Houston Firm Aims to Take Sparks Out of the Equation

Extensive training for onsite facility personnel is one of the key strategies for limiting ignition sources at oil and gas sites. A Houston-based company is trying to build on this approach by making the tools site personnel use safer.

"These tools could have prevented most events where a grinder or torch was the source of ignition for an explosion," said Hector Maggi, vice president of marketing and sales with TFT-Pneumatic, LLC, which sells "sparkless" power tools to customers in the oil and gas and other industries.

Maggi said the tools use grinding disks, cutting disks and rotating files made from a proprietary alloy containing 95 percent tungsten carbide. Although  tungsten carbide typically produces sparks when it grinds, cuts or files another metal, TFT-Pneumatic maintains that its blend of tungsten carbide and other components does not.

"This alloy is as unique as can be and holds one of the biggest secrets of our technology," Maggi said. "As of today, no other company in the world has been able to come up with something similar."

Maggi is keeping the non- tungsten carbide composition of the alloy a secret, but he did divulge that his company's products differ from more traditional tools in terms of speed and shape. On the first count, he explained that TFT's grinders and cutting tools rotate at speeds of 800 to 3,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) rather than the more conventional 7,000 to 30,000 rpm.

"The principle is very simple," Maggi said. "Our tools simulate the work of a milling machine rather than a grinder."

In addition to rotating more slowly, the Houston-based company's tools apply cutting disks, grinding disks and rotating files that are shaped in a manner to generate less heat metal-on-metal.

"By minimizing friction we are able to minimize heat and thus sparks, therefore eliminating completely the risk of explosion," said Maggi. He noted that sparkless tools are well-suited for applications throughout the oil and gas value chain, particularly in areas classified as Hazardous/Explosive (Class 1 Divisions 1 and 2).

"The applications are so vast that a very large percentage of grinding and/or cutting can be achieved by our tools," Maggi said.

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