Nflocals

Hot tapping, a procedure for working on pressurized tanks and pipes without service disruption, is a practice that's been around for years. It's been used for making modifications to steam systems, municipal water systems, sewage systems, and the like. But the practice has been largely avoided by the energy industry, particular natural gas providers.

Suppliers of natural gas need to repair or add to their devilry systems on a continual basis. The old method of shutting down a gas line, bleeding it, then doing the work has been effective but costly. Early attempts to use hot tapping were also successful, yet some of the negatives prohibited it from being widely adopted. But thanks to advancements in technology and methodology, hot tapping is now the mainstay of natural gas line work. You might even say it has changed the industry.

One of the biggest problems encountered in gas line repair or modification is the cost of lost product and income. Under the old method, shutting down even a small portion of a line requires valves on either end of the work area to be closed. The pipe must be bled and purged before further work can be done, resulting in lost product as the gas escapes into the air.

As long as the line is shut down, which can be several days in some cases, product does not flow through. If the line in question is a main line this means less gas is being shipped through the system other wholesale buyers. For smaller lines, depending on how far apart the shut-off valves are, this could potentially affect a number of paying customers.

Hidden costs can add significantly to the total losses incurred. Customers must be informed of the scheduled work then they have to be brought back online once the work is completed. That process often involves sending technicians to individual sites in order to purge air in the lines and re-light pilots.

Using the hot tap method allows for easy re-routing of existing gas lines, regardless of the size, so that work can be done without any delivery stoppage. It's not uncommon for natural gas providers in major metropolitan areas to perform dozens of these hot taps in a single day with no one being the wiser.

Another concern which has been reduced by hot tapping is the environmental impact of escaping gas. The main component of natural gas is methane which, although not considered as problematic as CO2, is still considered a green house gas. With hot tapping the amount of methane released into the atmosphere is so minuscule as to be considered non-existent. The hot tapping machine used to access the pipe pumps gas safely out of the line and into the bypass.

Hot tapping technology has become a great advantage in the natural gas industry. It saves money, product, and time, which all translate into better service for us. It's also safer for workers and cleaner for the environment. What more could we ask?