Drainage engineers from Lanes Group have completed a complex project to rehabilitate a production pipe at a factory run by a world-leading specialist plastics manufacturer.
Victrex plc commissioned Lanes Group’s pipe rehabilitation and lining division to replace a defective liner in an effluent pipe with a new one at its factory in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
The Lanes Group team used specialist remote access technology that allowed the pipe to be renewed with the least disruption and in the shortest possible time.
Checks identify problem
Gary Carey, Lining Technical Manager at Lanes Group, said: “Ensuring the long-term integrity of the effluent pipe, and optimising its capacity, was of critical importance to Victrex.
“We were pleased to be able to precisely identify the cause of the problem, then recommend and execute the most effective and sustainable technical solution.”
Victrex manufactures advanced plastics called PEEK and PAEK polymers. Its products are used around the world, in a wide range of applications, including use in jet and vehicle engines, electronic components, and medical implants.
Regular checks carried out by the company’s maintenance team identified a potential problem with a section of a 300mm-diameter clay production pipe taking effluent to an on-site treatment plant.
Linng precision ‘vital’
The pipe had previously been rehabilitated by a different contractor, who had inserted a 35-metre-long liner between two manholes to smooth its surface and add structural strength.
A CCTV pipe survey carried out by the Lanes Group team showed that a 13-metre section of the liner had developed a fault. This was impairing the effluent flow and could have put the pipe’s structural integrity at risk.
Gary Carey said: “We advised that the defective section of liner should be removed and a new 35-metre-long chemical resistant liner installed from manhole to manhole once more.
“This meant the liner would cover the 22-metre retained section of the previous liner and the 13-metre cleared section of pipe.
“To account for this, we ordered a new liner for a 294mm-diameter pipe, not a 300mm one, which prevent it from rucking in the pipe. Precision is vital, because you only have one chance of getting lining right.”
Lanes Group worked with its German liner supplier, IMPREG and with Victrex to select the liner with the chemical resistance needed to match the composition of effluent carried in the pipe.
An ultraviolet (UV) cured in place pipe (CIPP) liner combined with a particular type of vinyl ester (VE) resin was selected.
Flushing waste from pipe
Tests carried out by Victrex on samples of the chosen liner confirmed the solution was robust, allowing the pipe rehabilitation project to proceed.
All the work was carried out during a production shut down. As a safety precaution, and to capture waste generated by the process, the lining team also installed bungs into both ends of the pipe.
In an operation completed over four shifts, the defective liner was removed using a remotely controlled ProKASRO robotic cutter.
The electric-powered wheeled device was sent along the pipe. Its powerful articulating grinding head could then used to cut up the liner inside the pipe.
A Lanes jet vac tanker was used to flush the waste material along the pipe with powerful water jets, then suck it from the pipe and take it to an appropriate waste site for safe disposal.
In a process that took one shift to complete, the lining team then winched a new 35-metre-long UV CIPP liner, made from flexible glass-reinforced plastic, into the production pipe.
100-year design life
Once inflated with compressed air, a computer controlled UV light train could be pulled through the liner, curing a layer of VE resin sandwiched in the liner in a matter of minutes.
The process created a tough and impervious pipe-within-a-pipe with a design life of 100 years.
A CCTV survey, using a wheeled robotic mini video camera, confirmed the liner had been successfully installed.
Gary Carey said: “Lining is often faster, more cost-effective and has a smaller carbon footprint than replacing defective production pipes, especially if they are buried or are difficult to reach.
“We can also install chemical resistant liners cured with LED light, which allows us to rehabilitate small diameter pipes, under 100mm, and ones that have sharp bends.”
Lanes Group is the UK’s leading drainage and wastewater specialist. It delivers services to companies across a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, energy, transport and water utilities.