A quarry in the south of England who repaired all leaks on site using pipe repair clamps were forced into seeking a more versatile alternative when a pinhole leak developed close to a 90 degree elbow bend in a 150mm steel pipe in the site’s wash plant.

Case Study Overview

Site Quarry wash plant
Location Hampshire, UK
Pipe Type 150mm steel
Repair Type Leak repair
Products Superfast Steel Epoxy Putty, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage

Pipe Defect

The 150mm steel pipe was located in the wash plant of the quarry, passing over a leak. Wear and tear had caused a pinhole leak to appear around 50mm away from a 90 degree elbow bend in the line, through which foul water was escaping into the lake below.

Normally when pipework failed on site, the quarry would fit a repair clamp – but because the hole was so close to the elbow bend, a clamp could not be used for this application. The quarry therefore needed a more versatile solution capable of making an effective pipe elbow repair.

SylWrap Solution

Once it had been established that pressure could be shut off, a SylWrap Standard Pipe Repair Kit was delivered to site. Following the instructions provided with the Kit, a member of the quarry’s operations teams would be able to quickly and easily fix the pipe.

The pipe was cleaned as best it could be before the application began. Superfast Steel Epoxy Putty Stick was used to seal the pinhole. The required amount of putty was cut from the stick and kneaded by hand.

After around two minutes of mixing and whilst still soft, the putty was pushed into the hole. Within 10 minutes, it hardened to form a material as strong as steel which filled the pinhole.

To reinforce the repair, a SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage was wrapped around the leaking section. SylWrap HD is a composite repair wrap with a water activated resin, which sets rock hard in minutes.

SylWrap HD was wrapped and smoothed around the pipe, curing to form an impact resistant sleeve. This further protected the pipe from future breakages, a common occurrence due to the abrasive nature of operations at the quarry.

Outcome

The entire application was completed in under 30 minutes, after which pressure was restored to the pipe and operations at the quarry could continue as normal.

Using a SylWrap Standard Pipe Repair Kit saved the quarry a considerable amount of money compared to the potential costs of fitting replacement parts or hiring specialists to carry out a repair.

Follow Up

Since the repair, the quarry group have taken further stock of SylWrap Pipe Repair Kits. They now know them to be capable of making more versatile repairs than heavy, bulky repair clamps when it comes to complex sections of pipe such as an elbow bend or tee joint.

Products Used

Superfast Steel
Fast working epoxy putty used to fill in holes and cracks on pipework

SylWrap HD Bandage
Water-activated wrap sets rock hard to reinforce, protect and strengthen repairs

Standard Pipe Repair Kit
Superfast Steel and SylWrap HD can be purchased together in a Standard Pipe Repair Kit

Pipe Repair Contractor Case
Easy-to-store case with everything needed to make up to six emergency pipe repairs

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