: if a plug has to be unset or a load released, the same stroke can be backed out under control.
Operating Window: Pressure, Temperature and Job Preparation
VEST is rated to 20,000 psi, or roughly 138 MPa, and to a range of minus 30 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, about 149 degrees on the Celsius scale. The design is maintenance free for life: no disassembly, no seal replacement and no rebuild between runs, which cuts tool preparation to well under an hour and removes the transport and storage controls that apply to explosive devices. No waste oil or exhaust is produced during operation, so the tool also simplifies the environmental documentation for the job.
Force matching is what separates a verified set from an assumed one. An electric setting tool with a roller screw output, an instrumented stroke and a 20,000 psi envelope gives the completion team both the load and the record.
For more information, please contact China Vigor at info@vigorpetroleum.com or call +0086 29 81161513.
