Tag: Pipe Repair Contractor Case

Case Study Data

Site
Superyacht
Location
United Kingdom
Repair Type
No pressure pipe repair
Defect
Hole in a steel bilge pipe

Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-amalgamating silicone repair tape fuses to form a solid rubber band, sealing high pressure leaks

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Composite repair wrap with water activated resin sets rock hard to reinforce and protect repairs

SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Products supplied in a Contractor Case, enabling up to six live leak repairs to be made to pipes of different diameters

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

Bilge pumps are one of the most important systems on any boat for keeping the vessel dry and safe. Water naturally collects at the lowest point on board a boat from everyday sources like rainwater, waves when sailing rough seas and spray.

The bilge pump removes this excess water and other fluids which may have found their way to the bottom of the vessel – such as engine oil – by pumping it through a series of pipes and out via an exit hole in the hull.

This prevents flooding impacting the balance of the boat and causing overflow into other areas. Oily water coming into contact with machinery or electrics in the engine room for example can cause serious problems, potentially destroying a boat’s system.

In the event of a hull breach, a bilge pump removing water as it is being taken onboard buys time to slow or repair the leak. If major damage is obtained, the bilge pump allows for safe evacuation by helping keep the vessel afloat for longer than would otherwise be possible.

Corrosion had caused the leak in the superyacht bilge pipe by attacking the steel at a welded joint. The subsequent hole was close to a 90-degree elbow and the hull of the boat.

It was also surrounded by other pipes and equipment, making it impossible to repair with a clamp. With water jetting out the pipe whenever the bilge pump went into operation, the hole needed to be urgently sealed until a new pipe could be fabricated and installed.

The superyacht were sent a SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case, from which Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was used to seal the leak. Wrap & Seal is a self-amalgamating repair tape with a unique tapered profile which stretches by three times its length.

As it was wrapped around the pipe, it fused to form a solid rubber band capable of containing the water sent through the line by the bilge pump at around 2 bar pressure.

The repair was then reinforced using a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage. SylWrap HD is a composite wrap with a water activated resin. It was wrapped and smoothed around the pipe, curing in minutes to form a rock hard, impact resistant sleeve.

Completing the bilge pipe repair took under 30 minutes at a material cost of a little less than £70. And having discovered how quick and easy a SylWrap repair is, the superyacht now permanently carries a Pipe Repair Contractor Case on board.

The Case contains enough products to make up to six live leak repairs to pipes of different diameters. It is easily stored onboard and means repairs can be made to any boat pipes on the superyacht as soon as leaks develop – even when sailing the high seas.

Case Study Data

Site
Sugar mill
Location
Costa Rica
Repair Type
Live leak pipe repair
Defect
Pinhole leak in 70mm alcohol line

Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-amalgamating silicone repair tape seals live leaks by fusing together to form a solid rubber band

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Water-activated composite wrap which sets rock hard to reinforce and protect repairs

SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Products were part of a Contractor Case kept on-site, capable of making up to six live leak repairs

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

A SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case contains enough products to seal up to six live leaks, making it the ideal kit to keep on-site for rapid response to emergences.

The sugar mill had approved its use several years earlier. Because the milling season in Costa Rica lasts only around four months, efficiency is paramount. Any downtime, disruption or delays to production are costly.

Numerous repairs had since been made by the sugar mill using their stock of Contractor Cases. These included 90 degree elbow bends in elevated pipelines and a particularly challenging Y-joint leaking from the exact point where three separate pipes connected. Most of these pipes carried hot water.

The leaking alcohol line was 70mm in diameter and transported alcohol juice extracted from sugar cane during fermentation, which would eventually be used in the production of spirits including rum and guaro, the official liquor of Costa Rica.

It ran vertically up the tower, with the leak developing in a weakened section as the line passed through a circular hole in one of the upper floors. Alcohol juice was left spraying through the pinhole at around two bar pressure.

As the pipe could not be isolated, Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was used as the leak sealant. Wrap & Seal is made from self-amalgamating silicone. When stretched by up to three times its length as it is wrapped around a pipe, the Tape fuses to form a solid rubber band capable of sealing live leaks .

