Salvage of Material in the Oil Industry Page: 23
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SALVAGE IN DRILLING AND PRODUCING FIELDS
paired tube is cut off to the desired length, and the welded end is
annealed. The Midwest Refining Co. at Salt Creek, Wyo., reclaims an
average of 1,700 boiler tubes a month by this method.
Discarded boiler shells may also be used for low-pressure vessels,
gas traps, incinerators, and blow-off pits for boilers. Discarded boiler
tubes from all types of boilers may be utilized for fence posts, cattle
guards, and various other purposes.
DRILLING BITS
In some fields about 50 per cent of a pile of oil-field junk consists of
discarded cable-tool drilling bits. These bits are worth compara-
tively little as junk. However, the larger oil companies seldom sell
discarded drilling bits for junk, particularly the larger sizes.
According to G. H. Jaques a 15-inch bit can be reworked into an
extra-long 10-inch bit, worth $144, at a cost of $28, which includes all
overhead charges, interest, depreciation, and taxes on equipment.
Such a bit weighs about 1,200 pounds and would seldom bring more
than $1.75 if sold as junk. Recapping 12-inch bits costs approximately
$35 and makes the bit as good as new; a new bit of this size is worth
about $168. Most of the other sizes of bits can be reworked with
proportionate savings.
UNDERREAMER LUGS
Relatively large savings can be effected by repairing underreamer
lugs. These when not too badly worn can be built up by welding
manganese steel rods on the edges and then reshaping and tempering.
A set of lugs costing $65 originally can usually be repaired and put
into first-class condition at a cost not exceeding $5.
CABLE AND WIRE-LINE SALVAGE
Attempts to use partly worn drilling and sand lines have not proved
very satisfactory. Worn-out sand lines have sometimes been used
for guying derricks, but whether this is good practice is questionable.
When the guy line is under an unusually heavy strain during high
winds reclaimed sand-line guys may part and permit the derrick to
fall. In some fields worn-out drilling cables have been used satis-
factorily for jack lines. Old drilling lines are also used as suspension
cables for pipe lines where they cross watercourses or ravines.
In California discarded wire lines are sometimes used in logging
operations and in sand pits and gravel quarries. If the cables are
not too badly worn they may serve these purposes for some time,
but the author was unable to find any operators who had used them
thus to recommend such procedure. In some places cables and
drilling lines are used for fences, but the larger sizes particularly
have not been found very satisfactory because of their weight. Wire
lines are hard to stretch, and if the ends are not securely anchored it
is only a matter of time until the posts supporting them are drawn
out of plumb. Entire fences are made ragged and unattractive when
the fence posts loosen or tilt. In some States highway departments
are experimenting with old cables as guard fences along the highways,
but the author has no data regarding the outcome of the experiments.
Tangled masses of rusty cable in varying stages of decomposition fill23
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Bowie, C. P. Salvage of Material in the Oil Industry, report, 1929; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc66458/m1/29/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.