An Aberdeenshire oil services company has invested more than £100,000 in a new real time gap data system for all flange separation methods including conventional spreaders, cranes, drill-strings and draw-works.
The new technology, which can save up to 30% of critical-path time, was recently unveiled during live demonstrations when the ThinJack team used it to separate a 27-year-old bolted casing head flange from a North Sea platform.
The new system displays the gap between the two parts of a bolted flange during their separation. If this is not measured, there is a risk that the flange is tilted and jammed on its bolts. A tilt or pull from a drill-string or crane jams the flange resulting in a long shift to release it.
So the new ThinJackGAP reduces the likelihood of this happening by displaying the real time gap between the two faces, as measured around the flange circumference.
Guy Bromby, ThinJack Managing Director, said: “We are delighted with the levels of interest which North Sea and international operators have already shown in ThinJackGAP.
“Typical customer feedback emphasised the relevance of this new way of overcoming challenges on oilfield and industrial infrastructure, as well as the appropriate detail and organisation associated with both the system and the open days themselves.”
Set up in Westhill, Grampian, in 2005, ThinJack has established a reputation in the safe, fast and rig-less separation of seized well flanges and – earlier this year – signed a major deal with a prominent Middle East oil and gas operating company.
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