Monday 6 March 2017

Reliable Metal Fabrication Services In Houston

Metal fabrication is that important facet of an industry that seems to have a role in literally everything. For instance, the manufacture or construction of heavy equipment, involves metal fabrication.  Engineering drawings and concepts are made into working equipment and machinery through many processes including metal fabrication. This value added process is truly specialized and calls for knowledge of processes and the right equipment. Here’s a look at how you can go about choosing the right metal fabricator in Houston.

1.    Good machining and welding capabilities

A good metal fabrication service should ideally have at its center of operations, a strong machining and welding capability. This is the core of the fabrication. Preferably adhering to ASME standards, these capabilities will ensure that projects can be easily taken up by these firms. Projects are generally never similar. Hence, the need will always be for capabilities and abilities to take up different machine building requirements. Metal fabrication, by extension of its definition actually means custom fabrication.  

2. Skilled manpower, at all processes

Metal fabrication is a value added process that calls for skilled human intervention. The personnel operating the equipment, need to remain constantly updated with the latest in technology. High end equipment form part of the processes. It is important that at every stage of the fabrication, the personnel involved in building the pumps or machinery possess the right set of skills.  The right skills at the right time behind the right machinery is necessary for making the best pumps and machinery.

3. Experience does matter

The building of pumps and machinery for specialist operations calls for extensive experience. E&P operations are basically synchronized. It is hence of paramount importance that they are of specific standards and operate to meet specific requirements. In addition, such equipment need to function seamlessly with only the required level of maintenance. Building such machinery requires the backing of a sound experience. Look for metal fabricators who have been around in the industry for long. As the industry evolves, machineries change, but the desired end result will remain more or less the same.

Identifying a reliable metal fabrication agency in Houston, can be a challenge. While we have expertise in the oilfield and utility industry with our mud pump packages, the Shale Pumps fabrication team is highly skilled and able to discuss your custom metal fabrication requirements.  Give us a call today and we’ll get you in touch with our skilled fabrication engineers.

Significant Advantages of Using Mud Pumps for Drilling Rigs

Mud pumps are reciprocation plunging devices that are specifically designed to pump the drilling fluid down the drill string and back up the annulus. These are large pumps used on drilling rigs. However, some of these pumps are also used in construction sites for transferring the concrete mixture. Most pumps used in drilling rigs are far too powerful for such needs.

Mud pumps used in drilling rigs serve a variety of purposes. The primary job is usually pushing the mixture into the fractured earth’s surface, but they are also used to clear out the sludge and mud extracted from the drilling hole. The most-used pumps at a drilling rig are triplex and quintuplex pumps. Both are designed with specific applications in mind. Quintuplex pumps are more powerful and sophisticated than the others.

The major benefit of mud pumps is their efficiency with the immense amount of strength generated by them, often exceeding 2700bhp with a pressure of 20,000psi along with the flow rate of 51.3 bpm. Such figures illustrate the strength of high-power mud pumps.

Good-quality mud pumps have a suction valve retainer with a unique design. The superior valve design significantly reduces fluid end erosion. This directly impacts the life of the fluid end, making it last much longer than it otherwise would. Superior-quality mud pumps are also able to provide increased fluid capacity at slower speeds that raises  the longevity of the major parts and components. Quintuplex pumps are extremely effective whenever under high rod-loads.

Some of the other benefits of mud pumps include:

  • Simple structure for easy maintenance and disassembly
  • Smooth operation, minimal vibration, and low noise
  • It can deliver high concentration and high viscosity suspended slurry
  • The drilling fluid flow is stable. It has no over-current, pulsation, and remains stirred.
  • The discharge pressure is not proportional to the speed. The displacement can be adjusted easily by the shifting mechanism or motor.
  • The pumps usually have a high self-absorption capability, and they can suck the liquid directly without the bottom valve.

How to Find the Best Welding Companies in Houston?

Finding the best welding companies in Houston is easier than finding one in other locations. The reason behind this simple answer is the availability of specialized welding service providers in Houston for the Oil and Gas Exploration sector. Playing a pivotal role in keeping sturdy machines fused together, welding, therefore, has attained high standards across parameters. The finer aspects of singling out the best welding companies in Houston are given below.

Look for companies that specialize in all forms of welding

The first criteria in the search should ideally be the range of specialized services offered by companies. Welding has various types such as shielded metal arc welding, tungsten inert gas welding, gas metal arc welding, submerged arc welding and oxy-fuel welding.  The execution of these types of welding calls for skills, and Shale Pumps has the best skills that can be offered by companies in Houston. 

Choose companies that can weld machines and equipment of varying sizes

Size should not matter for welding specialists. The Oil and Exploration sector comprises of equipment of varying sizes. The welding of components of such equipment calls for advanced skills, and the use of automated welding processes. Companies that possess necessary experience in handling automated welding processes will be better equipped to handle these highly skilled welding requirements.

Expertise in handling complex welding requirements

Shale Pumps has consistently delivered high quality in the equipment that leave the premises as a result of unmatched excellence in processes. This excellence extends to highly complex welding requirements as a matter of routine. Backed by benchmarked processes, and standards in equipment and accessories, we have successfully managed to bring together a convergence resulting in best quality.

If you are looking for the best welding companies in Houston, then, we at Shale Pumps qualify as the best choice. This is primarily by virtue of the quality we offer and the reliable performance of welded components of our equipment. Join the long list of satisfied clients who have entrusted their welding requirements and have expressed complete satisfaction and appreciation of the results.

Identifying the Usage of Mud Pumps for Drilling Rigs

Mud pumps are reciprocation plunging pumps that are used in several drilling operations. Mud pumps are commonly employed to circulate the drilling fluid on a drilling rig. They are the important parts of any oil rig drilling operation.

Mud pumps can be divided into two categories based on the completion times of the suction and drainage in one cycle of the piston’s reciprocating motion. Mud pumps usually come in a large variety of pumping capacities and operation methods. The most preferred are triplex and quintuplex pumps. The name triplex or quintuplex refers to the number of pistons or plungers. Triplex pumps have three pistons whereas quintuplex pumps have five. However, hex pumps which have six pistons, are also being increasingly used because of their extended features and advantages. Even so, quintuplex pumps dominate the industry. The increased number of pistons results in enhanced pumping capacity and efficiency.

Despite the higher number of pistons, these pumps are not inherently complex. Quintuplex pumps have a simple design and are easy to maintain. This is also because of the evolution of technology in the drilling industry driven by the ever-increasing demand for crude oil and natural gas.

Shalepumps is based in Houston, Texas and supplies superior pumping equipment globally. We offer quality drilling mud pumps along with completion units for contractors and well service companies. Some characteristics of the drilling mud pumps provided by us are explained here.
  • They have simple structure and this enables handlers to easily maintain the pumps and replace the parts if needed 
  • These are modern pumps that are sophistically designed for smooth operation, low noise, and reduced vibration 
  • Such pumps are able to deliver high concentration, and high viscosity suspended slurry 
  • These high-performance pumps can deliver stable fluid flow with no over-current, and pulsation. The fluid is also stirred and has a shear slurry phenomenon 
  • The discharge pressure generated by these pumps is also irrelevant to the flow speed. The handler can adjust the displacement by a shifting mechanism or motor 
  • The pumps usually have self-absorption capacity. They can suck liquid directly without the need of bottom valve 
  • However, the displacement is proportional to the speed and it can be adjusted by the shifting mechanism or the motor itself