Technology/R&D
McElroy
McElroy has released the SmartFab™ 125, its first benchtop machine which offers a way to socket fuse pipe and fittings for polypropylene piping systems. The machine is portable and can be positioned on any flat surface for precise prefabrication on large assemblies. Features include inserts which ca..
Greene’s Energy Group, LLC
Greene’s Energy Group, LLC was awarded a U.S. patent for its Closed Loop Separator, designed for high solids applications through reduced fluids velocity. This third-generation system is designed to increase safety by preventing the release of gas on location during well completion and intervention ..
ENR General Machining Co.
The Model E2460 Tapping Machine from ENR General Machining Co. (ENR) provides a tapping size range of 24-60 inches with a Boring Bar Travel of 72, 120 and 140 inches. The machine has 6-inch 900# RTJ mounting flange as standard and is also available with a 600# RTJ front flange. The machine is hydrau..
DEWALT
DEWALT launched its 4½-inch, small Angle Grinders (DWE4222N, DWE4222, DWE4224). They are designed for applications in tight spaces such as grinding and beveling steel, grinding welds, cutting pipe and steel plate and concrete surface prep. Improvements include the Lanyard Ready™ Connection, brake sy..
Rotork
Rotork GO (gas-over-oil) actuators have been upgraded to provide a more compact and highly reliable solution for automating heavy-duty valve applications found in the gathering, pipeline transmission, compression, and storage of gas. The new generation of GO actuators is designed for service in hars..
Lincoln Electric
Lincoln Electric is offering the Flextec® 350X welder and LN-25X wire feeder that uses a proprietary communications protocol to transfer operator voltage adjustments at the feeder to the power source hundreds of feet away using a common copper weld cable. No additional control cable is required. The..
Inline Services
Inline Services has new tracking equipment that can be used to monitor a pig’s location or movement throughout a pipeline. The pig-tracking equipment consists of receivers, geophones and transmitters. Receivers are used to reveal distinctive pulsing patterns of passing pigs. Geophones detect low sou..
Technical Toolboxes
Technical Toolboxes has released RSTRENG+, a cloud-based program. Benefits of this version are real-time updates that will be constant vs. the desktop version that is once or twice a year. This will be based on your IT group’s procedures, company polices and agreements. Highlights of RSTRENG+ inclu..
What’s New in Products and Services
Inline Services Inline Services’ Pit Cleaning Pig® is built for heavy-duty cleaning. The steel body is encompassed by steel wire pencil brushes and polyurethane discs that scrape along the pipeline and make for an aggressive circumferential cleaning. This mandrel-bodied pig is extremely efficient..
Heat Exchangers Certified for Pipeline Components Cooling
Owners and operators of fuel and other energy pipelines are well aware of the changed regulatory environment in the wake of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As the public’s fears escalated because of the environmental damage and loss of life that followed the rig blowo..
Importance of Management of Change in Alarm Modifications
For process plants and gas pipeline networks, it is essential to manage change when making modifications to alarms and alarm systems. Management of change (MoC) should, therefore, be a fundamental process within the alarm management lifecycle. It is widely recognized throughout the process industri..
Top 10 Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities for Oil and Gas
With the exploitation of new cost-effective operational concepts, use of digital technologies and increased dependence on cyber structures, the oil and gas industry is exposed to new sets of vulnerabilities and threats. Cyberattacks have grown in stature and sophistication, making them more difficul..
Measuring Methane Emissions: Part of Gas Pipelines’ Future
When examining the growing cottage industry of methane emissions control, it is clear upfront that it is one of the toughest sub-specialties in the emerging conglomerate that makes up the national response to climate change impacts. Researchers, engineers and public-policy wonks must start with the ..
Honeywell to Supply System for Texas-Based LNG Project
Texas LNG, a Houston-based energy company, has selected Honeywell’s UOP Amine Guard™ FS process to remove contaminants from natural gas in preparation for liquefaction and export. The company’s two-phase project, located on the north shore of the Port of Brownsville’s deep-water ship channel, will p..
AP Investigation: US Power Grid Vulnerable to Foreign Hacks
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Security researcher Brian Wallace was on the trail of hackers who had snatched a California university's housing files when he stumbled into a larger nightmare: Cyber-attackers had opened a pathway into the networks running the United States power grid.
Industry Cooperation Key to Improving Infrastructure Pipeline Safety
Several years ago after the collapse of a bridge in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, a cartoon was published showing two people standing on a sidewalk acknowledging the news and bemoaning what else could go wrong. Shown only as can best be done in cartoons, was a mish-mash of pipes underneath their very feet totally out of sight, in various contortions and in varying levels of disrepair and decay.
Steel vs. Plastic Pipe: Some Thoughts to Consider
With oil prices hovering near $50 a barrel for the first time since the crash of 2008, oil and gas producers are watching to see if this is a temporary blip from the $80-100 range or closer to a “new normal” in which prices stay below $60. For some, this price uncertainty has meant scaling back production, exploration and drilling with the looming possibility of halting some activities all together.
Mr. Mayeaux, You Left Your Company in the Right Hands
Justin Harvey knows he has an industrial-sized pair of shoes to fill as he takes the helm at A+ Corporation, a family-owned and operated gas sample conditioning system service company in Gonzales, LA. The 30-year-old Harvey was just a toddler when his legendary grandfather Donald Mayeaux founded the company in 1989. Mayeaux earned his reputation for developing product concepts that changed the manner in which natural gas was sampled.
