June 2014, Vol. 241, No. 6

What's New

What's New: June 2014

New products from Pergam, McElroy, Black Powder Solutions, Mattracks, Dresser-Rand, Olympus, American Innovations, DNV GL and more.

Pergam
Pergam has extended its aerial inspection division to offer aerial leak detection via the Aerial Laser Methane Assessment (ALMA) device. The product can be installed on Bell 206 JetRanger helicopters and remotely detects, quantifies and reports methane emissions at an altitude of 500 feet. The inspection service is provided worldwide in partnership with local helicopter operators. www.pergamusa.com/ALMA.

McElroy
McElroy has released the Spider 125 with Universal Clamping for socket fusion installations of 63 mm to 125 mm polypropylene (PP) pipe in overhead, vertical and tight work spaces. The lightweight, compact device features a worm gear drive with parallel link system to bring pipe and fittings together evenly and under control. It features a universal clamping system that can accommodate any size of pipe or coupling, eliminating the need for inserts. A single technician can properly align, heat, fuse and cool the pipe, and because the tool is non-back drivable, constant pressure is maintained throughout the process. www.mcelroy.com/ppr.

Black Powder Solutions
Black Powder Solutions has developed a pipeline sampling station capable of accurately detecting amounts of black powder built up within oil and gas lines, detecting problem areas in the pipeline and the composition of the contamination. Black powder is a hard contaminant that results from bacterial and chemical corrosion of carbon steel pipe walls. Moisture is the catalyst, creating corrosion, and the result is the production of iron sulfides and oxides that can cause pipeline spills and component failures. The company’s separation technology removes black powder from hydrocarbon fluid and gas to sub-micron levels without flow restriction, using a cleanable magnetic design. It also offers a coalescing sample station to detect and remove particulate and liquid within natural gas for analysis. www.blackpowdersolutions.com

Mattracks

Mattracks has extended its Track-Tor-Assist lineup to include vehicles up to 80,000 lbs. GVW. This brings the company’s total lineup to over 100 standard rubber track conversions for ATVs, UTVs, trailers, pickups, tractors, SUVs, 4x4s, front-wheel assist or nonpowered pull types. 877-436-7800, sales@mattracks.com, www.mattracks.com.

Dresser-Rand
Dresser-Rand has launched its new Magnum HammerHead valve, specifically designed for high molecular weight applications at both low and high compressor speeds. The new valve can be applied to all brands of reciprocating compressors and is engineered to improve compressor efficiency. A unique element design minimizes tensile stresses. A streamlined flow path with optimized seat, guard and lift areas maximizes valve flow area and is more tolerant of particles and liquids in the gas. Only one element is used for all valve sizes, which simplifies inventory management, minimizes replacement costs and increases interchangeability. www.dresser-rand.com.

Olympus

Olympus has released the 27MG Ultrasonic Thickness Gage, designed to make accurate measurements from one side on internally corroded or eroded metal pipes. It weighs 12 oz. (340 g) and is designed for one-hand operation. Battery-operated and rugged, the gage features a large, backlit LCD and a color-coded keypad. Standard features include automatic probe recognition to ensure optimal transducer performance, auto-zero compensation to enhance the accuracy of measurements on hot surfaces, gain adjust to improve measurements on sound-attenuating materials such as cast metals and a Min/Max mode that recalls the minimum or maximum thickness at 20 measurements per second. www.olympus-ims.com.

Vail Products
Vail Products has launched the Vail Products X Series, a series of attachments for skid steer loaders, compact track loaders, utility tractors and utility vehicles. The new attachments include a rotary tree saw, a wide 4-blade brush cutter, a shrub and tree removing Grubber, a wide-mouth Brush Grapple, a 78”-wide land planer, rock and dirt augers and a loader-bucket-style cement mixer. www.vailxseries.com.

American Innovations
American Innovations has announced the Bullhorn RM3012 remote monitoring unit designed for gas compressors. The monitor maximizes compressor uptime by alerting customers within minutes of a compressor failure. A built-in backup battery ensures that when the primary power source is compromised, customers continue to receive alarms. www.aiworldwide.com.

DNV GL
Following the merger of DNV and GL, DNV’s Synergi Pipeline and GL Noble Denton’s Uptime pipeline integrity software options will be combined into a single system under the Synergi Pipeline name. The software is a scalable company-wide risk and integrity management system. It is designed to enable safe and efficient pipeline operations, document risk and give users, including upper management, a clear overview of the integrity of distribution networks and offshore and onshore pipelines. The software provides a complete PDCA (plan, do, check, act) cycle and a data management platform to allow proactive integrity and risk management, supporting international standards (e.g. ASME, DNV, BS). It will be available in ESRI ArcGIS and non-ESRI environments and will include an analytic module for the creation of desired models, not limited to risk models. www.dnvgl.com.

