Just as household plumbers freeze domestic pipelines to minimise inconvenience to consumers when making repairs, so industrial engineers apply the same principle on a larger and more sophisticated scale to minimise downtime and production losses during maintenance.
Hydratight uses cryogenic freezing as a non-invasive alternative to mechanical plugging, employing its cryogenic technology for pipelines up to 48” diameter (1219mm).
Hydratight’s engineers will freeze the process or production media at full operating pressure to form a plug which allows modifications or repairs downstream without the need to drain the pipeline.
Benefits include:
• Continued production during pipe work modification or repair
• Integrity of pipe work maintained – no need to re-test plug location
• Drainage of media avoided, production performance maintained
The cryogenic service complements Hydratight’s mechanical line plugging, which is suitable for temporary or permanent isolation of pipe work, allowing repair or modification without the need for plant shut-down or the loss of production or process media.
“Purpose-designed equipment in the hands of highly skilled technicians enables fast and safe mechanical line plugging for emergency and scheduled stopping of a liquid or gas flow in a pipeline at full operating pressure,” says Hydratight.
This process also enables the isolation, repair or modification of pipework without production loss as well as the ability to plug and bypass without interruption to process flow.