Casing Spacer (also known as spiders) and centraliser systems are important tools in the trenchless and pipeline, vertical production drilling, and ground engineering industries to help with support, grading and centralisation. However, it’s not uncommon that a project will require a casing spacer, spider or centraliser system of different heights to achieve the desired results. Selecting a system that is flexible will help keep material and project costs down, while also keeping staff training to a minimum.

Spiders – A casing spacer with the flexibility to achieve correct grade

Trenchless and pipeline, vertical production drilling, and ground engineering installations are not always straight forward.  Sometimes a casing spacer or centraliser system of different heights is required to achieve the correct grade and even grouting.

“There are countless examples of where different heights are required for an installation. For example, depending on the installation method and ground conditions, not all casing pipe is installed straight so there may be curves or slight deviations. This means that to centralise the new pipe, non-centred grade control needs to be used for the pipe to be straight,” Jason Linaker, Managing Director at kwik-ZIP said.

“We are also increasingly seeing different methods of pipeline installation such as pipe bundling. The main challenge with pipe bundling is that these bundles are odd shapes and each bundle might be a different diameter. Odd shapes are not limited to pipelines either, centralisers can also be used for projects such as pile rehabilitation where the piles may also be square rather than round.”

Mr Linaker said these are problems commonly found across all sectors which use casing spacer and centraliser systems, whether it be an oil field where bores are different sizes, ground engineering projects or pipeline installations, so it’s important to consider finding a flexible system that can be used across the entire work site.

“The problem with most spacers and centralisers is that they don’t have the flexibility required to use across a project site, so contractors need to purchase several different systems. Not only does this bring up material and project costs, but on-site personnel will potentially need to be trained in multiple designs and brands.”

Casing Spacer systems and Centralizers for different shapes and sizes

kwik-ZIP casing spacer and centraliser systems have been designed to help with the challenge of different diameters, grading and shapes across the drilling and pipeline, soil stabilisation and foundation, oil and gas, and waterwell and environment sectors.

Our casing spacer and centralizer systems have a flexible design, allowing for different casing/borehole diameters and combinations by altering the number of segments used to make the casing spacer or centraliser.

“This flexible and segmented design allows for kwik-ZIP systems to be used for projects which require the centralisation of odd shapes such as pipe bundles and even square piles, as well as regular round pipes,” Mr Linaker said.

“The design of the kwik-ZIP casing spacers and centralisers also means that only one product is required across the site rather than multiple, keeping costs down. If there are leftover casing spacers or centralizers after a project’s completion they can easily be used for the next project – eliminating waste.”