Pipeline Lamination Effect On Freeze Plug

Pipe freeze plug technology is a simple cost effective method to perform pipeline maintenance or modifications without draining.

Pipeline lamination effect on freeze plug.

This means that the ice cracks and fills with water re freezes cracks and so on until a plug is created. This allows for very little drain down or refill having to bleed problematic air out of pipes during refills and in many cases no system downtime. Koppl pipeline services method of pipe freezing sometimes causes concern to those individuals that have dealt with ruptured piping due to freezing. Is it the cryogenic effect on the piping material that is actually responsible for such a pipe failure.

To accomplish the freeze a jacket cryogenic. Once the freeze plug is set we are able to determine which side the leak is on eliminating half the pipeline. Ruptures occur when the ice plug forms expands and causes pressure to build between the plug and a dead end. This dimensional change of the pipe is small and only lasts as long as ea tapping services maintains the pipe freeze plug but it is one of the reasons why pipe freeze plugging can be used to hold back thousands of pounds of line pressure.

Tests have been carried out with plugs holding in excess of 8 000 psi. The basic theory behind a freeze plug is the cooling of the outer wall of the pipe to such an extent that its contents usually water form a plug inside the pipe adhering to the wall and creating a solid isolation. Freeze plugs can also be used to locate small leaks during hydrotesting by reducing the length of pipeline by half with every isolation. Pipe freezing is a non intrusive cost effective and quick method to perform pipeline modifications without draining the system.

The pipe freeze is a controlled process where the ice that is created is very brittle due to the very cold temperature. The pipe freeze plug then conforms to this shape having large ends on either side of a narrower middle. The pipe freeze plug expands along the length of the pipe and the result is stress free ice. Using liquid nitrogen or co2 to isolate the problem area in the pipeline by freezing the product inside the pipe to form one or more solid ice pipe freeze plugs.