Pipe Freezing for Quick Pipe Repairs
Avoiding the requirement to drain down pipelines for repair work or to carry out
maintenance can save a considerable amount of time and potential loss of product.
Qwik-Freezer™ Pipe Freezing System eliminates The technique can be used safely on steel, iron, lead,
the need to drain pipework by creating a freeze
stainless steel, copper, brass and plastic pipe. After
plug. Available from the Pipestoppers® Division the work is carried out, the ice plug is simply thawed
of Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® Qwik-
and the line is restored to full operation.”
Freezer is a very cost effective and quick way to
perform pipeline maintenance without draining Qwik-Freezer™ is in use Worldwide in industry
the system, meaning very little or no system
sectors such as petrochemical, building and
downtime.
maintenance services, food and beverage, hospitals,
water treatment, shipping and aerospace. It is also
Luke Keane, Technical Sales Manager for HFT® said:
extremely beneficial for pipework where valves need
“Qwik-Freezer™ is a simple, low cost method for pipe
to be changed. By not having to drain systems of
repairs. A flexible jacket is wrapped around the pipe
liquids to make repairs, the savings made are able
at the point where the freeze is required. A nozzle
to justify the low relative cost of the Qwik-Freezer™
in the jacket is then coupled to a cylinder of low cost
System.
liquid carbon dioxide by means of a high-pressure
hose. When the CO2 is injected into the space
Larger pipe diameters than 8” and the use of anti
between the jacket and the pipe, at a temperature of
freeze and rust inhibitors can create the need for
-78oC, the pipe contents freeze and a secure ‘ice plug’ the liquid nitrogen (LN2) temperatures of the Accu-
is formed, which seals the pipe.”
Freeze™ System in order to create a pressure bearing
freeze plug.
“The ‘ice plug’ forms only in a section of the pipe
www.huntingdonfusion.com
covered by the jacket, so the resulting rise in pressure
is very small and there is no damage to the pipe.
.
6 TUBE NEWS November 2019