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(Transportation-News.com, July 28, 2013 ) St. Louis MO -- For decades, oil and gas field technicians resorted to slug wrenches, hammers, and sheer muscle to tighten crucial bolts on oil well blow out preventers (BOP). This practice poses numerous safety, fatigue, and accuracy issues. Several well incidents, caused by inadequate bolt tensioning have made national news in just the past few years.
After three years of engineering, Titan MidAmerica has introduced the World’s lowest profile ratcheting hydraulic torque wrench as a solution. BOP’s are so densely-packed with valves, flanges, and hardware that roughnecks commonly refer to them as "Christmas Trees." The new SuperThin© wrench line is the only powered wrench that fits 95% of all BOP’s.The new wrench also readily fits most pump bolts on hydraulic fracking rigs.
The calibrated accuracy allows the technician to effortlessly torque any bolted joint to within 2% +/- of specified torque. BOP’s are engineered with narrow tolerances for bolt stress and tension. If a gasket fails due to under or over tensioning, another Deepwater Horizon is splashed on the national news. In addition to accuracy and repeatability, the SuperThin is operated remotely, allowing a hands-off approach to bolt assembly, saving life, limb, and fingers.
"This is truly a game-changer for oil and gas," said Geoff Grootenboer, Developer for Titan MidAmerica, "Whenever you can eliminate a dangerous process, while reducing job time by 50%, it’s a win for the crew AND the company."
The SuperThin technology is based on the standard two-component chassis from Titan, which has been an industry favorite for 14 years. The SuperThin© link or cassette is integrated with the conventional low-profile powerhead from Titan.
Oil and gas is a tough business, and Stewart Cunningham, superintendent of Team Industrial Services (NYSE:TISI) knows this firsthand. For over a decade he has been charged with emergency and outage precision bolting at one of the Nation’s largest refineries. His wrenches are subjected daily to equipment temperatures ranging from 20° to 700° Fahrenheit with thousands of cycles per week. "The Titan wrench is sturdy and reliable," confirmed Cunningham, "it is far faster than anything out there."
Despite mounting pressures from oil shareholders for efficiency and return on investment, the industry has shifted to a balanced approach. Safety, environment, and public opinion have become integral components of the decision process. "Safety has become paramount to all oil and gas stakeholders," said Grootenboer, "and it is our hope that this new technology will help protect company, crew, environment, and public interests."
About Titan MidAmerica:
Titan MidAmerica is a private company and a leading supplier of bolting and pipe tools for power generation, oil & gas, mining, and wind power industries.
Team Industrial Services (NYSE:TISI) is a global service provider of specialized industrial services including valve repair, hot tap, field machining, technical bolting, pipe repair, NDE/NDT inspection, emissions control, field heat treating, leak repair, and valve insertion.
Titan MidAmerica
Suzie Bovinette
618 482-4828
nsb505@aol.com
Source: EmailWire.Com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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