TPI November 2015

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30 Tube Products International November 2015
products & developments
Protecting pipes against pest attack
Polymer pipes are equipped to carry
many utilities – water, sewer, telephone
lines, liquid petroleum pipelines and
natural gas pipelines. They safely
go through neighbourhoods and
communities, and stretch across farms,
forests, deserts.
These same pipelines provide fuel to
generate electricity and the building
blocks for fertilisers to increase crop
production. Pipelines also collect crude
oil from many rural areas to deliver
to refineries and chemical plants to
create all the products that come
from petroleum and petrochemical
manufacturing.
The safety of pipelines is of utmost
importance. The polymer pipe industry
has to deal with damage caused by
creatures such as rodents and insects.
Though small, rodents can do
unthinkable damage to pipes. They
have a habit of continuously chewing
to keep their growing incisors in check.
Rodents chewing on pipe results in
leakage of the fluid being carried. This
is more worrisome if the leaked fluid
is flammable. In one incident, gnawing
rodents were to blame for the death
of an 80-year-old woman in a gas
explosion that flattened her home.
Pipes are also vulnerable to termite and
ant attack. Termites and ants secrete
formic acid, which dissolves most of
the polymers and causes damage to
the applications. Subterranean termites
pose a major threat to underground
pipes.
C Tech Corporation has formulated the
Rodrepel, Termirepel and Combirepel
products to combat rodent and termite
problems, in the form of polymer-
specific masterbatches and lacquer.
Products in the lacquer form can be
used for coating existing pipelines. They
can also be incorporated in pipelines as
additives to protect them against pests.
The patented non-toxic and non-
hazardous products have been
successful in protecting pipe
applications from the attack of voracious
rodents and termites.
The repellent products do not kill the
target species, but drive the pests away
from the application.
C Tech Corp – India
Accurate,
adjustable drift
runs in a single tool
Peak Well Systems, a specialist in the
design and development of advanced
downhole tools for well intervention,
has launched FlexiDrift – an accurate,
adjustable tool to confirm the minimum
diameter specification of well bore
tubing with the ability to cover a range
of tubing sizes.
Unlike other drift tools on the market
that require up to five tools to cover the
full range of wellbore tubing sizes, the
FlexiDrift is available in three standard
tool sizes that can be accurately
adjusted to the desired diameter, to
span drift diameters of 2" to 2.75"; 2.72"
to 3.75"; and 3.7" to 5.75", reducing
the inventory required to run standard
toolstring operations.
The FlexiDrift consists of a mandrel
with two sets of extendable rails that
can be manually extended using the
adjustment sleeves to the desired radius
of the well tubing. When run downhole,
the positioning of the extended rails
provides high radial contact across
a wide operating range of required
drift sizes, ensuring no unforeseen
obstructions, debris or damage
is present in the well prior to other
operations.
The FlexiDrift’s design allows for
sufficient bypass of fluid to enable
efficient toolstring conveyance in well
fluids.
It can be accurately adjusted and
deployed via slickline and all other
standard industry conveyance methods
at the well site without the need for
specialist training.
A shear release function triggered
through upwards jarring allows the
FlexiDrift to retract to its minimum ID
to enable reliable retrieval to surface,
even when working in highly deviated
wells or those with high levels of scale
and debris.
Gus Brown, engineering manager at
Peak Well Systems, commented, “Until
now multiple drifting tools have been
required to cover a range of well ODs for
any given operator. This usually results in
increased inventory and consequential
increased costs for customers. Peak’s
FlexiDrift meets market demand for an
alternative accurate drifting tool that
offers the ultimate flexibility whilst
minimising inventory and reducing
costs.”
The robust FlexiDrift can be run multiple
times for multiple applications, and
is fully field re-dressable. It can also
be supplied with multiple connections
to ensure compatibility with existing
toolstring products.
Peak Well Systems – Australia
FlexiDrift from
Peak Well Systems