Production Equipment

TUBING/ROD/Casing INSPECTION

Our wellhead inspection equipment provides 5-function split and hole detection, pitting, erosion, corrosion and two channels of rod wear inspection. Over 360 degree 100% circumferential coverage.

Comfortable inspection speeds of 150-200 ft. per minute.

Our system is 100% computerized and run from a laptop. We can provide the well profile reports to our customers on disk, USB flash drive (thumb drive), CD, via email, or printed paper.

Since there is no warm-up or calibration time needed at the well site, our highly trained technicians can set up quickly upon arrival at the work site.

At a size of 21 by 21 inches, and a weight of 230 lbs., our wellhead scanner is the smallest 5 function scanner available in the industry. It is small and light enough to be handled by one technician and can easily be picked out of the truck box by the rigs picker line. This size and versatility allows us to rig up in approximately 5 – 10 minutes, regardless of whether the well is vertical or horizontal.

Our 4–function EMI buggy system for racked tubing and drill pipe inspection has several manufacturer patented features that allow us to provide a quicker and more accurate inspection. Including 100% computerized operation, an automatic stop feature to locate and prove up indications quickly, on board diagnostics real time system health monitoring, ultra-fast drive unit up to 160FPM, and digital signal processing functions.

During the inspection process we will grade the tubulars according to the American Petroleum Standards (API) classification system, if a customer has alternative grading preferences we can easily make adjustments to suit their needs. Upon job completion our technicians will provide a printed color well-profile report that will enable the operator to make necessary changes to the string arrangement and achieve maximum productivity from the well.

We provide mobile on-site inspection of production tubing. We can inspect the tubing over the wellhead while tripping in or out of the well, or, we can inspect it on the rack. We utilize the latest electromagnetic induction technology and are one of the few companies capable of inspecting tubing both on the rack and at the service rig as the rig hands trip in or out of the well.

Down hole mechanical problems like tubing leaks and pump failures are going to shut down your production at some point. A survey of 32,000+ producing wells in the North America found that corrosion pitting, rod wear and wall loss are the major causes of tubing failure. Rod wear is especially frustrating since 70% of all North American wells are subject to it and conventional test methods often overlook it. Tubing leaks account for 42% of all well failures. 81% of tubing failures are due to corrosion pitting and rod wear.

The well maintenance program should focus on reducing the frequency of failures, not merely locating the failed tubing and rods. The frequency of failures can only be reduced by:

  1. locating the failed rods and the rods about to fail. Understanding the mechanism of the rod failures and locating failure seeds early.
  2. locating the failed tubing joints and joints about to fail. Understanding the mechanics of the tubing failures.
  3. positioning joints in the string to maximize their life and strategically locating rod guides.
  4. understanding how the environment impacts the life-cycle of the joints and rods and tracking the effectiveness of any chemical treatment.

Money is slipping away every moment the well is down. Our inspection services help minimize well downtime and minimizes work over costs.

We are able to inspect tubing size ranges from 2 3/8 to 5 1/2. Rod inspection size ranges from 7/8 to 1 1/4. If other sizes are required we can order specific equipment that will allow us to inspect a specific size.

Casing Inspection

Special Clearance Drifting (Full Length)

Special clearance drift mandrels, furnished by the customer, are passed through the full length of each tube to determine special clearances on the internal diameter. This is not an API inspection and is usually performed to assure passage of special tools or oversize bits.

Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI)

Pipe is magnetized with a DC magnetizing coil with variable current to provide active longitudinal magnetization for detection of transverse flaws.

Wall Thickness Measurements

Ultrasonic Measurement: Ultrasonic wall thickness tests are utilized to determine the minimum and maximum wall thickness at any one area on a tube. A test consists of taking as many circumferential measurements as required to determine the minimum and maximum wall thickness in one area.

Micrometer Measurement: Micrometer measurements are utilized in measuring the wall thickness on the ends of plain end pipe.

Ultrasonic Wall Verification: Ultrasonic wall thickness test to verify that the tube body, in general, satisfies nominal wall thickness requirements.

API Thread Gauging

API eight round and buttress threads are gauged with mechanical instruments to determine compliance on taper, lead and height. At the same time, the threads are examined for visual defects.

Coupling Inspection

New casing and tubing couplings are magnetized and magnetic particle inspected for longitudinal defects and other flaws on the internal and external surface. Physical damage such as cuts or mashes are noted and reported to the customer.

Pipe mills worldwide now provide product quality assurance during the manufacturing process, which often not only meets, but exceed industry standards. Newtech NDT provides a casing and tubing inspection and survey service that focuses on inspecting tubulars for transportation and handling damage when the products are in transit or arrive at their final destination. We perform these inspections at shipping yards, pipe yards, trucking yards, or at remote drilling locations. We provide Full Length Drifting (FLD), Visual Technical Inspection (VTI), Thread Cleaning, and Visual (VT) or Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI) of threaded connections.

Visual Tube Body Inspection

A thorough visual inspection of possible external damage is performed; most damages encountered arise from handling of the casing, such as major dents and mashes. Other types of flags are external corrosion, laps, and straightness.

Visual Thread Inspection (API & Premium Connections)

Thread Protectors are removed and both pin and box ends are thoroughly cleaned and visually inspected for any obvious defects or mechanical damages such as dents, corrosion, galled threads, etc.

Premium threads are inspected to evaluate the condition of the seals, threads and for any mechanical damages like dents, corrosion, galled threads, etc.

API Thread Compound is applied to the threads and thread protectors are installed. The thread compound must be supplied by the customer.

API Drifting (Full Length)

Drift mandrels conforming to API Specifications are passed through the full length of each tube to assure compliance with API internal diameter specifications. If a mashed or dented area prevents drift, the location is noted on the inspection report and marked physically on the pipe.