Casing pressure, measured in PSI, is important to monitor in oil and gas wells to prevent blowouts and explosions. Blowout preventers are used to relieve pressure, but must be maintained properly. Natural and artificial pressure can combine to create unsafe enclosure pressures.
Envelope pressure is a term used to describe the buildup of gas pressure between the enclosure, or exterior walls, and the piping of a well. Usually, these wells are those found in the oil and gas industry. There are a number of reasons why it is important to measure and be aware of casing pressure. A major reason is that excessive enclosure pressures can cause a blowout or explosion similar to the one that caused the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent man-made disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Measuring casing pressure and making sure it does not exceed acceptable maximums is part of the job of any individual working on an oil or gas well. Casing pressure is usually measured in pounds per square inch, or PSI, because most of the pipe and casing involved in well drilling has a certain maximum PSI load it can support before rupturing, exploding, or otherwise failing. A blowout occurs when the maximum PSI is violated and the pressure inside the well escapes from the point of least resistance. This point may be a portion of the well casing that is weaker than the rest of the casing or perhaps a joint or other natural pressure relief point.
In most cases, wells are built with blowout preventers that relieve pressure safely when it reaches a certain point. It is still important to maintain these devices and make sure they are working properly. The Deepwater Horizon disaster is attributed to a faulty blowout prevention device, as the pressure in the wellhead was not relieved and was allowed to rise to unacceptable and dangerous levels.
Because oil and gas are naturally under pressure due to their location within the earth, and also because pumping equipment builds pressure to help the liquid and gases flow through the pumping equipment to be captured, the idea that there is casing pressure is not new. Both the natural pressure of the materials being pumped and the artificial pressure created by the pumping equipment can combine to create unsafe or unstable enclosure pressures. While the pipes and casings used in oil and natural gas drilling are very strong and made with special alloys selected for hardness and resistance under pressure, every metal and every substance has a breaking point beyond which it can no longer support any further load .
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