THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WELLHEAD & CHRISTMAS TREEPosted by Meisa G on Aug 29, 2014 9:30:00 AM

In Frequently Asked Questions, OUR Industry

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Christmas Tree or Wellhead? A Christmas Tree is an assembly of valves, spools, and fittings used for an oil well, gas well, water injection well, water disposal well, gas injection well, condesnate well, and other types of wells. It is named for its resemvlance to a decorate tree at Christmas. Many times, the words Christmas Tree and Wellhead are used itern changable; however, a wellhead and christmas tree are entirely seperate peices of equipment. A wellhead must be present in order to utilize a Christmas tree and is used without a Christmas tree during drilling operations. Producing surface wells that require pumps (pump jacks, nodding donkeys, etc.) frequently do not utilize any tree due to no pressure containment requirement.

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Tree complexity has increased over the last few decades. They are frequently manufactured from blocks of steel containing multiple valves rather than made from multiple flanged valves.The primary function of a tree is to control the flow into or out of the well, usually oil or gas.

A tree often provides numerous additional functions including chemical injection points, well intervention means, pressure relief means (such as annulus vent), tree and well monitoring points (such as pressure, temperature, corrosion, erosion, sand detection, flow rate, flow

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composition, valve and choke position feedback, connection points for devices such as down hole pressure and temperature transducer (DHPT). 

What purpose does a tree serve?•On producing wells, injection of chemicals or alcohols or oil distillates to prevent and or solve production problems (such as blockages) may be used.•A tree may also be used to control the injection of gas or water injection application on a producing or non-producing well in order to sustain economic "production" volumes of gas from other well(s) in the area (field).•The control system attached to the tree controls the downhole safety valve (scssv, dhsv, sssv) while the tree acts as an attachment and conduit means of the control system to the downhole safety valve.

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As you can see even on this Christmas Tree Diagram there are five valves. The Kill Wing valve, the Swab valve, the production wing valve, the upper master valve and lower master valve. When the operator, well, and facilities are ready to produce and receive oil or gas, valves are opened and the release of the formation fluids is allowed to flow into and through a pipeline. It is important to understand where these valves are located and what role they play in getting gas from the well bore to the customer.Parts Defined•The two lower valves are called the master valves (upper and lower respectively) because they lie in the flow path, which well fluids must take to get to surface.•The lower master valve will normally be manually operated, while the upper master valve is often hydraulically actuated.•Hydraulic tree wing valves are usually built to be fail safe closed, meaning they require active hydraulic pressure to stay open.•The right hand valve is often called the flow wing valve or the production wing valve, because it is in the flow path the hydrocarbons take to production facilities.•The left hand valve is often called the kill wing valve. It is primarily used for injection of fluids such as corrosion inhibitors or methanol to prevent hydrate formation.•The valve at the top is called the swab valve and lies in the path used for well interventions like wireline and coiled tubing.A ‘Choke’ is a device, either stationary or adjustable, used to:      •control the gas flow, also known as volume     •or create downstream pressure, also known as back pressure

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We hope this has helped you understand the difference between wellhead and christmas trees better; however, if you have any questions feel free to contact us with any questions. 

Stephen Mackenzie 30-09-2014 19:46:33

Hey I'm doing a report on upstream xmas trees and was wondering where the concept of the xmas tree comes from?Reply to Stephen Mackenzie

Stephen Mackenzie 30-09-2014 19:46:45

Hey I'm doing a report on upstream xmas trees and was wondering where the concept of the xmas tree comes from?Reply to Stephen Mackenzie

engelect 29-10-2014 07:58:06

thank youReply to engelect

MOHANNAD ALYAZGI 31-10-2014 20:04:59

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you need to deal to the gas at a certain pressure at surface through the choke valve before transfer it to the gathering station, on the other hand the xmass tree considered the base of the lubricator for well intervention operations.Reply to MOHANNAD ALYAZGI

Daniel Mato 17-02-2015 03:23:58

Please whenever you update you product just let me knowReply to Daniel Mato

SHEDRACK IFEANYI 22-03-2015 23:12:48

A material to follow...Reply to SHEDRACK IFEANYI

hisham elserafy elserafy 17-04-2015 18:36:32

adam;Osama;AserReply to hisham elserafy elserafy

zafar hussain 19-04-2015 18:31:01

Very nice definition , different between xmass tree and well head

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Reply to zafar hussain

meesam lashari 31-07-2015 19:48:22

very nice defination Mr ZafarReply to meesam lashari

babar jamali 31-07-2015 19:49:39

very nice definationReply to babar jamali

arlince camaroon 10-10-2015 18:23:03

I favourite wellReply to arlince camaroon

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