What Temporary Pipework Is and Where It Is Used
The meaning of temporary pipework, the jobs that depend on it, and what this awareness course does and does not qualify you to do.
8 min
Activities: 0 of 3
Temporary pipework is pressure-containing pipe, fittings, valves and hoses that a crew brings to site, connects for one job, and takes apart again when the job ends. Crews also call it treating iron, flow iron or temporary flowline.
It is different from the fixed piping of a plant. Fixed piping is designed once, welded or flanged in place, and stays for years. Temporary pipework is built by hand from separate pieces, often in a few hours, often on uneven ground or a crowded deck, and often by a different crew each time. Every connection is made on the day by a person. That is why the quality of the rig-up depends so much on the people who do it.
The pressure inside can be very high. Lines rated for 10,000 or 15,000 pounds per square inch (psi) are common in well service work. At these pressures a single wrong part or a loose connection can kill.
Where you will meet temporary pipework
What is not covered here
Fixed plant piping, piping design codes and welding are outside this subject. The design of a well test and its surface equipment is taught in the course Well Testing. Pressure control of the well itself is taught in the course Well Control Fundamentals. This course stays with the temporary line: its parts, its connections, its rig-up, its pressure test, its use and its safe removal.
First words
What makes temporary pipework different from fixed plant piping?
Match the job to the main feature of its line
Match each operation with the description that fits it best.
- Cementing
- Fracturing
- Flowback
- Utility transfer