Safety Alert – Purity of N2 supply

Approximately 2 weeks ago, we received some Safety Critical information, regarding a serious High
Potential Well Operations incident.
The incident involved a pulsation dampener on a high pressure mud pump, exploding catastrophically.
See the following images.

Close up view of the exploded Pulsation

dampener – wall thickness of this
material is 8 cm’s plus – Pressure Rating
approximately 5000 psi.

One of the “bomb” fragments

It is also possible to see the explosive

power, which destroyed an adjacent
“Pop” valve line, wall thickness 1.5 cm’s
Below, it is possible to see the normal Pulsation In addition the viewer can see the Catwalk, pipe
Dampener, as well as the exploded one. slide, V-Door stairs in the upper right background

Again it is also possible to see the explosive power, which destroyed an adjacent “Pop” valve line, wall
thickness 1.5 cm’s
Red arrow indicates possible direction of one exploded fragment, toward the derrick tower, with stands of
drill pipe, as well as the V Door/catwalk stairs on which at least eight stair steps were destroyed.
Preliminary investigation has identified that the source bottle of Nitrogen that had been used to precharge
this Pulsation dampener, had more than 20% oxygen. Weakly emulsified diesel oil in the mud, may have
phase-separated, and accumulated under the diaphragm/bladder. If oil under pressure in a closed system,
can mix with oxygen and explosion can take place.
Post accident investigation analysis indicated the diaphragm material was in poor condition.

This may be the fragment that went toward the rig Two stands of drill pipe damaged from the velocity
monkey board, hitting two stands of pipe 8 meters and energy of the impact.
above the rig floor [15+ meters above the pump]

http://www.pulsationdampenerservice.com/repair-kits-
and-parts/

this link takes the reader to a graphic that

provides a simple demonstration of how a
pulsation dampener works.

Catwalk Stairs damaged by flying fragment of Pulsation

Dampener
3 essentials for a fire/explosion to take place are 1) fuel, 2) O2 and 3) ignition.
Oil [relatively high gravity oils like diesel, higher API gravity crude oils, can ignite with pressure and Oxygen,
this is the principle of Rudolph Diesels engine http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bldiesel.htm
Subsequent investigation of many more N2 bottles indicated the presence of up to 30% Oxygen.
One contractor recently checked the N2 bottles in one Accumulator and found 13 bottles had oxygen
present.
It is a common practice with local Compressed gas vendors, that are not respecting QA/QC standards, or
safe handling practices, regularly mix bottles of different colors and manufacturers intended applications.
There is no respect for [or perhaps even knowledge of standards such as BS 349 which provides that “All gas
cylinders should be colour coded in accordance with - Oxygen ="Black", Nitrogen ="Gray body with black
top", Acetylene = "Maroon".
In addition the name of the gas contained within the cylinder should be clearly stenciled on the cylinder
body . See pictures below

The 3 black bottles - manufactured and identified as to gas type according to BS 349 standard – have been
filled locally with N2. Grey bottles to the side in upper right corner are colored and stenciled correctly for
N2.
 More examples of the variety of color cylinders available for pressurized gases.

Oxygen Cylinders with two different colored code!!!!!!!!!

It has been confirmed that Oxygen and Nitrogen bottles have the same size of valve / connection.
It has been established that during routine maintenance in the recent past, nitrogen bladders (e.g. from
BOPs Koomey unit / mud pump’s pulsation dampener) appear to have been charged / re-charged without
prior checking the contents of the HP bottles. This unsafe practice must be stopped with immediate effect.
Contractors must recognize this hazard now, and develop procedures and controls to manage the risk.
Good practice and responsible management will also ensure that this hazard is captured in each
Contractors overall operations hazards/risk register [HIRCAs etc], and further more will be included in JHA’s
which will support PTW for energized / pressure works.
As a minimum,
1. Develop a system to inspect nitrogen bottles on the rig to ensure no other gases are present.
2. Develop a procedure to check all nitrogen cylinders upon being received at the work site and before
placing in use.
3. Adopt an international standardized color code system for all gas cylinders used [such as BS 349].
4. Develop a program to require testing and documentation of all nitrogen cylinders contents at rig
site.
5. Standardize valves used for nitrogen to be different from other valves used in other gas cylinders.
6. work on energized systems should be performed under PTW, under which the potential hazard of
O2 being present in N2 bottles is identified and the mitigation controls are specified. .
Recently rig F-17 introduced a new method to verify the gas bottle content .

