Victaulic in Kazakhstan – development of a new pipe joining method.

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Victaulic in Kazakhstan – development of a new pipe joining method.
Victaulic in Kazakhstan – Development of a New Pipe Joining Method.

by Nursultan Askaruly.

First steps.

4 years ago, the Kazakhstan market in the field of pipe connections did not even suspect the presence of more innovative solutions in the world. In 2016, Chevron, the largest oil producer in Kazakhstan, expanded its activities at the Tengiz oilfield to increase daily production of crude oil. The most advanced solutions from all over the world have been used for construction of the third generation plant. One of these solutions is the products of the Victaulic American trademark.

Расположение месторождения Тенгиз

Due to the extreme weather conditions in some Kazakhstan region, where winter temperature falls to 50 degrees Celsius below zero, Victaulic has developed special solutions, which are not included in the standard product catalog of the company. This demonstrates the more professional company’s approach to its clients. I believe this needs to be taken as a note most manufacturers, not only in Kazakhstan, but throughout the world.

Victaulic has developed special solutions, which are not included in the standard product catalog of the company.

Company’s history

In 1919 in time of the “First World War” the British government set a task to speed up the deployment of fuel and water lines. Pipeline welding did not give the desired results. Welding of one joint took a lot of time, and taking into consideration the 1919 when bullets were whistling over the head, and welders were not so experienced like welders in the 21 century, it becomes clear that this method was very dangerous.

Генри Хеле-Шоу(Dr Henry Hele-Shaw)

At the same time the young lieutenant Ernest Tribe, one of the Royal engineers, has developed a special form of coupling to be used for pipes and tanks with pressurized medium. Tribe, in conjunction with Dr. Henry Hele-Shaw, a noted English hydraulic engineer, offered their solutions as an alternative to the welding method. Thus, the original purpose of the Victaulic pipe joint was mainly for military applications but quickly gained popularity in other commercial and industrial markets.

On April 4, 1919 he filed the patent for what is now known as the Victaulic coupling.

My invention is for an improved pipe joint which obviates the necessity for raising flanges at the ends of the pipes to be joined. I do not attempt to butt the ends of pipe together in order to form a fluid-tight joint, either with or without a packing ring between, but employ instead one packing ring made of flexible material, the form of which is an essential feature of the invention.

— Tribe U.K. Patent 149381 filing – 4 April 1919..

Victaulic Company "Victory" and "Hydraulics” was founded in New York City in 1925 to sale bolted mechanical couplings joining pipes together by grooves at the pipe ends and using gaskets..

Victaulic - "Victory" and "Hydraulics"

Ever since the company holds strong positions on the pipe joining market and is the leader in this sphere for 100 years.

For a long time, I didn't understand why the company positions itself as an innovative company, and when I found out the company has registered more than 2000 patents during 100 years, that is average 20 patents annually, all my questions became irrelevant automatically.

the company has registered more than 2000 patents

Currently, the company has the one hundred history, and the headquarters located in Easton, PA. The company has more than 15 major manufacturing facilities, over four thousand (4000) employees working in 28 branches worldwide (USA, China, Mexica, and etc.). And the Chairman, President and General Director is: John F. Malloy.

Председатель, президент и генеральный директор: Джон Ф. Маллой.

 Chairman, President and General Director: John F. Malloy.

Products

Каталог товаров Victaulic

In order not to mislead you, dear reader, I would like to let you know that, besides the main product of the company such as coupling (grooved, weldless method, mechanical) connections, it also produces various fire protection systems including but not limited: 

  • Grooved fittings and various tees
  • Control valves (ball, butterfly, check, and etc.)
  • Pump drops and collectors
  • Sprinklers and much, much more

Methods of connecting pipeline systems in Kazakhstan.

Let's remember the main methods of connecting pipeline systems, namely, what is actively used now on the Kazakhstan market.

Flanged connections

the most popular method. It means a pre-welded flange at the ends of pipes and connected to each other by bolts and nuts (a number of bolts and nuts increases depending on the diameter). A thin rubber gasket for tightness is used between flanges.

Фланцевый метод соединения

The benefits of this connection are its application in fireless operation conditions of pipeline systems. The flange connections have much more disadvantages:

  • High labor intensity of installation works.
  • Many time required, first, for flange re-welding, and, second, for system connection, sometimes in inaccessible areas.  
  • Relatively high costs
  • It is sensitive to variable pressure and temperature in the system. System expansion or compression may result in leak, which in turn results in unscheduled works for elimination of emergency consequences.
  • A weight of flanged connections increases in proportion with the increase of diameter. Especially due to the increase of a number of bolts and nuts in proportion with the increase of system diameter.

