The reduced amount of available crude oil has increased the difficulty of oil drilling, creating a need for deeper wells with more demanding conditions. The downhole portion includes the use of alloy 718, 17-4 stainless steel and ZERON 100 super duplex stainless steel.
718 is stocked in both an annealed form to meet AMS 5662 as well as a specific aging treatment to meet the higher mechanical properties required by API 6A along with the hardness limitations from NACE MR-0175.
17-4 stainless steel (solution treated and double aged) is the preferred alloy for stems, and shafts, and is often used in valve internals. It has high strength and corrosion resistance comparable to 304 stainless steel in many environments.
A Christmas tree structure is a common form of well head application. 718 NACE makes particularly useful oil tools and shafts due to its high strength and corrosion resistance, excellent sub zero toughness and resistance to hydrogen embrittlement.