The best method is by using N2 purity tester to verify the gas bottle content accurately

Due to the completely unreliable and therefore dangerous condition, where there is no Quality Control at
the local Gas Bottle Resupply centers, this seems like an achievable, realistic solution, to an “explosively
dangerous” condition.
COMPANY requests that all of Contractors take these previous alerts/warnings seriously, [the exploded
Pulsation Dampener on the Lukoil Project] and are considering or hopefully are introducing similarly

Please reply, with the actions your Organization is taking to ensure this risk is managed properly.
K-Series Dampeners Combination K-Series and R-P ASAFE™

K-SERIES Lifting Eye and Protective Cover

HOW THE HYDRIL ACCUMULA TOR WORKS COMBINED PERFORMANCE OF
Stainless Steel Pressure Gauge Hydril's torispherical body shape, left, results in smoother flow R-PASAFE WITH K-SERIES
Charging Valve
and longer diaphragm life. This means greater efficiency and Pulsation control equipment comes in various types and

Cover Plate
better economy. configurations. The basic dampening mechanisms are pneumatic and
liquid. Combining of the two types provides the unique benefits of
each mechanism.
Diaphragm Stabilizer The K-Series dampener provides excellent pulsation control when the

10 Diaphragm Elastomer
operating pressure is above the nitrogen precharge pressure,
Materials Available
however, no dampening occurs when the system operating pressure
Diaphragm Insert
Nitrogen gas fills the entire internal volume.
(Intergral to the Diaphragm is below the set precharge pressure and dampener performance

Replaceable Bottom Plates decreases as the system operating pressure increases. The
R-Pasafe is designed to operate over the entire operating pressure
Combination discharge dampeners used in a mining/slurry
range while limiting the peak to peak pulsation levels to application.
Introduced over 50 years ago to solve pulsation problems with oilfield
below 100 psig.
reciprocating mud pumps, the K-Series accumulator has built an
Combining the K-Series and R-PASAFE in these applications has The chart below validates the “synergistic” performance by combining
unmatched reputation for dependability and durability. A stabilizer disk
shown a “synergistic effect” by dramatically lowering the peak to peak the K-Series and the R-PASAFE Series Dampeners.
enhances reliability by precluding the trapping of fluids in folds of the
pulsation levels.
diaphragm, which increases diaphragm life and predictability.
Accumulators are available in capacities of 10, 20 and 80 gallons and 5.5'' X 14'' Single Acting Triplex Mud Pump
During periods of peak system pressure, the
pressures to 7,500 psi for a variety of large scale pulsation and surge
nitrogen gas is compressed, absorbing energy
control applications such as airport fueling systems, tank truck
in the system.
and marine loading racks, pipeline slurries, fire water systems

Peak to Peak Pulsation - psi

and sewage lines.
The K-Series accumulators feature a replaceable bottom plate,
desirable for abrasive slurries such as coal and mud. All K-Series
bottom plates are field replaceable, eliminating costly shop repairs
and down time.
A large cover plate allows fast diaphragm replacement without
removing the body from a line. The pressure gauge and charge
During periods of minimum pressure, the gas
valve are protected from damage by a heavy duty cover which
expands, forcing liquid from the accumulator
also serves as a lifting device.
into the system.
All K-Series accumulators are pressure vessels which are ASME
code stamped.
Pump Operating Pressure - psi

K20 - 7500 w/2500 psi precharge only R120 - 7500 PSAFE & K20 - 7500 combination

R120 - 7500 PSAFE only

4 HYDRIL HYDRIL 9