NATURE OF DEFECT
The 54” line had suffered from external corrosion. This resulted in general wall-thinning across the specified section of pipe with the worst areas being assumed between the 4 and 8 o’clock position. As the Metalyte team progressed with surface preparation they came across several areas that were through wall and leaking. The client required a composite repair to seal any leaks, eliminate further corrosion and bring the line back up to its full design specification.
REPAIR METHOD
The leaking areas were arrested using an injectable composite system and Herculyte epoxies. The surface was prepared using an MBX machine and 500 microns of Dragon resin were applied as a bonding coat. The repair area was wrapped in 32 layers of Dragon Q-STD composite to cover the through wall length and 6 layers of Dragon Q-STD composite for the remaining area to cover a total of 6m and was cured until a minimum of 74.5 “Shore D” hardness was achieved.
