SWECO Fab, Inc. manufactured eight 8″ and four 10″ pig launchers and receivers for a separation project off the West Coast of Africa. The products were immediately put to use for placement and removal of pigs. These launchers and receivers were designed with quick opening doors and R.T.J flanges at 2300 psig, built to ASME, Sect. VIII, Div. 1 and D.N.V. inspected.
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A large refinery plant located in Pasadena, TX called upon Piping Technology & Products, Inc. to aid them in the immediate replacement of a 5400 Lbs, 7 1/2″ travel vertical constant spring hanger used to support a Coker drum.
The constant spring hanger was damaged during servicing. The reliability engineer from the refinery contacted PT&P Wednesday evening to request an inspection by a PT&P field services representative. The following morning PT&P’s field services representative arrived on-site, inspected the damaged constant spring hanger and suggested that a replacement would be most efficient and cost effective. With the existing nameplate bolted to the constant, PT&P was able to easily locate the original design of the constant.
The original design, along with the convenience of the component parts being in stock inventory, allowed PT&P to quickly manufacture a replica of the constant and ship it out on the same day by 6 p.m.
In the past, lead times for delivery of constant supports averaged 6-8 weeks, however, through the process of maintaining stock components of interchangeable parts, lead time has been drastically reduced. Piping Technology & Products, Inc. maintains a large inventory of stocked constant support assembly components that allows them to quickly assemble and ship to customers on demand, especially in emergency/quick-turn situations.
Read MorePT&P Manufactures Custom Designed Embed Plates for Gold Mine in Cajamarca, Peru
Piping Technology & Products, Inc., designed and manufactured 150 special embed plate pieces for Latin America’s largest gold producer. This project involved the production of one hundred fifty, 93″ x 27″ x 1″ embed plates which required the use of 80,000 pounds of steel and anchors. The custom designed, carbon steel, embed plates are to provide stability for the feed openings of four mineshaft reclaim tunnels and are scheduled to be put to use immediately.
How to Avoid Pipe Stress
What is Pipe Stress?
“Pipe Stress” refers to piping flexibility analysis.
High Stress Locations on Pipes
High stress areas generally occur at piping elbows, tees and other branch connections. The B 31.3 Piping Code provides stress intensification factors for such locations. Computer piping programs generally do piping flexibility analysis for those other than very simple systems.
Signs of Pipe Stress
An overstressed system could fail by fatigue, leading to a crack, buckling of the elbows, or overload on equipment nozzles.
How to Reduce Pipe Stress
High stress should be uncovered in the design stage. However, existing systems can be checked for incipient cracks by x-ray, ultrasound, acoustic emission or dye penetrant. Also, rerouting the pipe can provide more flexibility and sometimes reduce high stress. When rerouting is impossible or not practical, then pipe stress can be reduced significantly by adding Bellows Expansion Joints. Any sections of the pipe showing cracks must be replaced.
Product of the Month
(at left)47.25″ I.D. x 23.625″ I.D. 5A516-70 Transition Pieces w/ 5A36 stiffner for ethylene plant in Saudia Arabia. (at right)47.25″ I.D. Universal Expansion Joint w/ SB443 round corners bellows, and SA516-70 flanges for ethylene plant in Saudia Arabia.
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