An international distiller’s blending room drains were completely eaten away and collapsed in many sections. The blending room housed 40 alcohol tanks that were 100,000 litres in size. The tanks are supported by a 12 inch thick structural slab throughout the blending room. During production, the blending room is a Class 1, Div 1 Explosive environment so no electronics could be used in the room.
The drains in the blending room hadn’t functioned in over 15 years due to hardened sugar buildup, large holes and sections of the drains that were completely collapsed. The blending room requires frequent wash downs and for the past 15 years, all of the water had to be vacuumed up and/or pushed out the door to the manhole.
The facility had sought solutions to the drainage issue in the blending room for years. The best option prior to Revive Pipes was digging a trench outside of the facility and coring holes and inserting new drain pipes under the blending room. Wherever drains would be required in the room, the structural slab would have to be cut up and holes dug down to the new pipe to attach new drains. Significant engineering would be required to ensure the weight of the nearby tanks would not collapse the structural slab when each hole was dug up. The cost of this option was around $2 Million dollars.
Revive Pipes was able to restore flow and install structural liners in 90% of the blending room sewers during an annual plant shutdown. The explosive environment kept Revive Pipes from being able to obtain accurate information on the condition of the pipes until the facility was shut down and all of the alcohol removed from the tanks. The entire blending room could have had flow restored, however the lining of the sewers was very complex and time consuming due to their severely deteriorated condition. The small remaining section of deteriorated sewers is scheduled to be Revived in a future shutdown.
In the project wrap up meeting, the client revealed that they didn’t actually think Revive Pipes was going to be able to fix the drains, but they were willing to give us a chance. They were shocked and ecstatic that we were able to so comprehensively rehabilitate their pipes when they have been looking throughout North America for years for a contractor to provide an effective solution to their problem.
Revive Pipes CIPP Lining Services
Cost Savings: Over $1.5 Million
Production Impact: 0 Hrs
Excavations Made Inside Facility: 0