MULTIPLE MATERIAL PIPING COMPONENT
The piping component is comprised in part of a metal housing that is positionable with a metal pipe. The metal housing forms an opening in which a piping component body is inserted. The body of the piping component can be fastened to the metal housing an epoxy adhesive, a set screw connection, a threaded connection, press fit connection, a key connection or a pin connection or a combination of these connections. The body is comprised of a plastic or a ceramic, which is less expensive than metal and facilitates forming, including machining or molding, while maintaining its structural integrity in a hostile fluid environment, such as in oil or gas. Piping components such as flowmeters, flow conditioners, small volume provers, static mixers, samplers, and valves are contemplated for use with these multiple materials.
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This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/732,622 filed on Apr. 4, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in its entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTN/A
NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENTN/A
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTINGN/A
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to piping components for use with fluids in pipes. Particularly, this invention relates to piping components for use with fluids in piping in the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piping used in the oil gas, petroleum and chemical industries are regulated in part by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”). In addition, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (“ASME”) provides standards associated with oil and gas facilities.
For example, pipes carrying hazardous liquids such as hydrocarbons are regulated by DOT Title 49 C.F.R. §195. This regulation states that piping and all associated connections be comprised of steel. This includes valves, fittings, branch connections, closures, flange connections, station piping, and other fabricated assemblies. Section 192 of Title 49 of the DOT Federal Regulations, which applies to all other piping for fluids, also requires that piping and all associated connections be comprised of steel if pressurized over 100 psig. In addition, ASME standards require all steel connections in an oil, gas, petroleum and/or chemical environment. Thus, DOT regulations and ASME standards require piping to have all steel containment when transporting hazardous liquids and carbon dioxide and/or transporting fluids that are pressurized over 100 psig.
Currently, most piping components have been comprised of all-steel, with the exception of wearing components, such as filters, gaskets and other sealing members. Steel has traditionally been used to comply with DOT regulations and ASME standards, as steel maintains its structural integrity in an environment that is typically corrosive and/or degrading in nature. However, the all-steel design of piping components make the manufacturing costs expensive.
For example, an all-steel profile plate is proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,495,872 and 5,529,093. The same patents also disclose an anti-swirl device fabricated from all steel. While both the profile plate and anti-swirl device are effective piping components, they are expensive to manufacture.
Other examples of piping components that have traditionally been comprised of steel include flowmeters, such as ultrasonic flowmeters, orifice flowmeters and turbine flowmeters; flow nozzles; meter tubes; venturi flowmeters; and other products such as those distributed by Daniel Measurement and Control, Inc. of Houston, Tex. Valves such as gate valves, ball valves, check valves, globe valves, wafer valves, butterfly valves and control valves have been primarily comprised of steel. Also, piping components, such as static mixers, several of which are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,034,965, 4,072,296, 4,093,188, 4,314,974, 4,461,579, 4,497,751, 4,498,786, 4,600,544 and 4,806.288; small volume provers, several of which are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,421,360, 3,673,851, 3,877,287, 4,152,922, 4,627,267 and 4,649,734; and samplers, several of which are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,307,620, 4,390,957, 4,744,244, 4,744,255, 4,820,990, 4,926,674 and 5,129,267 preferably have a steel construction for the durable non-wearing components. These piping components and many other piping are expensive to manufacture due to their steel construction. However, the steel construction for durable non-wearing components was traditionally required to comply with ASME standards and DOT regulations so that the component holds up to the hostile fluid environment in the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries. Other industries have proposed devices of different materials. For example, the water industry uses flow conditioners fabricated from polypropylene. In yet another industry, U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,963 proposes a flow laminarization device to improve the performance of turbochargers, which emphasizes a device made from one material, preferably plastic. While, an all plastic device, such as these, would be more cost effective than the current all steel flow conditioners, it would not be acceptable in the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries because it would not meet DOT regulations, which require steel containment.
In yet another industry, the onboard marine vessel industry, a two material device has been developed to throttle fluid flow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,941 proposes a cascade orificial resistive device (“CORD”), which is comprised of a hollow metal housing with multiple elastomeric CORD plates mounted within the body. While a two material device would be more cost effective than an all-steel piping component, the proposed cord device is not fabricated to operate in the hostile fluid environment of the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries.
