Pipe Rehabilitation Constraints and Repair Techniques

Nowadays, pipe rehabilitation has been widely applied to effectively and conveniently perform pipe rehabilitation. Through pipe rehabilitation, precise internal video inspection of pipelines can be achieved, avoiding the complex operations of excavation and cutting. Simple operations can complete the repair tasks. However, during this process, one might encounter some technical terms, such as "limited pipe rehabilitation." So, what does limited pipe rehabilitation mean? It mainly refers to operations conducted in confined spaces.

What Is Confined Space Pipe Rehabilitation?

In pipe rehabilitation inspections, we often need to work in narrow underground pipeline wells, which can be considered as a type of confined space operation. Currently, confined spaces are mainly categorized into three types:

Limited Underground Space

Including underground pipelines, basements, underground warehouses, underground projects, underground ditches, tunnels, culverts, pits, abandoned wells, cellars, sewage pools (wells), biogas pools, septic tanks, sewers, etc.

Enclosed Equipment

Such as cabins, oil tanks, vehicle fuel tanks, reactor towers (kettles), refrigerators, pressure vessels, pipelines, flues, boilers, etc.

Limited Ground Spaces

Like storage rooms, mash pools, fermentation pools, garbage stations, greenhouses, cold storage, granaries, silos, etc.

Conducting pipe rehabilitation inspection operations in these confined spaces may lead to poisoning hazards. Because confined spaces easily accumulate high concentrations of harmful substances, these substances may build up in the space, resulting in low oxygen concentration and causing hypoxia.

Precautions for Confined Space Operations

When conducting pipe rehabilitation, confined space operations must strictly follow the approval system, and unauthorized entry into confined spaces is strictly prohibited. Before construction, the steps of "ventilation first, then testing, and working later" must be followed, and operations with unqualified ventilation and testing are strictly prohibited. Even when entering a confined space, personal protective equipment against poisoning and suffocation must be equipped, safety warning signs must be set, and operations without protective or monitoring measures are strictly prohibited.

Common Pipe Rehabilitation Techniques

Drainage pipe rehabilitation techniques are usually divided into excavation repair and trenchless repair.

Excavation Repair

This method requires trench excavation of the repair pipe section, followed by repairing with the pipe replacement method. After the repair is completed, backfilling is required. It is suitable for open construction sites with minimal impact on pedestrians and traffic.

Trenchless Repair

This technique involves the use of special methods and equipment to complete pipe rehabilitation without or with minimal excavation of trenches, causing almost no impact on society and the environment, making it an environmentally friendly construction technique.

Trenchless repair techniques can be classified into the following categories based on the repair principles and functions:

Replacing the original pipeline method-pipe bursting method: Using specialized equipment to directly break and squeeze the original pipeline into the surrounding soil, forming new space, while simultaneously bringing in the new pipeline to replace the original pipeline.

Adding inner liner pipeline: Directly installing a new inner liner pipeline into the original pipeline, using specific methods to extend and fix it, making the inner liner pipeline part of the original pipeline to undertake water transport tasks and improve hydraulic conditions.

Partial pipe rehabilitation technique: Using "point-to-point" repair methods to fix local issues within the original pipeline, including corrosion, damage, misaligned joints, and other defects causing local leakage.

The application of these pipe rehabilitation techniques and methods provides multiple options for solving pipeline problems, effectively improving the efficiency of pipeline maintenance and repair.