Confined space. Potentially explosive environment. Never been done.
To most that sounds a lot like: “Strike One! Strike Two! Strike Three! Yer Out!” But to Jim Huber (National Sales Rep), Gene Meisenheimer (Compressor Service Operations Manager) and Josh Stockwell (Central Florida AC Dispatcher) of Ring Power’s Tampa Air Compressor team, these phrases have created a very unique – and challenging – opportunity.
Gene and Josh are leading Ring Power’s effort to build containerized air compressors that are rated to operate in petroleum drilling rigs. The goal is to build a package that can operate closer to the drill head and in a smaller space than any other.
The prospective customer outlined a wish list of specifications and capacities, and Ring Power has commissioned a design and sourced components to meet those goals. The finished package will provide 1600 cfm at 150 psi, while meeting the stringent DNV 2.7-2 certification requirements (to date, no compressor solution has met this standard; every unit built will have to be independently certified.)
The package is powered by a Cat engine with a Pyroban Explosive Environment kit, a Sullair Drill Air Compressor Kit, an exhaust gas cooler, air inlet shutoff valve, fail-safe louvers, gas detectors and a fire suppression system bundled tightly into a Simmons Equipment container. It all sits upon a skid built by Mark Harden and Tim Flag in the HE Fabrication shop.
The team, including Air Compressor Tech Chad Grimmer have the first four units in “design/build” production, and a contract for the first 24 units.