Ventev Wireless Infrastructure, GE

Ventev Wireless Infrastructure has announced the Ventev Deployment Kit for the GE MDS Orbit Platform. The platform is GE’s next-generation wireless communications solution integrating cellular, private, licensed and unlicensed networks in one device to facilitate secure communication between field crews and industrial equipment, and bring asset and operational data from the field to the operations center. The factory-direct kit includes all of the components needed to deploy, power, and protect the platform, allowing industrial SCADA, wireless backhaul, and broadband communications users to deploy the product quickly and avoid installation errors. The kit contains fully integrated, plug-and-play enclosures, batteries, cabling, mounts, antennas for the public cellular networks, lightning arrestors, grounding protection, and weatherproofing components. It can be ordered in three variations: LTE and Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi only, or LTE only. The platform can be ordered and factory-installed into the deployment kit prior to delivery. www.tessco.com, www.ventev.com/ge-mdsorbit.

Tri Tool
Tri Tool’s new CouponMASTER Weld Coupon Machine is engineered for reusing and recycling post-welded training and weld test coupons. This benefits union halls, colleges and trade schools where high numbers of weld coupons are used in training and certification programs for welders qualifying with heavy wall pipe. With the average pre-cut and pre-beveled 2” diameter (NPS) weld test coupon being 4” long, the tube cutting machine can perform at least four reclamation cycles (considering a .125” HAZ removal tolerance) for post-welded coupons. www.tritool.com.

Osborn

Osborn has released a new 114-knot cutback brush, used for angled removal of three or more layers of coating from pipe ends. The brush was developed in association with machine manufacturers to make removal of pipe coating quicker and more cost effective, and is designed to complete the three steps in the process of standard coating removal simultaneously: It cleans the pipe edge, removes the pipe coating and grinds the coating angle all at one time. Made with ultra-high-density, AB wire for heavy-duty applications, the brush is available in custom arbor hole/keyway dimensions. www.osborn.com.

ESCO Tool

The MILLHOG Dictator Welding End Prep Tool, an upgraded welding end prep tool for machining high-temperature, high-pressure pipe used on severe duty offshore piping systems and shale pumping stations, has been introduced by ESCO Tool. The prep tool is an I.D. clamping pipe milling machine designed for dry-cutting high-temperature, high-pressure pipe from 4.5” I.D. to 18” O.D. Suited for stainless steel and super duplex piping systems, the tool features a 3 HP air motor designed for high performance in environments that have dirty air and high moisture content. It develops 4,100 ft.-lbs. of torque at the cutter blade and pulls a continuous thick chip without cutting oils. The rotor and vane assembly can be accessed for cleaning or maintenance by the removal of one screw. www.escotool.com.

Flowrox
Flowrox has launched the PVG valve, a new pinch valve product designed to enhance current pipeline equipment and processes using the latest technology in fluid control.
The valve has been engineered at full bore with no flow restrictions, allowing processes with abrasive or corrosive fluids – such as lime slurry or mineral slurries. The main benefit to a full bore design is that the valve itself becomes an integral part of the pipe and is able to process the same fluids in the harshest of conditions. The new valve can also act as a full port fluid control device to allow a more efficient process, requiring less pumping energy. www.flowrox.us.

MATCOR Inc.
MATCOR Inc. now offers the patent-pending Iron Gopher, featuring a rugged stainless steel outer jacket for greatly increased pulling strength in HDD installations. The new device adds a high-strength stainless steel overbraid, a proprietary aluminum nosecone and a pulling-cable assembly to the SPL–Anode and patented Kynex connection technology to ensure waterproof connections in the anode. www.matcor.com/ig.

Sewerin

Sewerin offers the VARIOTEC Ethane Gas Analyzer (EGA) for determining the methane, ethane and propane components of a gas sample. It differentiates between natural gas and swamp gas on-site. The device requires no special training to use and its analysis process depends on a series of prompts designed to be clear and user-friendly. Measurement reports can be saved and stored on a PC for record keeping. The speed of the analysis is based on the fact that natural gas contains ethane, but swamp gas does not. Thus, if ethane is detected, it can be concluded that natural gas is present. 519-851-8984, www.sewerin.com.

New Century Software
New Century Software has released an inspection alignment application, Alignment Manager, that allows pipeline integrity engineers to align inline inspection (ILI) and close interval survey (CIS) data with the PODS database. The solution replaces its legacy product, iAlign, and offers additional functionality, including a guided workflow and data mapping templates that streamline the alignment process. The new software allows users to integrate ILI, GIS and prior inspections via a visual display, and features predefined templates for some ILI vendors. A semi-automatic alignment process guides the user. Streamlined workflows align data with GIS features and weld-to-weld with prior ILI inspections. The software allows for validation prior to submitting information to the PODS database. 970-267-2000, www.newcenturysoftware.com.