Reading this you’re most probably smack dab in the middle of pipe repairs, and you are tired of draining out the entire pipe content just to carry out pipeline alterations further down. I mean with new inventions popping up left and right there must be something for your plight? Well look no further than pipe freeze plugs.
The fancier explanation of pipeline freeze plugs is that we use a cryogenic freezing agent to temporarily cause stoppage of pipe flow in the pipe system. Simply put, a portion of the pipe contents is frozen, and you don’t need to empty out the entire pipe. You can go about repairs as you please.
So which kind of pipes can it be done for?
Its usually done on pipes carrying water, operating at a pressure of 5000 psi, maximum operating temperature being 80+/- degrees celsius. The pipes can be made of carbon steel, galvanised steel, stainless steel ductile iron or cast iron. As you can see pipeline freeze plugs is suitable for almost everything.
Why pipeline freeze plugs?
Well they’re super convenient as they don’t require complete drainage so the bye bye complete system shutting down. The amount of time for which the system is inactive is minimised thanks to this. Seeing as how you’re freezing a tiny portion of the pipe and skipping out on the normal tedious process, so much resources are saved. Best of all? Its freezing a pipe so there is absolutely 0 risk of damage.