August 24th, 2010
Pipeline installations are designed to have a long economic life span. After all they are very expensive infrastructure investments which are costly to replace. Pipeline engineers therefore specify the best materials to meet this prolonged life expectancy such as duplex and super duplex stainless steels. They also ensure high quality engineered products for pipe fittings and flanges.
As a result of these high standards of material, the petrochemical industry generally has a good safety record considering the millions of litres of dangerous fluids and gasses that are processed each day. However, as witnessed by recent events in the Gulf of Mexico, even in the best run worlds things can go wrong.
The Pipelines Safety Regulations, recognise this fact and specifically states under item 12 that before any fluid is allowed to flow in the pipeline the pipeline operator must make specific provision for dealing with:
a) the accidental loss of fluids from the pipeline
b) defects or damage to the pipeline
c) any emergency effecting the pipeline
The pipeline operator must therefore have a safety regime in place that can deal with any type of emergency that may arise. This can be expensive if it is necessary to hold in stock replacements for each type and size of pipe fitting used in an installation.
Therefore in order to assist our clients to meet this obligation, we at Chemipetro offer a 24 hour emergency breakdown call out service. We also hold in stock a wide range of pipes and pipe fittings so that any problem can be dealt with as speedily as possible.
Tags: Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Pipe Flanges, Super Duplex
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August 21st, 2010
When the first of any type of system is designed and installed, it is done to suit the practicality of what is required. Performance is the initial objective and a design is judged by how well it achieves its goals, does it go fast enough? Deliver enough? Is it strong enough?
Very soon, problems are identified. These may be problems with performance or they may be problems with safety. It becomes apparent that if a design is to be repeated and adapted, but without repeating mistakes, then some form of written design or safety standard is required.
With the pipeline industry in the UK these are ‘The Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996’. These were enacted as part of the ‘Health and Safety Act’ of 1974.
These regulations cover the design principles required for any pipeline used for conveying gas or fluids, which is not a drain or part of a heating system, and refers particularly to fluids considered ‘dangerous’, which relates to the petrochemical industry.
Part II item 7 specifically states that the pipeline must be designed so that maintenance and inspection work can be carried out safely.
One way of achieving this is to ensure that joints with bolted flanges are located at suitable locations to allow the critical sections of the pipeline to be dismantled. Also, suitable pipe fittings are provided where required such as isolation valves, to ensure that sections can be isolated and drained for working.
We at Chemipetro supply a wide range of flanges and pipe fittings to ensure that your design will comply with the safety regulations.
Tags: Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Pipe Flanges, pipe joints
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August 18th, 2010
In any design application one of the key considerations is what material is used to produce a specific item. The material needs to be able to cope with the mechanical stresses that may be imposed upon it, from mechanical shock to exposure to high temperatures and pressures. Equally the application must not be over engineered, utilising a material that is overly heavy or costly for a specific job, otherwise this will simply make the project uneconomic. Designers need to be sure that the material they are selecting is the correct one for that specific application.
For example, in the design of heat exchangers it is necessary that the material is not only strong and can withstand the high temperatures and pressures to which it will be exposed, but it is also important that it has good thermal conductivity characteristics. Also, in the petrochemical industry the material must be resistant to corrosion from the various chemicals that it will handle.
Super duplex steel is an excellent material from this stand point. Although it may be more expensive per tonne than ordinary steels, its corrosion resistant properties will ensure it requires less maintenance. Also, it has a low co-efficient of thermal expansion which means that where it is used in applications such as heat exchangers, it will be under less mechanical stress.
We at Chemipetro produce a wide range of pipes, pipe fittings and flanges from super duplex stainless steel and can meet whatever design features your design may require.
Tags: Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Pipe Flanges, Super Duplex
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August 15th, 2010
One of the most fundamental problems faced in any industry is how to join two pieces of material together. A layman asked this question would probably immediately think of glue. This is possible even with steel, where welding is effectively gluing two pieces of metal together.
There are however two fundamental problems with any sort of glued joint. The first, the joint is only as strong as the glue itself. To help overcome this with welded joints the ends of the pieces are shaped to form a V. This gives the weld a greater surface to form on and so make the bond stronger.
