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The “Life Gate” Deep in the Gobi — A Chronicle of the Development and Field Application of Rongsheng Company'’s 13 5/8"-25000psi Ultra-High-Pressure BOP Stack
2026-02-02
(Correspondent: Sun Tongqing) On January 28, at the test site of the Korla Emergency Well Control Center in Xinjiang, a dust-covered set of equipment was awaiting post-application review testing. This was China’s first 13 5/8"-25000psi ultra-high-pressure BOP stack, which had just completed its field trial at Keshen 3105 Well. The technical team was now converting valuable on-site operational experience into technical parameters, laying a solid theoretical foundation for subsequent optimization and large-scale application.
In December 2025, on the Gobi Desert of Baicheng, Aksu, Xinjiang, biting winds swept through with sand and dust, and ground temperatures plunged to -18°C. On the drilling platform of Keshen 3105 Well, a deep-red “steel giant” stood firmly in place. With a height of 10 meters and a weight of 150 tons, it pressed steadily against the surging high-temperature, high-pressure oil and gas and highly toxic hydrogen sulfide underground like a loyal guardian. This was the 13 5/8"-25000psi ultra-high-pressure BOP stack independently developed by Rongsheng Machinery Manufacture Ltd. Of Huabei Oilfield, Hebei, now facing the final stage of its real-world trial.
Rewinding to early 2023, CNPC’s 175 MPa well control equipment R&D project was officially launched, sounding the call to break the foreign technology monopoly. At that time, the core technologies for ultra-high-pressure BOPs above 140 MPa had long been controlled by international giants, while key technologies such as the boltless-bonnet structure were blocked by patent barriers. Not only did procurement often take months and remain extremely costly, but it also carried the hidden risk of supply chain disruption, becoming a persistent bottleneck restricting China’s deep and offshore oil and gas exploration. A technology campaign centered on independent controllability thus quietly began.
“The first hurdle we had to overcome was the pressure-bearing capability of materials and sealing reliability under extreme operating conditions,” recalled Qu Zhiming, Chief Engineer of Rongsheng Company', still visibly moved when speaking of the difficulties at the start of development. Because the team had no prior experience in manufacturing 175 MPa-class BOPs, they had to explore everything from scratch. They first designed scaled prototypes and carried out round after round of performance verification in the laboratory. From the selection of special steels to the optimization of sealing structures, every parameter had to go through hundreds of calibration tests. During that period, the workshops at Rongsheng stayed brightly lit through the night. R&D personnel held drawings in their hands and stayed beside monitoring computers, grabbing a few bites of bread when hungry and catching short naps in the workshop lounge when tired, afraid of missing even the slightest change during testing, all for the sake of forging a viable path in an unknown field.
In the golden autumn of 2023, heat waves rose inside the Rongsheng workshop and the roar of machines echoed continuously as the first successfully developed BOP stack underwent its decisive pressure test. According to Rongsheng’s stringent standard, the test pressure had to reach 1.5 times the design value, namely 262.5 MPa, equivalent to bearing 2.6 tons of pressure per square centimeter. In the control room, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the pressure gauge pointer, and the air seemed to freeze at that moment. As the pointer slowly climbed and finally held steady at the target value, everyone stood tense and silent for 15 minutes, until the inspection data confirmed no leakage and no deformation. Only then did the long-suppressed cheers break through the stifling heat of the workshop and resound throughout the plant. “At that moment, all the fatigue from sleepless nights and the frustration of repeated tests simply vanished,” the technical team said, unable to hide their excitement. The company’s original integrated boltless-bonnet structure passed the test perfectly, laying a solid core foundation for subsequent technological breakthroughs.
After overcoming the core technical difficulties, the team did not stop moving forward. They continued to deepen work on hydraulic quick connection flange technology, repeatedly adjusting hydraulic parameters and optimizing the connection structure, and ultimately reduced the flange connection time for a single unit from the traditional 4 hours to 40 minutes, increasing efficiency by nearly six times. During the development of the super shear ram BOP, after dozens of design iterations and performance tests, the team successfully achieved the breakthrough of shearing a 5 7/8 in. V-150 drill pipe tool joint within 20 seconds, winning valuable time for emergency response. To ensure reliability under extreme operating conditions, the team specially designed dedicated testing fixtures and completed two 262.5 MPa ultra-high-pressure hydrostatic tests and hundreds of opening-closing cycle tests. Non-destructive inspection confirmed that none of the equipment components showed any deformation or failure, and all key indicators reached, and in some cases even exceeded, the advanced level of comparable international products.
In July 2024, this “steel guardian,” into which the team had poured countless efforts, set out from Rongsheng Company'’s headquarters, crossed thousands of miles and the vast Gobi, and advanced all the way into the Tarim Oilfield, where it began a one-year final validation before field application at the Korla Emergency Well Control Center. Winters in Tarim are bitterly cold, with minimum temperatures dropping below -30°C and snowstorms sweeping across the wellsite. Technical personnel stayed on site through wind and snow, adjusting equipment parameters again and again, teaching workers by hand how to operate the automation system, and checking potential risks one by one. Through such rigorous and meticulous dedication, they ensured that every link of the equipment reached field-ready standards.
On December 21, 2025, at Keshen 3105 Well, where the surface temperature was below zero while high-temperature, high-pressure gas and highly toxic hydrogen sulfide surged underground, it was precisely this BOP stack that kept the gas firmly contained beneath the surface. Inside the wellsite camp, Li Qingxin, platform manager of the well, together with technical service personnel from brother units including Baoshi Machinery, spoke highly of it: “Rongsheng’s BOP not only withstands 175 MPa, but both the quick connection flange and the boltless bonnet are operated automatically. Workers’ labor intensity has been greatly reduced, and both operational safety and efficiency have been improved!”
On the evening of December 28, under the darkness covering the Gobi wellsite, this BOP stack was about to successfully complete its task in the fourth drilling section. According to procedure, a real-world bonnet opening and closing drill was held before disassembly. As the technicians pressed the control button, the BOP bonnet slowly opened automatically, with the entire process taking only a few minutes, nearly five times more efficient than traditional equipment. Under the wellsite lights, the smiles on the workers’ faces appeared especially bright against the deep-red body of the equipment. Hidden within those smiles were the countless days and nights of hard work by the R&D team, the silent perseverance of technical personnel stationed in the Gobi, and the solid confidence of Chinese manufacturing in moving from following others to leading through self-reliance and self-strengthening.
Against the national strategic background of energy security and the independent development of high-end equipment, and at a time when well control products are advancing rapidly, Rongsheng Company' is opening up a new frontier in the BOP field with its outstanding innovation capability and deep technical accumulation. This “life gate” deep in the Gobi has not only provided reliable domestically produced equipment support for China’s deep oil and gas exploration, but has also demonstrated responsibility and commitment through concrete action, embodying high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and writing a determined chapter in China’s high-end equipment manufacturing industry as it advances toward independence, intelligence, and high-end development.
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