Descaling Drill Rods for Oil and Gas Operations
The Situation
An oil and gas company operating in marine environments regularly experiences calcium-type scaling on their drill rods which become very hard to clean. Traditional descaling products can be harsh and corrode the material of the drill rods, resulting in expensive replacements over time.
The Challenge
How do you effectively and safely remove scale build-up whilst ensuring that the drill rods will not be damaged? Is it also possible to do this without risking the health and safety of workers and causing damage to the environment?
The Solution
Envirofluid provided the oil and gas company with Triple7 Eco-Scale Plus, a high-performance, low corrosion limescale and calcium remover, formulated for challenging mining, oil and gas industry applications. The drill rods were immersed in a tank with a solution of 10% Triple7 Eco-Scale Plus, with the drill rods slightly tilted in a 10-15 degree angle so that the sediment drained out at the end. The solution was circulated in the bath; heat wasn’t required for the solution to work.
The Outcome
The oil and gas industry, on a global scale, has found that Triple7 Eco-Scale Plus is an effective product for removing calcium and limescale build-up without eroding or corroding surfaces. In this instance, the product worked powerfully and preserved the integrity of the drill rods. The soak tanks themselves can be made of galvanized or stainless steel, fiberglass, or plastic. Even carbon steel will last to a certain extent; preferably coated for multiple uses.
Triple7 Eco-Scale Plus effectively and safely removed the scale from the drill rods, After soaking and a simple rinse, the drill rods were placed back onto the rack for re-installment or movement to a different site without risking corrosion or damage to the threads.
Another thing that must be considered when cleaning drill rods is the threads, which must be inspected in order to ensure that cracking isn’t present. If there is no need to clean calcium from drill rods, you just might need to ensure that the threads are in good condition from one side to the other.
In this case, simply clean with Purasolve Parts Cleaner SK, which is a very low vapour pressure product and works very well with cleaning components with minimal off gassing. After cleaning the threads, it is recommended that you put on the crack detector paste and use the ultraviolet paste so that any hairline cracks that tend to appear on these drill rods from time to time are detected effectively.