The second problem is that any glued joint is permanent and does not allow for anything to be dismantled should maintenance be required.
To dismantle a joint it should be connected by a removable fastening. This is where the humble nut and bolt come in. By providing flanges on the end of a pipe or a pipe fitting, and by bolting the two flanges together, a strong but removable coupling can be achieved.
But what sort of nut and bolt should be used? In concept they may all be the same but in practice they can be very different, from a simple threaded rod which is cut to length, to a 12 point ferry head unit. The choice of nuts can also be bewildering from the simple hexagonal to a bi hexagonal 12 point self locking type.
Whatever your need we at Chemipetro can provide a wide range of fastenings to meet your specific requirements even if it is a non standard and unique type.
Tags: Flanges, pipe fitting, Pipe Flanges, welded joints
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August 12th, 2010
We at Chemipetro manufacture flanges and pipe fittings for use within the petrochemical industry. Our products such as pipe flanges are manufactured from various grades of steel, such as duplex and super duplex, specifically to meet the demanding requirements of the chemicals that are currently processed.
Oil is becoming a scarce commodity and at some time in the future it will be necessary to develop other types of energy sources which can be used as fuels. These alternatives however will provide their own technical problems and challenges which will have to be dealt with.
One such fuel could be hydrogen, which may become a major fuel in the next 50 years. If this was to happen then it would be necessary to develop large scale production, storage and transport infrastructure for this.
However when hydrogen comes into contact with steel it can have a deleterious effect. Hydrogen atoms are the smallest atomic structure and are small enough to penetrate the crystalline structure of steel. This can cause the steel to become brittle and develop fractures. Also, when exerted to high pressures, pockets of hydrogen can develop causing the steel to fracture.
To prevent this happening it is currently necessary to introduce a barrier layer to prevent the hydrogen coming into contact with the steel. Other techniques and materials will also have to be developed so that these systems can be easily manufactured on the scale which will be required.
So in the future a duplex pipe will no longer be a simple steel tube but will have to be in itself a sophisticated piece of engineering.
Tags: duplex pipe, Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Super Duplex
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August 6th, 2010
Quality control is a key asset for any manufacturer but particularly in the petrochemical industry where component failure can have serious results. Yet how do you ensure how components will perform and how can the uniformity of products be ensured?
Testing samples to destruction will give an overall indicator of how the design of a particular component will perform when exposed to high levels of stress. This confirms if the materials used are up to the task or if there is any weakness in the design. For example, if flanged joints or pipe fittings will perform as required when in actual use.
However, whilst this type of testing may be used to confirm the design of a component it is no use for ensuring the quality of the production run of components. For this it is necessary to use a test that does not actually break the component.
At Chemipetro we use a number of different techniques to ensure the quality of the pipe and pipe fittings we manufacture. One such technique is Liquid Penetrant Inspection.
Here the sample is washed with a liquid containing a special dye and left to soak. The excess material is then removed and a developer applied. When exposed to a high intensity or ultra-violet light, cracks or flaws in the material are visible. The advantage of this system is that it is quick to carry out and can be applied to no ferrous material as well.
These test procedure ensures that product quality is not something that is left to chance but can be assured across the product range.
Tags: flanged joints, Flanges, Pipe Fittings, pipe joings
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August 3rd, 2010
When it comes to quality of materials, the petrochemical industry can take no chances. A failure of pipelines or pipe fittings such as a flanges or couplings in service can be catastrophic and very costly in terms of damage and lost production.
It is therefore important that all materials are rigorously tested before they are dispatched, as small irregularities in the crystalline structure of the steel can cause fractures, which in turn cause the material to fail when subjected to high pressure and temperatures. It is important to detect these irregularities and specialist detection techniques have to be used.
One such technique is Magnetic Particle Inspection. At some time almost everyone will have carried out an experiment at school where a sheet of paper is laid over a magnet and then iron filings sprinkled over the paper. The iron filings will then align themselves to display the lines of the magnetic field.
Magnetic Particle Inspection is similar in principle, albeit more sophisticated. The part to be tested is subjected to an electromagnetic field to magnetise it. It is then coated with iron oxide either in powder form or in a liquid suspension. Any irregularities in the steel cause an irregularity in the magnetic field, which can be seen in the patterns in the iron oxide. These irregularities can indicate possible faults in the material which can then be investigated further.
