Solid Expandable Tubular
Solid Expandable Tubulars are casing or liners, which are expanded downhole after running the pipe in the well. Metallurgically, the tubular expansion process is equivalent to cold-working steel tubular to increase the diameters to the required size downhole. The process is complicated and requires overcoming operational hurdles for the expansion of pipe in a downhole environment. However, the technology provides the distinct advantage of extending the well depth where well conditions limit the number of regular-size casings that can be used to reach planned well depth.
An expansion cone is used to permanently mechanically deform the pipe. The cone is moved through the tubular by hydraulic pressure across the cone itself and/or by a direct mechanical pull or push force.