RV-1 Venturi Orifice Valve

Applications 

• Wells requiring equipment to be wireline retrievable
• Wells that require high injection rates to maximize production rates
• High-profile wells with high intervention cost

Features and Benefits

• Provides maximum gas passage with minimum differential between injection pressure and production pressure, which enables a lower injection point and higher production rates. 
• Increases the injection volume capability through 1-in. gas-lift valves in wells with large tubing—without requiring installation of multiple standard, wireline-retrievable gas-lift valves at the injection point. 
• Reduces needed gas-injection pressure by requiring lower differential pressure between the casing and tubing to maximize flow performance. 
• Aids in achieving critical flow in unstable wells, which contributes to well stability. 
• Contributes to optimization and stabilization of dual-gas-lift wells by means of more exact orifice sizing, which enables both production strings to produce simultaneously. 

Tool Description 

Weatherford RV-1 wireline-retrievable gas-lift orifice valves feature a special Venturi flow area that significantly reduces gas-flow friction. Designed specifically for deepwater or other high-profile well applications, these valves can achieve critical flow with only 10% pressure drop across the valve; standard orifice valves require about 40 to 50% pressure drop to achieve critical flow. This enhanced performance enables RV-1 orifice valves to deliver higher injection rates at deeper injection points—with a more stable flow regime and at a lower operating cost. 

Weatherford RV-1 valves can be equipped with the Weatherford premium reverse-flow check valve, which has a combination modified-PTFE and metal-to-metal seal. These check valves were designed by applying computational flow-dynamics analysis and physical testing to maximize gas-passage capability and erosion resistance.