December 2011, Vol. 238 No. 12

Projects

T.D. Williamson Performs First Subsea STOPPLE® Train Isolation

T.D. Williamson Inc. recently completed the first-ever subsea STOPPLE® Train isolation. The patented STOPPLE® Train plugging system links two plugging heads into a “train” capable of providing the added assurance of double block at each isolation point. The double isolation was performed in about 60 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico to facilitate abandonment and decommissioning of an old platform. In the past, pipeline operators used different methods to achieve double block functionality. These methods typically required more than one hot tap and fitting to achieve a double block, but the STOPPLE® Train plugging system requires one tap and fitting. It