The above discussed U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,421,360; 3,673,851; 3,877,287; 4,034,965; 4,072,296; 4,093,188; 4,152,922; 4,307,620; 4,314,974; 4,390,957; 4,461,579; 4,497,751; 4,498,786; 4,600,544; 4,627,267; 4,649,734; 4,744,244; 4,744,255; 4,806,288; 4,820,990; 4,926,674; 5,129,267; 5,327,941; 5,495,872; 5,529,093; and 7,089,963 are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes in their entirety.
It would be desirable to provide low cost piping components that both comply with DOT regulations, and ASME standards, as well as withstand the hostile fluid environment in the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn view of the described opportunities for improvement in the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries, this invention provides low cost piping components that comply with DOT regulations and ASME standards, as well as withstand the hostile fluid environment of the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries.
The piping component according to this invention is comprised in part of a steel housing that can be positioned with a steel piping. The steel housing of the invention serves to provide the continuous metal connection required by DOT regulations and ASME standards. The steel housing can be a flange, a ring, a casing, or a combination of these items that form an opening in which a piping component body is inserted, at least in part.
The piping component body is comprised of non-steel, or a combination of steel and non-steel parts. Ideally, the body is comprised of plastic, which is less expensive and facilitates forming, including machining or molding while maintaining its structural integrity in a hostile fluid environment, such as in oil, gas, petroleum or chemicals. Alternatively, ceramic could be used to fabricate the body.
Because plastic is easily formed, the bodies of various piping components can be formed in new and different shapes that previously could not be economically performed due to the limitations of working with metal. For example, the upstream and/or downstream sides of the bodies of plastic flow conditioners can be formed into concave or convex profiles with or without steps. It is contemplated that many piping component bodies will be able to take on different shapes and configurations than the current standard designs, because plastic can be formed easier and at a reduced cost.
It is further contemplated that piping components such as flowmeters, flow conditioners, turbine meters, flow nozzles, venturi meters, small volume provers, static mixers, samplers, and valves, which have preferably been made from steel, with the exception of wearing components, could now substitute plastic components for some of the metal components.
One embodiment of a piping component includes connecting the plastic body of the piping component to a steel ring so that the plastic body of the piping component extends into the steel pipe thereby complying with DOT regulations and ASME standards. Another embodiment of the piping component includes fastening the plastic body directly to the steel piping.
It is contemplated that the plastic body of the piping component can be fastened to the metal, such as steel, housing an adhesive, a set screw connection, a threaded connection, press or compression fit connection, a key connection or a pin connection or a combination of these connections.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained with the following detailed description of the various disclosed embodiments in the drawings:
Generally, the present invention provides a low cost piping component that complies with DOT regulations and ASME standards, as well as withstands the hostile fluid environment in the piping systems of the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries along with a method for manufacturing the piping component.
The piping component according to the present invention is comprised in part of a metal, such as steel, to fabricate a housing to be positioned with steel piping. The steel housing forms an opening in which the piping component body is positioned. The piping component body could be fabricated from plastic or ceramic or a combination of plastic or ceramic and metal. The plastic and ceramic should have properties that are compatible with the hostile oil, gas, petroleum and chemical environments. An exemplary ceramic for use in these environments is partially stabilized zirconia sold under the trademark NILCRA by ICI Australia Operations Proprietary Limited of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. An exemplary thermoplastic for use in the oil, gas, petroleum and chemical industries is NORYL PPX® Resin PPX7200, a synthetic thermoplastic resin distributed by GE Plastics. NORYL PPX is a federally registered trademark of the General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York. The following table, last updated on Feb. 7, 2006 by GE Plastics, describes the advantageous properties of this resin:
The piping component could be any piping component where the internal metal body could be replaced with plastic or ceramic, or plastic or ceramic and metal body. For example, the piping component could be a flow conditioner, generally indicated as 10, in
Note: The following technical information and data should be considered representative or typical only and should not be used for specification purposes.
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn. reports the typical adhesive performance characteristics as follows:
Substrates and Testing:
-
- A. Overlap Shear (ASTM D 1002-72)
- Overlap shear (OLS) strengths were measured on 1 in. wide ½ in. overlap specimens. These bonds made individually using 1 in.×4 in. pieces of substrate except for aluminum. Two panels 0.063 in. thick, 4 in.×7 in. of 2024T-3 clad aluminum were bonded and cut into 1 in. wide samples after 24 hours. The thickness of the bondline was 0.005-0.008 in. All strengths were measured at 73° F. (23° C.).