Ultrasonic Cleaning Technology Helps SoCalGas Achieve Greater Efficiency
High-powered engines require high-powered cleaning to maintain operating efficiency and productivity. One natural gas facility is realizing significant time savings, seeing greater equipment efficiency and extending the life of its 100-year-old equipment, saving millions of dollars in the process.
Why Texans Might Soon Be Driving On Mexican Gasoline
The world is changing fast in the energy industry and for no company is that truer than Mexican National Oil Company Pemex. After decades of bloated operations and mismanagement, Pemex has made major moves to improve its operations and attract foreign investors to the Mexican energy sector. This is a major piece of the current administration’s plan to modernize and improve the efficiency of the state-dominated oil sector and simultaneously give a much needed boost to the Mexican economy. Unfortunately oil markets are not cooperating.
APGA Determined to Have Its Voice Heard on Capitol Hill
Leading a natural gas distribution company is always a challenge because there are few businesses that deal so directly with their customer base, be it residential, commercial or industrial, as well as safety regulators, equipment and service providers, not to mention the city council or utility board that approves rates.
EPA Proposes New Methane Regulations for Midstream Operations
The federal Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed new regulations for methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the oil and gas sector that place time-consuming and expensive new requirements on midstream businesses. These regulations would not apply to pipelines, but would require ongoing emissions monitoring and equipment replacements at compressor stations and natural gas processing plants built, “modified,” or “reconstructed” after Sept. 18, 2015.
Xodus, TNO Enter Phase 2 of Multiphase Flow Research
International energy consultancy Xodus Group and the Dutch company TNO have completed the first phase of a pioneering joint industry project (JIP) into the dynamic forces that affect the integrity of piping systems, in particular through multiphase flow. The second phase of the project, which is expected to be run across three stages, is now open for new participants to join.
Cured-in-Place Liner Research Demonstrates Long-Term Viability
<strong></strong>Cured-in-place liners (CIPL) have been installed on cast-iron and steel pipelines in natural gas distribution systems in Europe, Japan and North America over the last few decades. CIPL have been used because of their rehabilitative and renewal qualities in contrast to the higher costs, construction risks and public inconvenience associated with conventional pipeline replacement methods, particularly in congested and difficult to access areas such as river and road crossings or urban areas.
Dresser-Rand Shows Combined Solutions with Siemens at Gastech 2015
At the Gastech Conference and Exhibition 2015 held Oct. 27-30 in Singapore, Dresser-Rand displayed how its combined solutions with Siemens offers clients what it says are the oil and gas industry’s most extensive portfolio of rotating equipment, including the launch of the new RB211-GT30 gas turbine.
What's New: December 2015
<p><strong>Inline Services</strong></p> <p>Inline’s polyurethane spheres are ideal for removing liquids from wet gas systems, product separation, hydrostatic line testing and wax control in crude oil pipelines. Our spheres are manufactured of high quality polyurethane for lasting service in the worst conditions. Inflatable spheres, 12-inch and larger are designed with two filling holes to ensure complete removal of the air inside the sphere. Spheres can also be manufactured out of medium and hard-density foam, coated in various polyurethane coatings and even equipped with brushes. www.inlineservices.com</p>
Improving Lost and Unaccounted for Levels by Embracing Innovation
Across many industries, companies showing a reluctance to embrace new technology are in danger of losing any competitive edge. In the oil and gas industry, where even the smallest error can have a major long-term effect, embracing innovation in the form of data analytics has become a necessity for companies striving to reach the highest levels.
Paris Climate Talks Point to Boon for Energy Storage
As the world leaders come together in Paris to tackle the hot issue of climate change, there is one market that not only remains crucial for growth of renewable energy sources; but also remains the most talked about market in the global investment circles: the energy storage market.
Michels Sets North American HDD Record on Northern Courier Pipeline
Michels used horizontal directional drilling (HDD) beneath the Athabasca River on Nov. 21 to complete a company record 1.36-mile installation – the longest in North America for a 42-inch pipe. The 7,200-foot crossing is located near Fort MacKay, Alberta, about one hour north of Fort McMurray. The crossing, part of the TCPL Northern Courier Pipeline Project, involved installing a 42-inch casing pipe with six HDDs and one Direct Pipe™.
Oil and Gas Research Eyeing Future, Bridging Gaps
In the gridlock of first-quarter 2015 earnings conference calls last spring, Doug Suttles, CEO at Alberta-based Encana Corp., talked bullishly about the Canadian energy company’s production growth prospects. This while in the midst of reporting a $1.7 billion loss for the quarter tied to a $1.2 billion impairment charge brought on by last year’s global oil price crash and another $500 million of red ink coming from a foreign exchange loss. Regardless, Suttles couldn’t have been more upbeat when he talked to analysts in mid-May.
- Kinder Morgan Proposes 290-Mile Gas Pipeline Expansion Spanning Three States
- Enbridge Plans 86-Mile Pipeline Expansion, Bringing 850 Workers to Northern B.C.
- Intensity, Rainbow Energy to Build 344-Mile Gas Pipeline Across North Dakota
- Tallgrass to Build New Permian-to-Rockies Pipeline, Targets 2028 Startup with 2.4 Bcf Capacity
- U.S. Moves to Block Enterprise Products’ Exports to China Over Security Risk
- U.S. Pipeline Expansion to Add 99 Bcf/d, Mostly for LNG Export, Report Finds
- A Systematic Approach To Ensuring Pipeline Integrity
- US Poised to Become Net Exporter of Crude Oil in 2023
- EIG’s MidOcean Energy Acquires 20% Stake in Peru LNG, Including 254-Mile Pipeline
- Enbridge Sells $511 Million Stake in Westcoast Pipeline to Indigenous Alliance