System expansion or compression may result in leak, which in turn results in unscheduled works for elimination of emergency consequences.

Welding method

A permanent pipeline connection method performed by welding two pipe ends..

Сварной метод соединение труб

Benefits of this method:

  • Relative low price of this method
  • Weight-saving of a structure.

Disadvantages:

  • Defective welds probability during welding, i.e. the weld crack detection is required.
  • Extra expenses for equipment
  • Skilled professional
  • Permanent connection method If the direction is set incorrectly, it is necessary to destroy the structure and wild again
  • Warm weather conditions for welding plastic pipelines
  • Time increment in proportion with the increase of diameter, and if this is welding of plastic pipes - time required for installation increases several times.
  • Occupational diseases. Harmful vapors.
  • Installation is impossible where hot works are prohibited. 

Threaded connections

A pipe joining method by screwing one pipe end in the other one (female and male thread) using pre-cut thread. It is a quite useful method for installation of a leak-proof pipeline using minimum set of equipment. But this method has its disadvantages

Disadvantages:

  • Permanent coupling that not allows angular and radial movements due to variable temperature and system pressure.
  • Connection of a metal pipe with a pipe made of softer composite materials is impossible.
  • Less tightness level in comparison with with welded joints
  • The joints become looser with time that results in leakage. Therefore, the system needs a periodic maintenance.
  • Thread stripping is possible due to corrosion.
  • Pipe diameters is limited

Benefits:

  • No excess weight
  • Possibility of independent thread cutting
  • Possibility of quick installation and dismantling of the system without use of complex equipment.

Victaulic coupling connection for pipelines.

Finally, we moved on to the most interesting part of my article, where I will try to tell more about the design of the Victaulic coupling.

Муфтовое соединение арматуры от Victaulic.

The coupling connection may be divided into 4 basic components:

Bolts and nuts.

Bolts and nuts are the only component, which is not produced by the Victaulic company, but this does not affect the assembly quality in any way, since the company has been outsourcing these elements for more than 50 years. It is not unreasonable to assume that if the quality of bolts and nuts would leave much to be desired, the company would change the supplier or create its own production. I am sure that these structural elements comply with all world standards..

When using couplings in media having any chemical or mechanical effect on bolts and nuts, Victaulic provides the preliminary treatment of these elements with fluoroelastomers for corrosion and abrasion protection.

Grooved pipe ends.

Grooves at pipe ends are channels, which size, depth and production technique depend on diameter and thickness of pipe walls. Victaulic proposes several types of equipment:

Оборудование для накатки пазов ручным способом

  • Semi-automatic equipment or tool is designed for field use or in special spaces. It required 220V for roll grooving. Grooving speed is significantly increased. The equipment allows using pipes of diameter up to 14 inches. Rolls are changed depending on material of the grooved pipe
  • Fully-motorized tools for roll grooving or cut grooving in workshop. The tool is used for pipes of large diameter (up to 1800 mm) and a great number of pipes.

And so, we studied the equipment. Let's talk about methods now. Only two methods are applied. These are cold roll grooving method and cut grooving method.

The cold roll grooving method is used in 90% of events. The main criterion is a pipe wall thickness which should not exceed 6mm. The most critical aspect is that the metal is not extracted when using this method. That is, this does not affect the wall thickness. I think the video clearly shows the essence of the process.

The cut grooving method is used for pipes a diameter of which exceeds 6 mm or for pipes made of plastic or other composite materials. The essence of this method is the layer by layer removal of the external pipe wall. Certainly you will think that the thinning of the pipe wall is often not acceptable in some cases, but do not forget that it is compensated by the coupling itself.

roll grooved and cut grooved накатной и нарезной паз

Well, I think it’s covered everything I know, it’s time to move on to the next component of our coupling anatomy.

Coupling body.

The standard coupling body is made of cast iron or stainless steel. The coupling is coated with a special enamel for corrosion protection. Fortunately, the company is ready to make couplings even of gold, as long as a client has enough money. This is exactly what happened with the M&G project (the real name cannot be disclosed in view of the client’s ban) at one of the largest fields in Kazakhstan. Couplings for this project were made of low temperature carbon steel (LTC) that increased coupling characteristics as a result

Fortunately, the company is ready to make couplings even of gold, as long as a client has enough money

Why I recommend to use cast iron if this is not prescribed by specification? The thing is that cast iron absorbs noise and vibration perfectly. How did I get it? And you, my dear reader, remember the cast-iron baths, where our parents bathed us, and compare them with acrylic or steel analogues.

