Seawater Cooling System 1500mm Pipe Supply Line Leak Repair & Reinforcement
A nozzle snapped from a flange left a 50mm hole in a Saudi Arabia petrochemical plant seawater cooling system pipe, requiring an urgent repair to stop significant damage being caused by water jetting from the pipe five metres into the air at 3 bar pressure.
Site Petrochemical plant
Location Saudi Arabia
Pipe Type 1500mm seawater cooling system pipe supply line
Pressure 3 bar
Repair Type Leak repair & pipeline reinforcement
Products Sylmasta AB Original Epoxy Putty, SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Pipe Defect
The petrochemical plant were extracting seawater from the Red Sea and using it for the cooling of machinery and other industrial processes on site. The 1500mm pipe was the main supply line and therefore critical to the seawater cooling system.
When the nozzle snapped from a flange, it left a 50mm hole in the top of the pipe through which water was discharging five metres vertically at a pressure of 3 bar.
Losing so much water severely impacted on the efficiency of the system. As this seawater returned to the ground, it saturated the surface of the pipe immediately below the hole.
This was causing damage, discolouration, mould and a suspected weakening of the line. The plant therefore needed to make an urgent repair – both to protect the pipe and get the system operating at full capacity again.
SylWrap Solution
The supply line was shut off whilst an engineering team carried out the repair. The application began by securing the hole using a PTFE plug.
To create a watertight seal around the plug and fix it permanently in place, the nozzle was encompassed with Sylmasta AB Original Epoxy Putty.
AB Original is smooth setting and bonds to all materials, including wet surfaces. It has a two-hour work time, ensuring that the putty could be mixed, shaped and applied without the threat of premature curing by the hot Saudi climate.
The exposed top of the PTFE plug and surrounding AB Original were then given further reinforcement by wrapping with seven layers of SYL412HD SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage.
SylWrap HD is composite repair wrap with a water activated resin. It set rock hard in minutes, creating an impact resistant layer of protection for the plug.
Combining AB Original and SylWrap HD created a repair with resistance up to 30 bar, more than enough to handle the pressure which the seawater cooling system operated under.
When the line was put back into operation, the engineers noticed the surface of the pipe was bubbling with air and water underneath the nozzle. This confirmed the earlier suspicions the line had been badly weakened by water spraying from the hole.
They therefore reinforced the entire area surrounding the nozzle by wrapping four layers of SYL616HD Bandage around the 1500mm diameter of the pipe.
SylWrap HD cured to form a thick, rock-hard robust shell encompassing the pipe and strengthening the weakened outer wall. The line was now well protected from any future external damage or potential breaches.
Outcome
Completing the repair and reinforcement of the line took less than three hours. 24 hours later and the the seawater cooling system was able to operate at full capacity again once AB Original reached maximum properties.
Follow Up
The repair saved the petrochemical plant from a costly and time-consuming fitting of a replacement section of pipe.
At the same time, the robust protection provided by SylWrap HD will extend the lifespan of the weakened section by many years.
Products Used
AB Original Epoxy Putty
Epoxy putty effective on wet surfaces and with a longer cure time suitable for warm climates
SylWrap HD Bandage
Water-activated wrap sets rock hard to reinforce, protect and strengthen pipework
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