Brie-liant Sylmasta repair seals two separate live pipe leaks in a deaerator tank – stopping a dairy being creamed for £20,000
Two leaks in a cheese production plant deaerator are sealed with the system still in service – one of which was on a pipe tee-joint feeding the vent condenser using a new live leak repair method developed by Sylmasta involving no wrapping.
Case Study Data
Site
Cheese production plant
Location
United Kingdom
Repair Type
Live leak repair
Defect
Two leaks in dairy deaerator tank vent condenser
Products Used
Superfast Aqua PW Epoxy Putty
Epoxy putty with high wet surface adhesion bonds a fitting onto a leaking pipe to make an online repair without wrapping
Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self amalgamating pipe repair tape which forms a solid rubber band during wrapping to contain live leaks
Case Study PDF
Dairy Deaerator Tank Repair Case Study Details
The creamery is one of the largest in Europe, producing over 40 million kilograms of cheese every year for export around the world. Maintaining such high levels of production requires all systems to be functioning at full capacity.
In cheese production, a deaerator tank removes trapped air and dissolved gasses from dairy mixture before further processing. Removing oxygen and carbon dioxide stops fats and proteins oxidising, helping to produce a high quality cheese.
The vent condenser plays two important roles in the process. It supplies the heat exchanger with hot water to warm dairy mixture to between 65°C and 70°C before the mixture enters the deaerator vacuum chamber.
Inside the vacuum chamber, pressure combined with the heat of the dairy mixture flash-boils it to release trapped gasses and steam. The vent condenser then captures this steam and sends it back to the heat exchanger. And so the cycle repeats.
Without a working vent condenser, the deaerator does not run as efficiently because it loses heat rather than recovering it. Leaks in the vent condenser manifold and an injection pipe feeding it were therefore bad news for the cheese plant.
Sylmasta no wrap live leak pipe repair method
The cheese plant first consulted an engineering company, who recommended a resin-injected sleeve repair costing more than £20,000 for equipment and installation.
Next, the cheese plant came to Sylmasta. They explained any repair needed to be temperature resistant to at least 90°C and capable of sealing live leaks. The cheese plant could not turn off the deaerator for any period of time because of the severe disruption it would cause to production.
Making an online repair was challenging because one of the leaks was located on a tee-joint, where it was impossible to apply Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape.
But a long-term project Sylmasta have been working on with marine engineers in Malaysia for sealing large underwater pipes which cannot be wrapped or clamped provided a solution.
The carbon steel tee-joint attached directly to the vent condenser manifold. Water was spraying out at around 2 bar pressure from the exact point the tee met the manifold.
Superfast Aqua PW Epoxy Putty was packed all around the tee-joint and used to bond a metal fitting directly over the leak. The excellent underwater adhesion properties of Superfast Aqua PW enable it to easily bond with wet surfaces, such as the manifold with water leaking out.
The epoxy putty channels the leak path directly through the fitting. Tapping off the fitting then contains the leak – completing a live leak repair without any wrapping.
Sealing the injection pipe
Sealing the stainless steel injection pipe was more straightforward. The leak location was close to where the injection pipe butted against the deaerator.
Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was wrapped around the pipe. The tape amalgamated to itself to form a solid rubber band, exerting elastic force directly over the hole to seal the leak.
After Wrap & Seal application, the cheese plant applied more Superfast Aqua PW on top of the tape to reinforce and strengthen the joining point between the pipe and the deaerator – a belts-and-braces repair.
The repair took one day to complete. The deaerator tank remained in service throughout and the temperature resistance of Superfast Aqua PW (150°C) and Wrap & Seal (250°C) easily coped with the heat of the system.
Most important to the cheese factory, however, was the financial saving. The total cost of Superfast Aqua PW and Wrap & Seal was under £100 and the maintenance team at the dairy carried out the application themselves – compared with the £20,000 quoted for the resin-injected sleeve installed by a specialist company.
Please contact Sylmasta if you need assistance with a deaerator tank repair
Call: +44 (0)1444 831 459
Email: sales@sylmasta.com
