In a wide range of applications in the oil and gas industry, it is necessary to connect two pipes or two fittings of different sizes. In Texas, as well as across the country, the two most commonly used option to quickly and efficiently provide this type of pipe component or fitting to fitting or pipe component is a nipple or a swage fitting.
A nipple can easily be described as a short piece of pipe that is used as an adapter or a connector for two similar sizes of pipe. These can also be components and pipe or component to component connections. Typically, nipples have a male pipe thread for each end, but this is not always the case.
A swage fitting is similar in design to the nipple fitting, but it acts as a reducing connector. In other words, there is one end of the short connector that is one diameter, and the other end is a smaller diameter, which makes it distinctive from the pipe nipple connector.
There are several different options in connections on any type of swage. This can include both ends threaded, without threads on one end or without threads on both ends. They can also be beveled and threaded to meet specific requirements for the piping component in the connection.
Different Options
There are many different options in swage fitting designs, and they are all configured explicitly for different applications. In addition to having the two different end diameters, the swages can be designed to be concentric or eccentric.
Concentric swages have the same shape throughout the body of the swage, or they are symmetrical in shape. An eccentric swage is not concentric or symmetrical, and it may have a shoulder on one side or another asymmetrical design variation.
Swages are typically seamless in construction, which adds an additional ability to withstand higher levels of internal pressure. These components also come with different wall thicknesses, which is often crucial for Texas oil field applications.