Under Pressure Drilling: Drax Power Station

UNDER PRESSURE DRILLING CASE STUDY

The client:

Ormond Pipework Services Ltd are a trusted supplier to Dale Power Solutions. As a leading under pressure drilling specialist, we were sub-contracted by DPS to work on Drax Power Plant.

The problem:

Drax Power Station's back-up generators required maintenance.  To complete the maintenance, the generators coolant installation had to be drained. However, there was no drain off point on the coolant pipework. 

Ormond were brought in to install new drain off points by hot tapping the connections.  Hot tapping allowed the coolant system to remain live and control the draining down. 

Our solution: 

Our engineers attached a 2” by 1” hot tapping clamp to the existing pipework. After a successful pressure test, we began to under pressure drill the new drain off point. 

Once the live tapping was complete, a safety plug was attached to the valve. 

Hot tapping the connection avoided plant downtime, which saved time and expense.   

Tasks involved:

• Hot tapping / Under pressure drilling on coolant water
• Live tapping on steel pipework