Case Study Data

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Site
Oil well
Location
Argentina
Repair Type
Leak repair and corrosion protection
Defect
Pitting and cracking on a 900mm steel pipe

Products Used

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Superfast Copper Epoxy Putty Stick
Fast-working epoxy putty sealed cracks in the pipe and smoothed off pitting caused by corrosion

Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape
Repair tape with high chemical resistance used to reinforce the epoxy putty

SylWrap HD Pipe Repair Bandage
Applied over the repair to provide a layer of protection to a vast section of pipe

Case Study PDF

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Case Study Review

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The 900mm steel pipe pumped water into the well, filling it and in turn pushing oil towards the top for extraction. If the pipe was unable to supply the well with sufficient levels of water, then removing oil became extremely difficult.

Corrosion to the pipe had caused heavy pitting and a number of ruptures to appear. The oil well initially attempted to seal the pipe using two repair clamps.

Problematically, the leak area was located close to a tee and a welded joint, preventing the repair clamp from working effectively.

A more flexible repair method was required and so the oil well turned to Sylmasta for a solution. Superfast Copper Epoxy Putty was used to plug the holes in the pipe and to smooth off the damage caused by corrosion, restoring the surface profile of the pipe.

Because the exterior of the steel pipe was extremely oily, the oil well decided to reinforce the Superfast Copper with Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape.

Combining a self-fusing silicone repair tape like Wrap & Seal with Superfast Copper increased pressure resistance and chemical protection.

The entire repair was then overwrapped with SylWrap HD Pipe Bandage. The flexibility of SylWrap HD meant that it could be easily applied to the pipe around both the tee and the welded joint.

SylWrap HD provided an impact-resistant, rock-hard layer to the repaired damage area, protecting a vast section of pipe from future corrosion, breaches, and general wear and tear.

Despite the size of the pipe and the challenges posed by the tee and welded joint, the repair was a complete success.

Within two hours, water was again filling the well. Oil extraction could resume at a fraction of what a replacement pipe would have cost in new fittings, installation and downtime whilst the oil well was out of operation.

Although this particular repair was made with Superfast Copper, Superfast Steel Epoxy Putty Stick would have been equally effective had it been available at the time.

Superfast Steel, Wrap & Seal Pipe and SylWrap HD can all be purchased as part of the SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit for fixing live leaks.