Framatome announced the completion of its two-year test program for the industry’s first spray-in-place liner system for buried piping rehabilitation. The results validate the structural liner system for use within the nuclear plant safety-related applications for long-term plant operations and license renewals.
Buried pipes and underground components for nuclear power plant operations range from just a few inches to 11 feet in diameter. Aging and degradation of buried piping is an industry challenge with the location of these components rendering necessary repairs and inspections costly. Framatome’s spray-in-place liner provides the nuclear industry with a safe solution that rehabilitates pipe internals and overcomes cost, safety and outage duration challenges.
“At Framatome, we are vigilant in delivering innovations that help our customers improve plant performance, achieve outage performance goals, and secure the plants’ long-term operations,” said Craig Ranson, senior vice president of the Installed Base business unit in North America. “Our turnkey lining process saves our customers money and downtime, while solving buried piping aging challenges and taking them to the end of the plant’s lifespan.”
Framatome, working with industry partners, developed an engineered structural spray-in-place liner system that is delivered remotely via in-pipe robotics. Using a robotic crawler, the fast-curing liner is sprayed evenly onto the inside of the pipe, fully rehabilitating the pipe, becoming the new pipe pressure boundary. The quick-installing system does not require excavation, thus minimizing safety risks and reducing outage duration.
Testing and engineering evaluations were performed at Framatome’s Qualification and Testing Center in Virginia, United States.
Framatome’s industry-first spray liner rehabilitates buried piping and underground components