Working on an oil rig or an offshore platform is an extremely dangerous prospect. For the last few years, the industry has been under scrutiny for harsher working conditions, environmental effects, and most famously the oil leaks. Oil leaks are harmful to the company as well as the environment. Setting up an oil drilling rig or offshore platform is a challenging and cost-intensive operation and oil leakages impact the bottom line heavily. Hammer unions or pipe connections are the only way to stop this from happening. Most oil leakages are reported from faulty pipe connections and standardized hammer unions are the answer to this problem.
Hammer Union: Best Practices
Recognizing the importance of quality of the hammer union is to the performance and stability of every oil and gas extraction project, there are multiple guidelines present for avoiding any mishaps. Some of the important ones are:
- Every part of the hammer union (male and female) needs to be calibrated and marked with the number/pressure rating. This marking needs to be prominent and permanent.
- Workers have to be trained to avoid matching similar-looking parts without checking the numbers. Even if the numbers and size match, pressure rating has to be checked before making the connection.
- Hammer union materials have to be designed per the site conditions and have to be compatible with pipe materials.
- Hammer union suppliers have to keep buffer stock so that any repair work can be carried out immediately to minimize the damage if any.
Hammer union suppliers in UAE such as New World Horizons are seasoned professionals of this field. Being leading manufacturers and suppliers for the oil and gas industry, their marking and calibration practices are known to be the best. Also, suppliers ensure that their team is aware of all the project specifications and constraints before fulfilling any order.
The American Petroleum Institute has laid down strict guidelines for the procurement and installation of hammer unions. Suppliers like New World Horizon ensure that they are followed to the tee and no incompatible hammer union connection is executed at the site due to mismatch.
Summary – Hammer Unions
Oil leakages are serious business and all steps must be taken to ensure that the piping and distribution systems are leak-proof. Well-calibrated and pressure-tested hammer unions have to be used as per the design recommendations. Hammer unions can go a long way in ensuring the efficiency of petroleum extraction activities.