Cutting Stainless

[Turbo21835]

Heres one for you guys. We have a 4 inch stainless steel well casing that needs to be cut. It is a quarter inch thick wall. Heres the real issue, NO SPARKS. The well casing is down to the ground water level, and is set up to remove Toluene from the ground. So no sparks can be created, since the product is sitting on top of the water table, it could be disastrous.

 

[Alberta]

Pneumatic Reciprocating saw ?????

 

[heavylift]

they use water to cut metal... don't know if there is a portable device small enough for your needs
googled below
The benefits of waterjet cutting include:

•Cuts almost any material up to 6 inches thick
•Waterjet cut tolerances of +/-.005" to .008" can be achieved on thin stock.
•Additional cut tolerance allowance for taper on thicker stock may be required.
•We can also offer HAAS machining to achieve tighter feature tolerance, such as attachment holes or datum features.
•Thin cut width reduces scrap
•Smooth cut eliminates secondary edge finishing
•No heat build-up – no material distortion
•Handles small lot sizes and high volume production
•Eliminates tooling costs for low volume flanges and brackets
We work with the following materials:

•Aluminum
•Armor Plate
•Brass
•Bronze
•Bulletproof Glass
•Ceramics
•Copper
•Fiberglass
•Granite
•Magnesium
•Marble
•Plastics
•Plexiglas
•Rubber
•Stainless
•Steel
•Titanium
from a google search

you could use an air up plug to seal the hole...

Pipe cutter

 

[terex 20B]

You could run a plug into the casing then blow the casing out with air. I don't know what services are available in your area,but a wireline truck or a packer company could easily plug it. Once it's plugged you could probably cut it with whatever, and the chances of losing anything into the casing are greatly reduced. We used casing cutters or pipe cutters in Alberta on shallow gas wells. Good luck!!!:usa

 

[LonestarCobra]

Find a coiled tubing company. They will have a cutter they can run to any depth and use water and sand to cut pipe.

 

[landrvrnut22]

Pneumatic bandsaw.

http://www.csunitec.com/saws/band.html

 

[heavytorching]

got a skid steer? rent a shear. or use a concrete cut-off saw with water?they have hose attatchmentson them atleast my partner saw does. do a test cut on something similar.

 

[swampdog]

The idea of putting a temporary plug in the pipe might work well, at least if rapid pressure buildup below will not take place. How about using one of those plugs used to plug sewer drains? That type has a rubber core sandwiched between metal washers. Just tighten the nut on the top side and the rubber expands and closes up the pipe. Then cut the pipe. Of course be careful to fasten something to the plug first so that you can retrieve it without dropping it in.

 

[95zIV]

How about one of these?

 

[qball]

irert the casing with 10# of dry ice first.

 

[Turbo21835]

Thanks for the ideas all. Looks like we are going to use a 4 inch sewer test plug a foot below our cut. Then inert the area if needed. We will use our PID to see if its required. We will cut with a portable bandsaw. The shear idea would be great if this wasnt for a finished product.

On top of this schedule 40 stainless pipe we have to install and valve assembly. Pressure in the well itself is not an issue, and this is a vapor recovery well, it has no pressure, or suction on it yet. Once cut down and our valve is in place, we well fire up the blow system and start removing product from the well, along with 10 others on site. This one is a thorn in our side, since the drillers were supposed to cut the casing to grade, but no one caught that they were 6 inches high until two weeks after they left, so we are stuck cutting it while its in the ground, and is full of explosive product at the bottom.