WorldWide Drilling Resource

WorldWide Drilling Resource ® There may be more types of fittings than people to select them when securing or connecting pipe. Fittings are made of a wide variety of materials for an equally large variety of applications. So, it is important to have a good feel for what a fitting can do for your unique application. Many folks who have experience with rigid pipe are quickly learning of the benefits of lay-flat hoses. These flexible hoses have benefits over rigid types in that they can be quickly, safely, and easily deployed, picked up, transported, and stored. Polyurethane has become the hose material of choice for fluid transfer along the ground because of its high psi (pounds per square inch/pressure) capabilities offered in such a lightweight hose. It is also available in up to 12 inches in diameter, and is very abrasion-resistant, allowing for recurrence of use many times. So, now that we have this great polyurethane hose, what fittings are available with it? It depends on the application, what it needs to connect to, and the working pressure. We have a hose and fitting testing facility in our Scottsdale, Arizona, location. Regular tests are per- formed to ensure the highest quality product is supplied for the working environment where it will perform. An aluminum body with Victaulic-style grooved ends will hold very high working pressures. The hose is clamped with segments connected with allen bolts which form a ring. The ends can be connected fairly rapidly with a quick-connect clamp, or they may be flanged to the pump or elsewhere. For lower pressures, BAUER- and Cam-Lok™-style fittings are pretty common. The benefit here is they can be connected very quickly. Installation is pretty easy, as well. The hose is slid over the nipple and commonly connected with a band. This works well, generally for lower pressure applications where a small leak is not catastrophic. We have tested and developed a new option which outperforms the traditional banding of the hose to the fitting. “Wire Whipping” provides an option which is gen- erally priced lower and can hold more pressure than traditional banding. Wire Whipping performs well with the rabbit ear, ball, or grooved-end style fittings. The wire is wrapped or “whipped” around the hose to secure it to the body of the fitting. There is constant tension on every strand, providing the ability to work with higher working pressures than banding. See for yourself. Tracy Tracy Keck may be contacted via e-mail at michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com " # # # " "# # ! #! % # !! " ! " "# ! & ! % ! # ' ! & !! #' " $!"# " # " ##" " " " " $# " !!! Wire Whip by Tracy Keck Hose Solutions, Inc. 22 AUGUST 2015 Oil/Water Exploration by Harold White This year marked the 75th Annual Sisters Rodeo in Sisters, Oregon. I have been going to this rodeo 50+ years. That’s a lot of years. I used to fly over to Sisters, watch the rodeo, then fly back to an air- port in Springfield. It is now the present Walmart. The rodeo ground has moved a few times, but it is still in Sisters. This trip to the rodeo was from Burns, Oregon, where we were drilling irrigation wells about 150 miles across sagebrush desert area 130 miles past Bend. It was a nice time out and another good rodeo. Now the break is over, maybe we can get back on schedule. We have a lot of wells to drill. We expect the drill average will be about 500 feet. The wells should produce more than 500 gallons per minute to run the pivot sprinkler sys- tem. Some people say this makes a big footprint and scares the wildlife away. I have never seen anything affect the deer, bear, cougar, antelope, coyotes, turkeys, prairie dogs, racoons, or jack- rabbits for long. It seems noise attracts everything. They seem very curious and come up every night. In the morning, I see all kinds of footprints around the rig, and birds use the tower as a roost. One hawk moved onto the top and uses it for a lookout tower and hunts the prairie dogs and other ground animals from there. There is also a nest with three eggs in it on the water truck doorstep. This all happened when we went home for the grandkids’ graduations in Gold Beach and Cottage Grove. The statements and comments in this article are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Harold Harold White may be contacted via e-mail at michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com