This week we're discussing why it is important to keep unwanted debris out of your piping system components. Check out our post on how to do just that or contact our team for help!
Keep Unwanted Debris Out of Your Piping System
Along with protecting critical surface areas from damage and corrosion, stopping debris from entering your piping system components is paramount. If you do not prevent this, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to remove and will cripple your construction schedule, causing you to miss critical milestones on your project timeline.
What kind of debris can you expect to see in your piping components? When the fabrication process occurs, grinding dust, welding slag, or buckshot can be left behind, and during blasting and painting it is difficult to keep blast media and paint overspray out of your piping components. During construction, shipping, and storage in laydown yards, we have heard of all types of foreign objects getting into open pipe ends. Blowing winds can introduce sand, dead00 grass, and leaves.
Construction craftsmen often leave behind things like cigarette butts, food wrappers, and a multitude of construction-related items. We have also heard of things like rodents, tennis shoes, and even a lawn chair being found in an open piping component. During a turnaround at a smaller chemical plant, a contractor left 1 nut inside the open piping system. When the unit came back online, that nut caused over a million dollars in damage and lost revenue. One EPC spent 750,000 dollars just hydro cleaning components on a large LNG Train prior to final assembly, commissioning, and startup.
Rotating mechanical equipment like pumps, compressors and many valves are extremely susceptible to damage due to granular debris being left in a piping system. Proper procedures and protection products are essential to your piping system preservation efforts. Done correctly, you will have a seamless assemble, commissioning and startup saving 10s of thousands of dollars in repairs and delays to your projects.
Join us next week when we start to look at how to select the right flange and pipe protector that fits your specific application.
