The major Italian energy company commissioned the replacement of valves on a natural gas pipeline and used ATEX hydraulic pump and torque wrenches from FPT – Fluid Power Technology for the tightening.

An environment is defined as “ATEX” (abbreviation of ATmosphereEXplosive) when in an atmosphere there are flammable substances in the form of gases, liquids and powders that cause a more or less serious risk of explosion, depending on the concentration of the fuel, the risk of explosion it is null if there is no ignition source. The European Union has issued a directive, the ATEX 2014/34 / EU, which applies to commercial products that are intended to be used in an ATEX environment.

The ATEX hydraulic pumps produced by FPT “FPTEX” series are fully compliant with this directive, therefore they can be used in zone 1 and zone 2 explosive atmospheres without any risk. There are many factors that determine how “dangerous” an area is, so it is important to always consult the marking of the product you intend to use.

For scheduled maintenance operations on the distribution network of its energy plant, our hydraulic pump for wrench control Series FPT-HTW/C was requested, in combination with a set of twin hoses and a hydraulic wrench with a maximum tightening torque of over 8000Nm and other wrench models.

The operations first involved the dismantling of the element to be replaced, the assembly of temporary flanges while waiting for the arrival of the new valve and, as a final step, the assembly of the new element. All these operations were supported by a crane for in-out well movements, while the management of screwing and unscrewing was carried out with the FPT Fluid Power Technology equipment.

The peculiarity of the application required ATEX Certified equipment: FPT can offer its customers this characterization not only for the control units for wrench control, but also for its entire range of electro-hydraulic units dedicated to lifting.