What Is An "Orange Peel Head" Pipe Pressure Testing 2

[drywall]

Please read the following statement and inform me as to what it means, "With regards to pressure testing on fabricated pieces of pipe, orange peel test heads are excluded." Would this be an instance in which wedges near the end of the pipe are cut out and removed and the rest of the pipe end hammered together and seal welded so as to make an enclosure?

 

[GregLamberson]

Correct, Orange peeling is a very crude and poor boy (but labor intensive) way of making a test header or pulling head. It would in essence take the place of a pipe end cap. It is fabricated as you described.

I haven’t seen it done in years.


Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:

http://www.oil-gas-consulting.com

 

[MJCronin]

See this link for more details...

http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14251/css/14251_109.htm

I dont think that this ancient construction is permitted by the modern ASME B31.1/B31.3 piping codes.....


-MJC

 

[STYMIEDPIPER]

Im curious...
When / why would this be used in lieu of a commercially available cap??
Is this 'orangepeel' design from the WWII era when industry made things work with little resources??

 

[GregLamberson]

I've seen them used as late as the mid-80's.

It originally stemmed from the fact that contractors would be required to fab their own test headers and in those days they really didn't want to spend the money on a weld cap and they didn't really have the buyers that knew where to get them, or maybe they weren't available locally so they made due and would just have one of their mechanics fab it up in his off time.

Owner companies didn't care becuase the risk was on the contractor and ultimately had no impact on the integrity of their pipeline. They did not require test headers to be NDT'd either.

Contractors are a little more savvy today and owner companies a little more careful.

Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:

http://www.oil-gas-consulting.com

 

[STYMIEDPIPER]

Thanks GregL

 

[zdas04]

I've used orange-pealed pulling-heads for tough drag sections as recently as earlier this year. They aren't pretty, and don't have to hold any pressure, but they are a lot more available than manufactured drag heads and work as well. We had to drag 2,000 ft of 6-inch across a wetland and it just made sense to orange-peal a drag head.

I've seen them used for test heads, but as Greg says, it has been a while since anyone would allow it. Even back in the day I wouldn't use them for an air test, but I found them marginally acceptable in smaller sizes for a hydrostatic test.

David