Imagine building a massive city from scratch in only a few years. A city with infrastructure that can attract and support hundreds of thousands of people to live, work, and play in what would otherwise be a deserted landscape.
This real-world version of SimCity is being constructed right now. Any vendor or technology being used on the project must undergo extensive testing and approvals to ensure the long-term integrity of the infrastructure. LPS’ FlexSleeve® has undergone these tests and is now being used for a 6” diameter x 30km desalinated water line, with more critical pipelines coming soon that will use LPS technology.
As part of the qualification process, FlexSleeve® was tested in “mitered bends” to prove that it could effectively seal water from reaching the bare steel of the weld zone to keep it from corroding. Mitered bends involve cutting two mating pipe ends at matching angles to achieve a change of direction – in this case a 3-degree final angle. FlexSleeve’s rubber bore seals were proven to seal around the entire pipe circumference despite uneven sealing pressures resulting from the joint angle.
Now contractors can use FlexSleeve® on standard joints and mitered joints to significantly speed up construction by eliminating the need to coat the interior of each joint after welding. The result is consistent internal joint corrosion protection and an important boost to the project’s ambitious construction schedule.