At Chemipetro we supply quality materials such as pipe flanges, and we can carry out several specialist testing techniques on critical parts including Magnetic Particle Inspection to ensure the quality of our products.
Tags: Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Pipe Flanges, pipe joints
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July 30th, 2010
How lengths of pipe and pipe fittings are actually connected together would seem, on the face of it, to be a relatively simple exercise but in fact it is a very complex issue.
It is possible to use pipe flanges, but this is an expensive option and is really only suitable for situations where the pipework has to be dismantled for maintenance, as all bolted flanges introduce a weakness.
It is possible to use a threaded connection where the end of one pipe is screwed into the end of another pipe. This method is commonly used for smaller pipe sizes. However the cutting of the thread reduces the thickness of the pipe material and so again introduces a weakness.
The preferred option for joining pipe lengths is a welded joint. But again there are different options depending upon the application. The most common type is the butt weld. This is a connection between two pipes of the same size. The end of each pipe is bevelled so that when the two ends are placed together a V is formed. The pipes are then welded around this V.
However in situations where there are high pressures and the flow characteristics are important, a socket weld can be used. Here one of the pipes has a larger collar which fits over the other pipe. The weld is then done on the outside. These are easy to use especially on small bore pipes.
Whatever type or pipe connection you propose to carry out, we at Chemipetro manufacture a wide range of pipe fittings and pipe flanges to meet all your requirements.
Tags: Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Pipe Flanges, socket weld
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July 27th, 2010
Most people when asked to design a pipeline would simply draw a pipe from point A to point B. However there is much more to the design of a pipeline than this.
To start with, the pipe has to be correctly sized to cope with the volume flow rate required. If the pipe is too small then it will take more pump pressure to force the required amount of liquid though it. A higher pressure will also require a stronger pipe and pipe fittings. If it is too large then it is just a waste of materials and money.
Another consideration is the temperature of the liquid flowing through the pipe. Although we think of steel pipes as pretty solid things that do not move, in practice the metal will expand when exposed to even relatively moderate temperatures. The result of this is that over a distance there can be considerable movement. As an example a 30m length of steel pipe carrying steam at 150°C will expand nearly 63mm.
To counter this, it is necessary to introduce expansion loops that allow the pipe run to deform and take up this movement. The size and number of these loops has to be carefully calculated to prevent over stressing the welded and flange connections.
We at Chemipetro can supply a wide range of pipes, flanges and pipe fittings made from varying materials such as duplex and super duplex stainless steels to ensure that the pipeline designer can always specify the correct material for the job at hand.
Tags: Flanges, Pipe Fittings, Pipe Flanges, Super Duplex
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July 24th, 2010
It has become accepted that unless we are purchasing something unique, such as a piece of art, we expect it to conform to a set standard and that it will be exactly like all the other units of the same type from the same manufacturer. We also expect that items purchased from one manufacturer will be compatible with similar units from another manufacturer.
This however has not always been the case. In early manufacturing, each component was unique and manufactured to perform a specific job for a particular manufacturer. This was why a ‘fitter’ was called such. His job was to adjust and manufacture the pieces so they ‘fitted’ together.
This caused fundamental problems with compatibility with even simple components such as nuts and bolts, let alone with more complex units such as pipe flanges and pipe fittings.
It therefore became apparent very quickly that there needed to be some sort of national standard to which specifiers could refer to ensure they always got what they required and manufacturers could consult so they could produce a standard compatible product.
This resulted in the following national standards being set up:
BS – British Standards Institute founded in 1901
ANSI – American National Standards Institute founded in 1918
ASTM – A voluntary standards organisation formed in 1898
DIN – The German Institute for Standardisation founded in 1917
Today these institutes publish the worldwide standards for engineering products.
We at Chimipetro manufacture a wide range of pipe fittings and flanges to meet all these standards, so that you can specify the right product in the certain knowledge that it will be compatible with your installation.
Tags: Flanges, pipe fitting types, pipe fittings pipe flanges
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