Turnkey Solution Helps Paper Mill Find & Fix Piping Issues
From paper and petrochemical to pipelines and power, any plant outage is a costly prospect. Offering speed and accuracy, IIA’s non-invasive inspections minimize downtime and costs, and may often offer environmental benefits as well.
When one large paper mill shut down to perform required inspections, IIA was brought on board to perform remote visual inspections (RVI) of all buried plant acid sewer piping. Our explosion-proof RVI cameras can easily navigate pipes, tanks and vessels to gather critical information about internal condition, without costly disassembly.
At the paper mill, our RVI inspectors identified a number of issues, including cracks and joint separation. Our team immediately notified plant management, who sought IIA’s expertise to develop an emergency repair plan.
Our team recommended a cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) to repair the pipelines. The technique involves pulling a resin liner through the existing pipe, which is then cured in place by a Blue Light. Once cured, the liner is then internally coated with Bellzona for additional integrity. As the resin hardens, it creates a new, corrosion-resistant pipe wall — without excavation.
Beyond developing the repair plan, IIA provided a turnkey solution to perform the repairs. Within 24 hours, IIA had mobilized the repair crew. Working around the clock, our team had made all necessary repairs within four days.
IIA then performed another remote visual inspection to confirm that the repairs were successful, paving the way for the plant to start operating again.
The alternative solution would have involved an extensive and costly excavation of buried piping, which would have taken several weeks rather than 4 days. With this plant’s downtime costs of more than $1 million per day — and the additional safety and environmental risks of excavation — the value of the non-invasive approach is clear.