- The separation rate of the testing jaws was 0.1 in. per minute for metals, 2 in. per minute for plastics and 20 in. per minute for rubbers. The thickness of the substrates were: steel, 0.060 in.; other metals, 0.05-0.064 in.; rubbers, 0.125 in.; plastics, 0.125 in.
- Epoxy Adhesive Off-White—Stainless steel MEK/abrade/MEK2-4000.
- B. T-peel (ASTM D 1876-61T)
- T-peel strengths were measured on 1 in. wide bonds at 73° F. (23° C.). The testing jaw separation rate was 20 inches per minute. The substrates were 0.032 in. thick.
- Epoxy Adhesive DP420 Off-White—Cold Rolled Steel-17-20 mil bondline Oakite degreased-40—MEK/abrade/MEK-25.
- C. Other Substrates, Overlap Shear Tested @ 73 F.° (23° C.)
- Scotch-Weld Epoxy Adhesive DP420 Off-White
- Surf. Prep. 1: Polycarbonate-400
- Surf. Prep. 2: Polycarbonate-550
- D. Environmental Resistance, Aluminum (Etched) Measured by Overlap Shear Tested @ 73 F.° (23° C.) (PSI)1 (ASTM D 1002-72)
The above SCOTCH-WELD® data was published by 3M Industrial Business—Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division, 3M Center, Building 21-1W-10, 900 Bush Avenue, St. Paul, Minn. 55144-1000, ©3M March, 2004. SCOTCH-WELD is a federally registered trademark of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn.
Turning to
Yet another embodiment of a piping component according to this invention is a valve 10V shown in
A turbine flowmeter 10W, illustrated in
Additional piping components include the flow conditioners 10Z, 10AA depicted in
Yet another piping component includes a flowmeter as shown in
While Faure Herman Meter, Inc. of Houston, Tex. provides an all steel flowmeter similar in configuration to the flowmeter shown in
Methods of manufacture include machining the steel housing, as is traditional, and fastening the formed non-metallic body into the housing. The non-metallic body, preferably fabricated from the NORYL PPX® Resin PPS7200 disclosed in detail above, is best fabricated by injection molding. However, as size increases over a foot, it may be necessary to machine plastic sheets. The sheet form, preferably fabricated from NORYL PPX® PPX7112 Resin (polyphenylene ether+PS+PP), is distributed by GE Plastics and sold by GE Polymershapes of South Houston, Tex. Yet another contemplated method of manufacturing the plastic body of a piping component is by blow molding.
It is contemplated that the non-metallic body of the piping component may require certain metal parts. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a piping component body with both non-metal and metal parts. It is also foreseeable to have multiple types of non-metal parts, such as plastic, ceramic and rubber, in the piping component.
While as discussed above in detail, it is contemplated that fastening the body to the metal housing could be done in a variety of ways, the SCOTCH-WELD® epoxy adhesive, such as disclosed above in detail, is preferred to fasten the plastic body to the metal housing.
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the details of the illustrated apparatus and system, and the construction and the method of operation may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
Claims
1. A flow conditioner, comprising:
- a steel housing defining an opening; and
- a body fabricated from a non-metal material and positioned at least in part within said steel housing opening;
- wherein said body having a substantially flat upstream face and a substantially flat downstream face; and
- wherein said body having a plurality of substantially circular spaced apart apertures extending between said body upstream face and said body downstream face.
2. The flow conditioner of claim 1, wherein said body positioned with said steel housing by compression fit in which said steel housing heat pressed with said body and then allowed to cool.
3. The flow conditioner of claim 1, wherein said body positioned with said steel housing with blocking shoulders.
4. The flow conditioner of claim 1, wherein said non-metal material is a ceramic.
5. The flow conditioner of claim 1, wherein said non-metal material is a synthetic thermoplastic.
6. A piping component for conditioning fluid flow for measurement in a steel pipe, comprising:
- a substantially circular steel ring having a substantially flat ring upstream face and a substantially flat ring downstream face and having a substantially circular opening extending between said ring upstream face and said ring downstream face; and
- a substantially circular body fabricated from a non-metal material having a body downstream face and a substantially flat body upstream face and sized to be positioned with said ring opening;
- wherein said body fastened with said ring; and
- wherein said body having a plurality of substantially circular spaced apart apertures through said body in predetermined locations each in a substantially straight path between said body upstream face and said body downstream face.
7. The piping component of claim 6, wherein said body fastened with said ring by compression fit in which said ring heat pressed with said body and then allowed to cool.
