Trendsetter fast-track well cap promises one-week deployment
Trendsetter Engineering developed a rapid-response well-capping stack that is stored at Houston Airport and can be installed within a week of call-out. The Global Rapid Intervention Package, a 40-tonne system (much lighter than traditional stacks) is rated to 15,000 psi, 250 degrees Fahrenheit, 10,000-ft depth and 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It was created because traditional equipment was too unwieldy to deploy quickly. "We store it at the airport. It’s bonded and cleared through customs. We are response time-oriented,” said Guy Fox, senior product manager for well control & prevention at Halliburton’s Boots & Coots, which commissioned the project.
While around 20 capping stacks have been built for use in subsea well control incidents, most are large, weighing from 90 tons to 180 tons, and require vast lifting power for installation.

Moving one from a storage location to the incident site can take as many as seven 747 airplanes or three Antonov An-124 planes for the capping stacks themselves, along with marine installation vessels with sufficient crane capacity to deploy that tonnage in deep water.

“They are very large pieces of equipment,” says Guy Fox, senior product manager for well control & prevention at Halliburton’s Boots & Coots division.

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