TorqueWavez, founded in 2020 by Sicco Dwars, inventor of the next generation Shell SoftTorque systems. After retiring from Shell, inventor Sicco established his independent consultancy company, assisting Z-Torque technology licensees with the deployment and helping end users with its optimal use.
The stick-slip mitigation technology Z-Torque helps energy companies drill better wells for oil & gas, geothermal and for CO2 sinks. Step change drilling efficiency is delivered, higher WOB at lower RPMs is enabled, ROP shoots up, bits live longer, as do delicate MWD and RSS tools downhole. The more challenging formation gets, say chalk, chert, or interbedded flysch, the more value Z-Torque brings. With Z-Torque added to a drilling rig top drive, torsional waves from downhole are swallowed by the top drive, as if the top drive were more drill pipe, pipe all the way to the moon and beyond. Waves that travel up the drill pipe simply walk on in that virtual drill pipe above the rig. With that simple trick, known as active impedance matching, standing torsional waves in drill strings can no longer exist. Contrary to earlier SoftTorque technologies, Z-Torque catches the waves irrespective of the wave frequency. It is a tuning free system, with just a one-knob user interface.
Deployed globally through 10 licensees on some 50 rigs on 5 continents, on land and offshore rigs, desert to swamp to arctic, shallow and deepwater, in partnership with rig contractors and top drive OEMs, the technology became mainstream.
Check this animation to see how it works: http://ztspe.nl
More background in these SPE papers:
SPE/IADC-194108- Curing stick-slip: Eureka
SPE/IADC-173037- Recent Advances in Soft Torque Rotary Systems
Services provided include engineering, deployment, commissioning and QA/QC for top drive rig systems. Typically this involves a modification in a top drive motor electrical drive, aka a VFD. Deployment recipes exist for drives from ABB (ACS600, ACS800, ACS880), Siemens (MasterDrive, Sinamics S120-CU320), GE (MV3000), Yaskawa (G5, A1000) and Vacon NXP. Top drives are the AC models from NOV, MHW, Bentec, Canrig, Tesco, BPM, LTI and others.
Contact Sicco at: sicco.dwars(at)torquewavez.nl
Cure stick-slip = Catch those waves!
office address: Raaphorstlaan 11D • 2245 BG Wassenaar • The Netherlands
sicco.dwars@torquewavez.nl • www.torquewavez.nl • KvK 80620213 • BTW/VAT NL002825091B88