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Hughes Pumps have been supplying Flushing and Hydrostatic Test Units (FHTU's) since 1999 to leading companies around the world to flush & pressure test umbilical's during manufacturing onshore & installation offshore. The Flushing process involves pumping glycol (typically MacDermid Oceanic HW525) at 1.0 to 8.0m3/hr at up to 1400bar (20,000psi) to produce a high velocity, turbulent flow within the umbilical to produce a scouring action to flush out any contaminants.
The hydrostatic test system comprises a Hughes plunger pump at 0.1 to 3.0m3/hr at up to 1400bar (20,000psi) to test the integrity of the umbilicals, generally to 150% of the working pressure.
The system is closed loop and includes suction and discharge filters to clean the fluid to NAS1638 class 6 or better. An offline pump/filtration unit continuously filters the fluid even when testing is not taking place and a heat exchanger is fitted to the system, using seawater to cool the process fluid.
The systems generally include inverter driven electric motors for fine flow control, high pressure flow meters and filtration. When used in the manufacturing process the equipment can be PLC controlled. The operator scans a bar code on the umbilical(s) & initiates the process. The pump(s) then automatically adjust speed to achieve the required flow & pressure depending on the diameter, length, quantity and test pressure of the umbilicals.