Despite the space constraints around the pipe where it passed through the hole in the floor, the engineer making the repair managed to stretch the Tape to a suitable length so that it amalgamated successfully.

Once the engineer was satisfied the leak had been fully arrested and alcohol was no longer escaping, a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was applied over the top to reinforce the Wrap & Seal.

SylWrap HD is a composite repair wrap containing a water activated resin. As it was wrapped and smoothed around the Wrap & Seal, it cured to form a rock-hard protective sleeve over the pipe.

Both Wrap & Seal and SylWrap HD have WRAS approval, meaning they are safe to use with drinking water. The sugar mill were therefore reassured that neither product would affect the alcohol juice inside the pipe.

Because the sugar mill already had all the products required to repair the pipe on-site in their Contractor Case, it took less than 20 minutes to seal the alcohol line from the moment the pinhole was discovered.

Only a minimal amount of alcohol juice escaped thanks to the speed and ease of the repair. All systems remained fully operational, meaning there was no disruption whilst the application took place.

Had a Contractor Case not been available, a much greater quantity of juice would have been lost. The mill may have even been forced to shut down the leaking section until such time as it could be repaired at significant cost both financially and to production.

Case Study Data

Site
Underground water network
Location
Mexico
Repair Type
Live leak pipe repair
Defect
80mm split in a cement coated steel pipe carrying potable water

Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-amalgamating repair tape which seals high pressure live leaks by fusing together to form a solid rubber band

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Water-activated composite wrap which sets rock hard, providing an effective replacement for the removed cement coating

SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Products were supplied as part of a Contractor Case, capable of making up to six live leak repairs

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

A potential leak was identified on a section of the water supply network running beneath a street. Excavation took place and revealed a cement coated steel pipe suffering from a crack around 15mm wide across the diameter of its outer coating.

There was no sign that any water had escaped through this crack. To inspect the condition of the pipe inside, engineers removed the cement using a hammer and chisel. As the coating was chipped away, water began spraying out from a 80mm long split in the steel pipe.

By the time the cement coating had been fully removed from around the leak area, enough water had escaped into the excavation hole to half-submerge the pipe. There was no means of isolating this section of the network and so the only option was to make a live leak repair.

The specialist company involved in the identification of the leak and excavation of the pipe equip all their engineering teams with SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Cases, meaning everything needed to seal the pipe was already on-site.

Contractor Cases contain enough WRAS approved products to make up to six permanent live leak repairs to pipes of all diameters and materials. WRAS approval was necessary for this application because the pipe carried potable water.

A bucket was used to remove enough water from the hole to enable the repair to take place. Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was used to seal the leak in the line, with several Tapes applied to cover the entire length of the split in the steel.

When stretched and wrapped around a pipe, Wrap & Seal fuses to itself to form a solid rubber band. Multiple Tapes can be applied over each other to build pressure resistance up to 30bar. For this repair, the requirement was around 3bar.

Enough Wrap & Seal Tapes were applied until the leak had been fully arrested. A SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was then wrapped over the top for the purpose of reinforcing and protecting the initial repair.

SylWrap HD is a composite wrap with a water-activated resin. After being wrapped and smoothed around the pipe, the bandage set rock hard in minutes. The impact resistant sleeve formed by SylWrap provided an effective replacement for the removed cement coating.

The application was completed in under an hour. Having all the products required to repair the cement coated pipe ready and available via the Contractor Case made a significant difference to response time and how quickly the leak could be sealed, reducing the amount of water lost and disruption to supplies.

Case Study Data

Site
Pig farm
Location
United Kingdom
Repair Type
Leak Repair
Defect
Damaged stainless steel pipe in biodigester tank

Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Repair tape with high pressure and temperature resistance to seal the leak

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Provided an impact-resistant layer to protect against possible future damage

SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit
The products were supplied to the farm in a SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

Biodigester systems are installed on farms for the purpose of turning waste into fertiliser and gas. The process involves organic material such as plant matter and animal manure being diluted with water and mixed in an airtight tank. Microorganisms present in the waste ferment the mix, creating a liquid called digestate.

