Setting a bridge plug at depth is a calculation rather than a fixed number. Hydrostatic head, mud density and the pressure trapped above a working piston all change what a hydraulic tool actually delivers, so a force that is correct in a shallow, light-mud well can under-set the same plug in a deep, heavy-mud one. An electro-hydraulic setting tool with a pressure-balanced piston takes that variable out of the equation, which is why the design gets specified where plug integrity has to hold across a whole campaign rather than on a single run.
Pressure-Balanced Piston Removes Depth From the Calculation
In a conventional hydraulic setting tool, well pressure acts on the piston area and either adds to or subtracts from the force generated at surface, so delivered setting force drifts with depth and with mud weight. The Pro-Set architecture uses a pressure-balanced piston instead, so wellbore pressure acts on both sides of the working area and cancels. The published consequence is a maximum setting force that stays consistent, quoted at up to 45 tons, regardless of operating depth or mud density. For the completion engineer that converts setting force from a value needing recalculation on every well into a value taken from the datasheet, and it removes the pre-setting risk that comes from high hydrostatic pressure acting on an unbalanced piston before the stroke is commanded.
Electro-Hydraulic Setting Tool Size Ladder and Stroke
Three body sizes cover the range, and each maps to a different force class and plug family:
Pro-Set 54: 2.125 inches body, 24,250 lbs maximum setting force, 7.87 inches stroke
Pro-Set 73: 2.875 inches body, 44,000 lbs, 7.87 inches stroke
Pro-Set 92: 3.625 inches body, 77,000 lbs, 10 inches stroke
Stroke matters as much as force. The 7.87 inches figure, or 0.2 meters, is enough for most plugs, while the 10 inches stroke on the largest body, 0.254 meters, covers long-travel frac plugs and packers that need more mandrel pull before the element packs off. All three sizes correspond to the industry-standard size 5, size 10 and size 20 setting tool styles, so the tool can be matched to plugs already held in an operator's inventory rather than forcing a change of plug supplier.
Surface Power Budget and Cable Options
Power is supplied from surface at 400 VDC within a 10 percent tolerance, with current draw up to 1050 mA. That budget is small enough to run on a monoconductor cable, and the tool also operates on 7-conductor cable or on slickline, which is what allows one tool body to be used from units that only have slickline capability. Because the energy comes from surface rather than from a downhole battery or a burn charge, the operator keeps control of the stroke rate and the tool can be stopped and restarted part-way through the sequence without any disassembly between attempts.
What the Electro-Hydraulic Setting Tool Records
The electronic control section monitors and records setting force and power-through position in real time, so the job leaves a trace rather than an assumption. Force plotted against stroke position shows where the slips engaged, where the element packed off and where the release parted, and an automated control routine can hold or advance the sequence without waiting on an operator decision. Extended power-through length gives the tool reach past the setting depth, and the recorded dataset is what supports post-job review when a plug has to be qualified rather than assumed. Automated control also shortens the operating cycle, which is the main cost lever on multi-plug completions.
Duty Range Across Bridge Plugs, Frac Plugs and Packers
The tool sets bridge plugs, frac plugs and production packers and is used for hydraulic fracturing, workover and plug and abandonment work. Because no explosives are involved, the transport, storage and documentation burden that applies to powder-charge tools disappears, which matters more on remote wellsites and offshore platforms than on a pad with full logistics behind it. Combined with a 20,000 psi and 140 MPa rating and a temperature span from minus 30 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, about 177 degrees Celsius, the envelope covers most completion and intervention programmes without a special derating exercise.
Depth-independent force is the whole point. An electro-hydraulic setting tool with a pressure-balanced piston, a recorded force trace and a three-size ladder reaching 77,000 lbs gives the completion team a repeatable set instead of a recalculated one.
For more information, please contact China Vigor at info@vigorpetroleum.com or call +0086 29 81161513.