Чугун кусок

cast iron absorbs noise and vibration perfectly

Noise and vibration absorption is the top priority in many industrial sectors, as the consequences can be unanticipated...

And so returning to our couplings, I would like to add that the range of characteristics is really impressive:

  • Temperature from -40 to +170 degrees Celsius
  • Diameters from 20 mm to 1800 mm
  • Pressure up to 273 bar + safety factor 3 to 1.

Do not believe about the pressure safety factor??? Then see the test of style 908 coupling for HDPE pipe.

Coupling core

The main structural element is the rubber gasket (RG) inside the body.

Уплотнительная резина Victaulic

Pay attention to the blue strip at the edge of the ring

It is selected individually depending on operating environment of the coupling. Please pay attention to the blue strip on the edge of the ring, this is a color indicator by which the installer determines the gasket material and will never make a mistake when installing the coupling.

The range of gaskets is very large - EPDM, Nitrile, Silicone and many others, for more details you can read page 47 this manual. In the instructions you will also gain knowledge on selection of a particular gasket for any medium

Triple seal effect - this is the patented technology, where the gasket is designed in such a way that maximum eliminate the leakage risk. Let’s consider why it is called the “Triple seal effect

  1. The gasket diameter is 5% less than the pipe diameter. This is for tight seal of the gasket by exerting pressure when mounting on the pipe.
  2. The coupling body exerts the second pressure on the gasket when bolt tightening.
  3. The third pressure is exerted by the pipeline system itself, i.e. the higher pressure in the system, the stronger gasket is expanded, and it seals the system more tightly.

The video demonstrates this more clearly.

Advantages and Disadvantages.

In my humble opinion (Imho), the only disadvantage of this joining method is the high cost of products. I do not argue, there are analogues of Chinese or Indian products in the market, but I personally saw and felt them, and I want to say that the quality of the analogues leaves much to be desired.

But is it really a disadvantage as it seems? Let's think together...

When calculating costs, our people consider the price of one coupling and multiply it by a number of couplings required according to the design (euphemistically). BUT what is the cost of 1 hour of downtime for an oil company? - 500 000 $ as a minimum; and welding work? Or equipment for pipe welding? If we talk about indirect costs in the long term, the money spent for Victaulic products is dissolved and even more cost-efficient than usual methods.

In the "Developed countries" this is not considered a disadvantage at all, since welding work is counted for every hour, and, moreover, it is not the cheapest work.

Well, in general, at root, as a result you can come to the conclusion that it is not expensive at all.

Ok, let's talk about the benefits now.

  1. Installation and dismantling speed.
  2. Safety, no need to breathe welding fumes.
  3. Assembly is easier since it does not require a huge number of bolts, as is case with flanges.
  4. No requirement in a specialist for installation work, any odd-job worker can be trained in technology for one day.
  5. Flexibility - compensates for angular and radial movements caused by variable temperature and system pressure.
  6. Absorbs noise and vibration
  7. Easy to fit - for instance, what should I do if a welder set the wrong direction of a tee or fitting and welded the system?
  8. Strength - grooved design counteracts torsional and bending loads
  9. Absorbs seismic seismic vibrations - withstands up to 9 grades
  10. Wide range of gaskets for any medium.
  11. No inflammation risk since the fireless method is used.

Conclusions

The main problem of our market is first of all in the conservative thinking of our countrypeople - I have been welding pipes for 30 years and I will continue to weld, why do I need these "innovative solutions".

Without innovation, my dear friend, we would ride horses now and not know about the existence of the Internet.

But I am 99% sure that their opinion will change after they try these solutions at least once. Actually, flexible couplings for pipelines impress with their simplicity and speed of installation, especially in inaccessible areas.

In general, I believe that in the near future, couplings, like cars superseded horses, will invert the pipe joining market, and already at the level of SNIPs and GOSTs will be a priority over other methods. For example, in Canada, when designing pipelines, they are obliged to use coupling connections if this is not regulated by special technical specifications.

For example, in Canada, when designing pipelines, they are obliged to use coupling connections if this is not regulated by special technical specifications.

P.S. This whole article is my personal, subjective opinion, and do not judge too harshly, especially considering that I have never written articles of this kind before..

Read Russion version here.