During fermentation, the bacteria responsible for decomposition produce methane. Also known as biogas, this methane is captured and used to help power the farm. Digestate meanwhile is either kept in its liquid form and sprayed back onto the farm as fertiliser, or it can be dried out to a solid material which is used for animal bedding.

The biodigester system at the pig farm consisted of a wide circular tank 20 metres in diameter and around five metres tall. Inside the tank were a number of stainless steel heating pipes which warmed the digestate to aid fermentation. The digestate itself was mixed by a large propeller blade attached to a metal pillar.

Over time, the propeller mixer had pushed the metal pillar backwards to the point where it came into contact with one of the heating pipes. This in turn led to a breach of the steel and a leak developing.

The farm were alerted to the problem through a noticeable drop-off in the efficiency of the biodigester. They accessed the inside of the tank, discovered the damage and attempted to try and seal the pipe via patch welding.

Not long after the repair and again the biodigester began underperforming. A second inspection revealed that the patch welding had failed, with water sprouting out of numerous pinhole leaks through the weld.

The farm opted for a SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit for their second repair attempt. The pipe was cleaned and the patch weld ground down prior to Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape being applied as the first stage of the SylWrap repair.

There being multiple leak areas across a 600mm area of pipe made it easier to wrap along the length of the line using Wrap & Seal than trying to encapsulate or plug each individual hole with Superfast Epoxy Putty.

When applied to the pipe, Wrap & Seal amalgamated to form a solid rubber band over every pinhole leak present. The tape was easily capable of withstanding both the pressure and temperature which the heating pipe operated at.

To reinforce and protect the repair should the mixer blade and pillar come into contact with the pipe again in future, a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was applied over the top of the Wrap & Seal.

The resin within SylWrap HD was activated with water and the bandage wrapped and smoothed around the pipe. It cured in minutes, encompassing the entire repair with a rock hard sleeve capable of protecting the pipe from impact by the pillar.

Applying Wrap & Seal and SylWrap HD took less than one hour. The biodigester tank was put back into service the following day and with no issues regarding the efficiency or performance of the system noticed, the pipe repair was deemed a success.

Case Study Data

Site
Water supply network
Location
Brega, Libya
Repair Type
Live leak pipe repair
Defect
Cracks in two sections of 100mm steel pipe operating at 5 bar pressure

Products Used

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-amalgamating repair tape used to seal high pressure leaks on both sections of pipe

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Composite wrap applied to reinforce the repaired areas with a rock hard, impact resistant sleeve

SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit
Kit containing Wrap & Seal and SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage for making fast, live leak pipe repairs

SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Case with enough products to make multiple pipe repairs, which could have been used here if available rather than 2 x Universal Kits

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

Around 80 percent of the population of Libya live along or near the northern Mediterranean coast. With freshwater scarce, they rely on supplies being pumped via pipelines from aquifers in the south – known as the Great Man Made River of Libya.

The town of Brega in the north east is serviced by a network of 100mm steel water pipes running both above and below ground, connecting to the Great Man Made River. At least one underground leak was known about through visible signs in the earth surrounding the pipe.

Attending to the problem had never been a priority because of the complexity and cost involved in excavating the pipe, shutting down the line and then either repairing or replacing the leaking section.

The leak was not visible and so it could be ignored. This school of thought was changed when a section of above ground pipe developed a longitudinal split, through which significant amounts of water were escaping at around 5 bar pressure.

A blind eye could not be turned to such a substantial leak causing flooding to the area underneath the pipe. The importance of the line meant it could not be isolated whilst the line was fixed or replacement took place.

It was decided to use a SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit to make a live leak repair. All the products contained within the Kit are WRAS approved, meaning they are safe to use with drinking water.

First, Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was applied to seal the pipe. Wrap & Seal stretches by 300 percent and self-amalgamates to form a solid rubber band capable of sealing high pressure leaks.

