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Hydratight completes pipeline plugging at chemical facility

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Hydratight has completed its largest bag stop line plugging at a chemical production facility in Germany.
The 56 inch (diameter) main water-cooling line plugging operation was a quicker and more cost-effective approach than traditional mechanical line plugging.
Modifications to a water-cooling line during scheduled plant shutdown meant the line needed to be temporarily plugged.
This was to allow the existing line to be extended and modifications made including additional butterfly valves and replacement of existing valves.
Until now a mechanical line plugging solution would have been the default approach. Hydratight, however, proposed the use of a bag stop to seal the pipeline.
A bag stop line plug is an inflatable bag that is inserted through a small opening in a pipe and then inflated to fill the pipe's entire diameter. The Kevlar bag features multiple integrated seals on the bag surface to stop the flow of liquid.
“Reviewing the time available and planned pipeline modifications we wanted to plug the pipeline in as simple, quick and effective way as possible. Compared with mechanical line plugging, the bag stop is far simpler, quicker, less invasive and more cost-effective. It also provides a guaranteed 100% positive seal,” said Herbert Meister, senior product specialist – speciality services, Hydratight.
During project implementation, Hydratight both supervised and implemented the 24 inch and 12 inch hot taps respectively.
It also undertook assembly and insertion of the bag stop line plug tool and deployment of the 56 inch inflatable high-pressure bag, together with pipe cutting and bevelling of the line.
“The Hydratight team’s guarantee of a 100% positive seal gave us the confidence to use the bag stop technology. Using the Hydratight bag stop solution was quite a time saving compared with mechanical plugging, allowing our engineers to complete all the work on the water-cooling line in good time,” said a spokesman on behalf of the chemical plant operator.






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