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Nitrogen Services

Nitrogen Services

Nitrogen has many applications and depending on the industry, it can be used for a wide variety of tasks and objectives. A colorless and odorless gas, this element makes up around 78 percent of our atmosphere. Nitrogen purging and hydrocarbon displacement services help to reduce costs, protect people and nature during process units or pipeline commissioning, remedial repair, decommissioning and abandonment. IPEC offers a full range of Nitrogen services to clients including the following:

 

Leak Test

Nitrogen is utilized within numerous industries for leak testing. While best known is its use in the petroleum industry for pressure testing pipelines and containment vessels, nitrogen is also popular for leak testing in a range of other industries. There are several advantages to using nitrogen for leak detection. Nitrogen is inert, odorless, and low in moisture content, so it is free from many of the problems associated with using air or water for pressure testing. In addition, nitrogen is ideal for testing in a variety of locations thanks to portable nitrogen generators. These allow a limitless supply of nitrogen to be conveniently and economically produced wherever it is needed. For this purpose, Nitrogen gas is injected under pressure to assure good connections in welding and threaded pipefittings.

 

Purging & Inerting

Replacing dangerous or undesirable liquids, vapors and gases in the process units or in the pipelines with nitrogen prevents dangerous work conditions in the hydrocarbon industry and pipeline transportation.

 

Pipe Freezing

Nitrogen pipe freezing is for creating isolations in applications such as valve repair & maintenance, and isolations to a section of pipeline process unit. Pipe freezing uses the evaporation of a volatile fluid to remove heat from the pipe and its contents to form an ice plug inside the pipe. Evaporation is the escape of molecules of gas from a liquid and it is this process that requires heat energy creating the cooling effect needed to freeze the medium inside the tube. Pipe freezing can be a fast, clean and efficient method of carrying out pipeline repairs and piping alterations without having to isolate or drain an entire piping system.

 

Tank Purging

Nitrogen purging refers to the introduction of an inert purge gas into a closed system (e.g. a container or a process vessel) to prevent the formation of an ignitable atmosphere. Nitrogen is dry and non-combustible, and the nitrogen displacement of combustible gases will prevent an unstable and potentially ignitable atmosphere.

In certain cases, you may want to transfer liquids without using a pump. To complete this task, nitrogen will allow you to pressurize the headspace within a vessel. This is the method most often used when there are space constraints or if there are certain materials that impact pump efficiency. By utilizing this method of purging, you will be able to significantly reduce the risk of oxidation — which often occurs while transferring liquid from one tank to another.

 

Nitrogen Tank Blanketing

Also referred to as nitrogen padding, is a process where gaseous nitrogen is introduced into an empty or partially filled storage tank or container. The nitrogen will prevent the onset of chemical reactions that may cause explosions, oxidation, or other unwanted effects. In addition to mitigating the risk of unwanted chemical combustion, utilizing nitrogen blanket systems for tanks will help to prevent the accumulation of water vapor, oxygen and other impurities within this storage equipment. In the absence of these undesirable contaminants, chemicals will be shielded from oxidation reactions which might have shortened their useful life.

 

Gas Lift

The use of nitrogen gas circulated into the production conduit to displace liquids and reduce the hydrostatic pressure created by the fluid column. Nitrogen lifting is a common technique used to initiate production on a well following work-over or overbalanced completion.