8. The piping component of claim 6, wherein said body fastened with said ring with blocking shoulders.
9. The piping component of claim 6, wherein said body downstream face being substantially flat.
10. The piping component of claim 6, wherein said non-metal material is a ceramic.
11. The piping component of claim 6, wherein said non-metal material is a synthetic thermoplastic.
12. A piping system, comprising:
- a steel pipe; and
- a flow conditioner fastened directly with said steel pipe and fabricated from a non-metal material that can withstand a fluid in said steel pipe and having a plurality of substantially circular spaced apart apertures in predetermined locations.
13. The piping system of claim 12, wherein said flow conditioner fastened with said steel pipe with a screw.
14. The piping system of claim 12, wherein said flow conditioner fastened with said steel pipe with a pin.
15. The piping system of claim 12, wherein said flow conditioner having a substantially flat upstream face.
16. The piping system of claim 15, wherein said flow conditioner having a substantially flat downstream face.
17. The piping system of claim 12, wherein said non-metal material is a ceramic.
18. The piping system of claim 12, wherein said non-metal material is a synthetic thermoplastic.
19. A piping system, comprising:
- a steel pipe; and
- a flow conditioner encased in said steel pipe and fabricated from a non-metal material that can withstand a fluid in said steel pipe.
20. The piping system of claim 19, wherein said flow conditioner comprising a plurality of circular tubes.
21. The piping system of claim 19, wherein said flow conditioner comprising equidistant spaced vanes extending between a longitudinal centerline of said steel pipe and the interior surface of said pipe.
22. The piping system of claim 19, wherein said flow conditioner comprising a plurality of hexagonal tubes.
23. The piping system of claim 19, wherein said flow conditioner fastened with said steel pipe with a screw.
24. The piping system of claim 19, wherein said flow conditioner fastened with said steel pipe with a pin.
25. A flow conditioner, comprising:
- a steel housing;
- a plurality of flaps and fins disposed in said steel housing and fabricated from a non-metal material.
26. The flow conditioner of claim 25, wherein at least one flap and one fin of said plurality of flaps and fins fastened directly to said steel housing with an epoxy adhesive.
27. The flow conditioner of claim 25, wherein at least one flap and one fin of said plurality of flaps and fins fastened directly to said steel housing with screws.
28. The flow conditioner of claim 25, wherein said non-metal material is a ceramic.
29. The flow conditioner of claim 25, wherein said non-metal material is a synthetic thermoplastic.
30. The flow conditioner of claim 25, further comprising a body fastened directly to said steel housing, wherein said plurality of flaps and fins fastened directly to said body.
31. The flow conditioner of claim 30, wherein said body fabricated from a non-metal material.
32. A system for conditioning fluid, comprising:
- a steel pipe for transporting a moving fluid;
- a measurement device disposed in said steel pipe; and
- a flow conditioner disposed in said steel pipe upstream of said measurement device.
33. The system of claim 32, wherein said flow conditioner comprising a steel housing defining an opening, and a body fabricated from a non-metal material and positioned at least in part within said steel housing opening.
34. The system of claim 33, wherein said body having a substantially flat upstream face and a substantially flat downstream face and a plurality of substantially circular spaced apart apertures extending between said body upstream face and said body downstream face.
35. The system of claim 34, wherein said body connected to said steel housing by compression fit in which said steel housing heat pressed with said body and then allowed to cool.
36. The system of claim 34, wherein said body positioned with said steel housing with blocking shoulders.
37. The system of claim 34, wherein said measurement device comprising a flow meter.
38. The system of claim 32, wherein said flow conditioner fastened directly with said steel pipe and fabricated from a non-metal material that can withstand the fluid in said steel pipe and having a plurality of substantially circular spaced apart apertures in predetermined locations.
39. The system of claim 38, wherein said flow conditioner fastened with said steel pipe with a screw.
40. The system of claim 38, wherein said flow conditioner fastened with said steel pipe with a pin.
41. The system of claim 38, wherein said flow conditioner having a substantially flat upstream face.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 2, 2010
Publication Date: Feb 24, 2011
Applicant: Savant Measurement Corporation (Kingwood, TX)
Inventors: James E. Gallagher (Kingwood, TX), Michael D. Gallagher (Kingwood, TX)
Application Number: 12/917,787
International Classification: F16L 55/00 (20060101); F16L 47/00 (20060101); F16L 49/00 (20060101);