I have some formulas that take into account the size and wall thickness of the pipe, the temperature of the underground and above ground piping and the length of the pipe. But the easiest way is to drain a known amount of water out of the line and see how much your pressure drops and calculate...
It sounds to me like your pipe is above ground or you would not need heat tracing. Why not use an infared thermometer to check the temp in the area you suspect and then push heated or chilled fluid through the line at the same time you are using the infared, you should have an almost instant...
Don't know where you are at but here in South Texas you almost have to carry a baseball bat to keep the crews from talking the driver into adding water to the mix as soon as the truck shows up or doing on there own when no one is looking.
How about using 4 bolts to get the flange aligned and square then install and torque the rest to 1/2 final value leaving those 4 out of the sequence then remove the first 4 and replace with new ones in case of over stress then do your final torque steps on all bolts. I have always found the main...
Don't know the thread size but most hardware stores sell an adapter to go to 3/4 inch pipe thread which is the easiest if you are trying to connect to something else.
Just wondering if every one else is having the same nightmare we are with DOT pipeline OQ. Constant changes and updates with different paperwork for each co. you work for???
I have never seen a launcher mor than one size larger and as you say if it is too large you won't get a good seal to launch. One size will work for squeegee, hard foam, poly or smart pigs
Just a reminder..... Be sure your flange is fused to the pipe and not a mechanical dresser type, I have seen many times that people don't realize they are not made for longitudinal holding. Quite a surprise when they blow off at a low pressure
I did a lot of safety wiring in the navy as an aircraft eng mech and if a series of bolts can be wired so as one would loosen it will pull the next one tight it will work. For single bolts we used a nut with a plastic insert built into the nut.
As 1969grad said the best way to fill is with a hard poly pig and a slow fill. Depending on pipe size I like to try and run about 5 to 6 barrels a minute max. Any high points will need a temp flange or test head with a bleeder valve and make sure of a good flow of water through any bleeders...
I have never worked with tubing bending in a size that large but if you are having trouble with collapsing or kinking you might try an old trick we used to use when we didn't have a bender handy and that is filling the tubing with fine sand to keep from kinking it
According to a driscopipe CD I have the friction factor for all driscopipe is 150. It is a few years old and doesn't have 1700 series on it but all others are 150
A hand counter and a little fabrication by any welder in a short amount of time should work. Thats how pump strokes and press punches were counted for 100 years before electronics
