Pipe fittings and flanges on today’s oil rigs and deep-water wells are routinely manufactured from high strength and corrosion-resistant alloys. We at Chemipetro supply super duplex pipe fittings across the industry.

High quality alloys means minimal risk of leaks due to flange failure. However, it also means that if a big blow-out does occur, it’s more likely to happen at the well head than the seams.

A blow-out event of any kind is a disaster. Not only can lives be lost, but billions of gallons of crude oil can contaminate the environment. Thus it’s essential that safety devices are fitted that not only give early warning of impending blow-outs, but can seal the well off at underwater flanges if such a blow-out occurs.

Brazilian and Norwegian regulators have such a device fitted as standard on their underwater rigs. Called an acoustic switch, it cuts in the moment there’s an underwater spill. US rigs are not fitted with such a device. It’s now being suggested that, had they been, the recent tragic events off the coast of Louisiana need not have happened.

The acoustic switch is, it must be said, a last-ditch device when all else has failed. Remotely triggered by crew members, it operates an underwater valve at one of the pipe flanges, shutting down the damaged well and preventing an explosion or oil leakage. If the platform has to be evacuated, it can be triggered from a life raft.

US regulators disagree that the device is necessary, raising questions about its effectiveness, and pointing out that they have their own safety devices to shut down rigs.