The tape was anchored to the side of the split and then wrapped towards and over it. Once the split had been covered, layers of Wrap & Seal were built up until no more water was detected leaking from the pipe. This indicated a successful repair.

To reinforce the line, a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was then applied. SylWrap is a composite wrap with a water activated resin which sets rock hard in minutes. It was wrapped and smoothed across the entire repair area, creating an impact resistant protective shell around the pipe.

Completing the repair took less than 30 minutes. Having seen how quick and easy the SylWrap Universal Kit was to use, the decision was taken to proceed with the repair of the leaking underground section of water supply pipe.

A trench was dug to reach the line with enough clearance underneath so that both Wrap & Seal and SylWrap HD could be applied. The defect in this pipe was a smaller crack easily arrested using the same repair method as with the above ground pipe.

Two leaking sections of water supply pipe had now been successfully repaired without disruption to homes and businesses in Brega. More importantly, there was now an awareness of how quick and easy pipe repair can be.

Future leaks are now set to be tackled with SylWrap Pipe Repair Kits as soon as they are identified, something which can help make a huge difference in an arid country like Libya.

Case Study Data

Site
Public building
Location
United Kingdom
Repair Type
Live leak pipe repair
Defect
Pinhole in a 50mm steel district heating system pipe

Products Used

SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case
The energy company responsible for the district heating system equip every van with a Contractor Case

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Self-amalgamating silicone repair tape used to seal the leak on the pipe despite the difficulty in gaining access to the ceiling

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Composite wrap applied to encapsulate the repaired section with an impact-resistant, protective sleeve

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

The district heating system was operated by a United Kingdom based company who specialise in installing and maintaining sustainable energy generation systems in public buildings, residential developments, factories and manufacturing sites.

Because of the importance of pipes to these systems, Sylmasta already had an established relationship with the company prior to the repair. Each of the company’s vans are equipped with a SylWrap Pipe Repair Contractor Case in case of emergencies, enabling contractors to make up to four live leak repairs as soon as problems are identified.

The repair in question was to a large pinhole leak in a section of 50mm pipe suspended in the ceiling of the building. Pressurised water was jetting out in numerous directions, causing substantial damage to surfaces and surrounding pipework both above and below the leaking pipe.

Flow could not be turned off, as this would have involved shutting down heating across the entire building. A live leak repair to the district heating system was therefore necessary, using lightweight materials which could be easily carried and applied from the top of a ladder used to reach the ceiling.

From the Contractor Case, Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape was used to successfully seal the leak. Despite the difficulty in accessing the pipe caused by the minimal space to work in the ceiling cavity and the surrounding pipes, Wrap & Seal was still stretched by 300 percent, amalgamating to form a solid silicone band over the steel pipe.

The entire section was then encapsulated with a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage. SylWrap HD is a composite wrap with a water activated resin which sets rock hard in minutes. Once cured, it reinforced the pipe from any future breakages.

After seeing the extent of the damage that escaping water managed to cause in the short space of time between the leak being identified and the Contractor Case arriving on site, the company were appreciative of their partnership with Sylmasta.

Had a Contractor Case not been so readily available, then this could easily have turned into a major incident for the district heating system and the building. Instead, the company’s reputation was enhanced for the swift manner in which they reacted to and repaired the problem.

The company have since used their Contractor Cases to make live leak repairs to pipes in various systems they operate made from aquatherm, a semi-rigid polypropylene material.

Aquatherm pipe is popular because it does not react with water, preventing leaching, corrosion, scaling and erosion – major causes of water contamination and long-term pipeline failure.

Once thought to be foolproof, it is now known that failures can happen in aquatherm. Reasons for this include excessive clamping, elevated temperatures, extreme vibrations, flow velocity, water pressure and chemistry, or the presence of copper ions.

There is also the danger posed when a section of aquatherm pipeline has been repaired by inserting copper or iron pipe, leading to different coefficients of thermal expansion and severe cracks.

In the event of any failures in aquatherm piping, the presence of Contractor Cases across the company’s fleet of vehicles means that leaks and bursts can be attended to instantly, instead of suffering delays waiting for materials or parts to be delivered.