Case Studies

A major oilfield services company and its customers were losing time and money due to unexpected safety shut downs. These shut downs resulted from repeated failures of the rotary unions the company was using in their coil tubing applications. Each time a rotary union failed, it allowed pressure to build up in adjoining passages, which in turn would trigger a safety shutoff. These failures not only cost the company and its customers thousands of dollars in replacement parts and down time, they presented a risk to worker safety as well.

After repeated attempts to solve the problem using standard rotary unions, the company turned to Rotary Systems for help. They needed a rotary union design specialist with the experience to develop a reliable custom multi-passage rotary union with additional built-in safety features that would reduce failures. After assessing the performance and reliability requirements, the engineering team at Rotary Systems went to work. They designed a unique 16-passage rotary union that featured both double-seal technology and pressure relief ports between the seals to ensure that any potential leak would drain back to the sump and eliminate accidental pressure build-up in the union.

This is the kind of problem Rotary Systems solves every day, designing custom rotary unions that help improve safety and reduce cost. See what Rotary Systems custom design experience and technology can do for you. Contact an applications engineer at info@rotarysystems.com or call 800.959.0146 to learn how Rotary Systems can turn your most challenging design specifications into an affordable custom solution.