News and press releases

25/07/2007

The CERATIZIT customer Hunting Oilfield Services BV (Netherlands) provides high-quality tubes and couplings with threads. The tubes are applied worldwide for the production of oil and natural gas. Until a short time ago the swarf resulting from the production of couplings stayed in the work piece and was removed manually. Dangerous work, as hot and sharp chips were thrown around and could injure the workers. CERATIZIT found a quick solution.

A show of strength: the exacting process of winning oil
Tubes and couplings are exposed to enormous stress during oil extraction as most oil deposits are four to five kilometres beneath the surface of the earth. A boring head or trepan has the difficult task to ensure access to the oil.
The boring tool consists of steel tubes placed at its ends which are connected by threaded joints to form the pipe string and drill string. Shortly before the trepan reaches the oil deposit the drill string has a length of several kilometres and, weighs around 110 tons which corresponds to the weight of a large diesel locomotive. This enormous weight is suspended on the upper thread, the quality of which therefore has to fulfil exacting demands.

Precision and security: threading
Hunting Oilfield Services BV in Velsen-Noord, north-west of Amsterdam, specialises in problem solutions for oil and gas extraction.  Some customers of the affiliate Hunting PLC group are Gaz de France, Total Fina and Exxon Mobil. Hunting Oilfield Services was founded in 1986 and today has around 60 employees who work seven machines around the clock (shift work).

Hunting Oilfield Services produces the threads in tubes and couplings which are applied for oil and gas extraction. The tubes mainly come from Japan and have a length between 10 and 15 metres. 75 % of the tubes consist of high alloyed chromium steel, the remaining 25 % of low alloyed steel with medium strength (P110, C95 or L80). Threading both sides of the tube takes about 15 minutes. One cutting edge of an insert lasts for about 10 to 14 threads.

Risk of injury at the workplace
To avoid damage of the work piece and ensure longer service life of the insert it is absolutely necessary to evacuate the swarf as fast as possible. Until a year ago at Hunting the swarf resulting from threading operations remained in the coupling. From there the workers extracted it by hand, the CNC machine remaining in operation and the door open - a dangerous situation. When turning, the spindle in the CNC machine rotates very quickly, hot sharp swarf is flung about and coolant sputters around. The danger of injury is very high.
The Holland Institute for work security (ARBO) criticised the machine and demanded that Hunting operate the machines securely.

The danger was recognised and averted
The CERATIZIT engineers Jackie Roland and Fabrice Casagrande (the latter being the business segment manager cutting tools/oil industry at CERATIZIT Luxembourg) were asked for advice. Their solution was to produce the thread from the inside towards the outside of the component so that the chips are eliminated automatically. For this purpose they designed a special tool holder which positions the insert securely. Even if it is drawn into the opposite direction as is here the case.
The new tool holder concept ensures that the chips are transported on the shortest way from the work piece and that the coolant stream is precisely directed onto the cutting edge. The Dutch Institute for work security was satisfied with this solution so that production was allowed to go on at Hunting without any interruption.

Interview with André Verbiest, Manufacturing Manager of Hunting Oilfield Services BV
Mr Verbiest, what is important when threading for the oil industry?
Verbiest: “We are under great time pressure. We must therefore produce quickly and without interruption. If we do not supply, the work on the oil platform comes to a halt. This costs a fortune. A further point is that the connections between the couplings and the tubes, namely the threads, are standardised. It is absolutely necessary that the thread be gasproof and have a consistently high quality.”

What characterises the cooperation with CERATIZIT?
Verbiest: “I have noticed a combination of determination and technical competence. The representatives believe in their product and are really behind it - this is easily perceivable. Furthermore, CERATIZIT does not try to sell us stock articles after a delivery time of 12 weeks, but offers exactly the solution that we need after only a couple of weeks. This is what we like in particular.” "

What is the quality of the CERATIZIT products?
Verbiest: “The double clamping system is very good. You can see what is going on and the insert is positioned perfectly safely. Recently we have conducted numerous tests where we achieved considerably better results than our competitors, as we applied CERATIZIT inserts.”

What could CERATIZIT improve?
Verbiest: “CERATIZIT takes little things into account, which make a big difference in customer service. For example, the packages they deliver have little grips. So, both the freight carrier staff and our staff carry the packages instead of throwing them. This causes less transport damage which subsequently has a positive effect on the cooperation. So I can only say: keep going!”