Measurement Equipments

Hot Tapping Kit

Put flow and dew point probes exactly where you need them, while your air keeps flowing and your plant keeps running.

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A hot tapping drilling device driven by a cordless drill, fitted through a ball valve and saddle clamp on a flanged pipe

Product overview

Measurement ports in live lines, with production running

Our hot tapping kit drills a measurement port into your compressed air or technical gas pipe while the line stays at full operating pressure. Production carries on throughout, and no section of your network has to be vented, isolated or re-commissioned.

A saddle clamp gives the pipe a threaded connection, a full-bore ball valve screws into it, and a drilling device sealed against line pressure cuts the hole through the open valve. The valve is then closed and the drilling device removed, leaving an isolated ½ inch port ready for a flow, dew point, pressure or temperature probe.

“Hot” means live, not heat: the drilling is mechanical cutting, with no flame or welding. The valve stays on your pipe for good, so one port serves a measurement location for its whole life, and a portable probe can move between several prepared points.

A saddle clamp with its strap and a full-bore ball valve with a red lever
  • ½ inchMost common port for insertion probes
  • ZeroDowntime and air vented to install
  • About 93 NShaft force held at 7 bar g
  • No flameClamp-on, so no hot-work permit

Benefits

Instruments in, production uninterrupted

Most networks were installed without flow or dew point instrumentation, and many plants cannot stop their air to add it. Here is what stands in the way, and how hot tapping clears it.

  • No production stoppage

    The problem

    Shutting down the air network stops every machine on it, and a continuous process may get one planned shutdown a year.

    How it solves it

    The port is drilled while your network runs at normal pressure and flow, so instrumentation no longer waits for the shutdown calendar.

  • No air vented

    The problem

    Every cubic metre of pipe and receiver volume vented from 7 bar g releases about 7 m³ of free air, which then has to be compressed again.

    How it solves it

    Your line is never vented, so no stored air is wasted and nothing needs repressurising.

  • Probes you can service

    The problem

    A probe fitted straight into a pipe can only come out if the line is depressurised, so in practice it stays in and drifts.

    How it solves it

    The ball valve stays on the pipe, so any probe can be withdrawn for calibration, cleaning or replacement at any time, without depressurising.

  • No hot work

    The problem

    Welding a boss onto a line needs welding procedures and hot-work controls.

    How it solves it

    Clamp-on saddles and mechanical cutting mean no flame, no welding and no fire permit.

  • A clean pipe interior

    The problem

    Opening a depressurised pipe lets in ambient dust and humidity, and a clean, dry network must then be purged before its air is back in specification.

    How it solves it

    The saddle, valve and drilling housing form a sealed chamber, so your pipe interior is never open to atmosphere.

  • Measurement where it counts

    The problem

    Without a port, leakage, consumption per area and air quality at the point of use stay unknown.

    How it solves it

    Ports go where straight runs and representative air exist, each takes flow, dew point, pressure or temperature probes, and one set of probes can survey your whole site.

Where it’s used

Wherever the air cannot stop

Plants that run around the clock, and plants whose air systems are validated, add their measurement points through hot tapping.

  • Molten metal pouring from a ladle in a foundry

    Continuous-process plants

    Steel mills, glass works, cement and chemical plants that may get one air shutdown a year add instrumentation between turnarounds.

  • Wine bottles moving along a bottling line

    Food and beverage

    Dew point monitoring on bottling, packaging and processing lines to BCAS Guideline 102 and HACCP, without interrupting production.

  • Yellow tablets spilling from a medicine bottle

    Pharmaceuticals

    Dew point and flow monitoring added to validated air systems, without venting lines that would then need re-qualification.

  • Robots welding a car body on an assembly line

    Automotive

    Body shops, paint shops and assembly lines allocate air per line and track leakage for ISO 50001 energy programmes.

  • A row of yarn winding machines in a textile mill

    Textiles

    Branch flow measurement shows the consumption of each loom group, among the largest air users in industry.

  • Electricity pylons and power lines at sunset

    Power generation

    Instrument air serving valve actuators and dampers stays live while dew point monitoring is added.

Also hospital medical air plants, clean dry air in electronics and semiconductors, PET blow moulding on 30–40 bar g lines where the drilling device is rated for that pressure, nitrogen, argon and CO₂ networks, and energy auditors moving portable probes between prepared points during ISO 11011 assessments.

How it works

Drill under pressure, never open the line

Every step happens inside a sealed chamber connected to your pipe, so there is never a direct path from the air inside to atmosphere.

How hot tapping works: a saddle clamp and a full-bore ball valve are fitted to the live pipe, a drilling device sealed against line pressure cuts the hole through the open valve, the bit is withdrawn and the valve closed so the device can be vented and removed, and an insertion probe is then fitted through the valve to the pipe centreline, all without depressurising the line. Your live air line Saddle clamp Ball valveopen Gland sealDrillingdevice≈ 93 N at 7 bar gVent Valve closedDevice ventedand lifted offGauge at zero TransmitterInsertionprobeSafety restraintValve openProbe tip at the centreline 12345Compressed air at line pressureForce of line pressure on the shaftChips blown out through the ventDrilling device, vented and removed

  1. 1. Clamp the saddleA saddle clamp, sealed to the pipe by its gasket, gives the wall a threaded ½ inch connection. Its bolts are tightened evenly before drilling, because the gasket’s seal is only proven once the hole breaks through.

  2. 2. Fit the valveA full-bore ball valve screws into the saddle and is opened fully. Its bore is larger than the drill bit, so the bit, and later the probe, pass through the ball without touching it.

  3. 3. Drill under pressureThe drilling device screws onto the open valve and its bit cuts through the pipe wall. At breakthrough, line pressure pushes a 13 mm shaft outward with about 93 N at 7 bar g; the feed holds it while the gland seal keeps the air in. A short blow-off through the vent carries chips out through the tool, not into your pipe.

  4. 4. Retract and isolateThe bit is withdrawn above the ball and the valve closed with a quarter turn. The housing is vented, its gauge confirms zero pressure, and the drilling device comes off, leaving a sealed port.

  5. 5. Insert the probeThe probe’s gland screws onto the closed valve and its safety restraint is fitted. The valve is opened, the probe pushed to its depth, commonly the pipe centreline, aligned with the flow, and the gland tightened.

Forces shown for a line at 7 bar g.

Get the full details

Our brochure covers it in detail, and our questionnaire tells us what we need to recommend the right one for your plant.

Download brochure Download questionnaire

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