Nature of defect
The 12” steam line has suffered from external corrosion resulting in local wall thinning and a through-wall defect. A composite and clamp repair was originally utilised to repair the line. However, this repair has failed. There was a large patch of corrosion with a through wall defect within. The client requires a composite repair to be applied while the line is live, to seal the leak and halt any further corrosion and to bring the line back up to full design.
Solution
Metalyte Pipeworks solution was to apply 6 layers of their bespoke field applied High Temperature composite system. This would halt any further corrosion issues and build the strength back in to the line for full operational requirements.
Repair Method
The full repair area was prepared using an MBX machine to gain a surface profile to SSP.SP11, this removed all corrosion to gain the surface profile required for the composite to adhere to. A pre-fabricated steel plate was bonded to the pipe over the defect using a high temperature resistant adhesive. The pipe surface then had a resin bond coat applied prior to the application of the composite. The line was then wrapped in 6 layers of High Temperature composite and allowed to cure. The line was repaired successfully with no isolation required or down time to the system.
