METHOD OF SEALING A PIPE

• Main Authors: PEREZ, Mario, A, HENRY, AndrewR, JOBLING, Wayne, ROBINSON, Ian, KUGEL, Alexander, J, LIU, Richard, Yufeng, FABOZZI, Scott, M
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 06.03.2019
• Subjects: BLASTING; ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVEFUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; HEATING; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; LIGHTING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PIPES; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; WEAPONS

The invention relates to a method of sealing a pipe section, the method comprising the following steps: - providing an inflatable packer (3), - providing an expandable sleeve (4) with a backing layer (5) and an adhesive layer (6), - wrapping the expandable sleeve around the packer with the adhesive layer facing the outside, - inflating the inflatable packer until it reaches a first diameter (D 1 ), wherein the first diameter is smaller than the inner diameter (d) of the pipe section, thereby expanding the expandable sleeve, - inserting the inflated packer with the expanded sleeve into the pipe (1, 2) until it reaches the pipe section to be sealed, and - further inflating the packer until it reaches a second diameter (D 2 ), thereby further expanding the expandable sleeve, - wherein the second diameter is reached when the expanded sleeve touches the inner diameter (d) of the pipe section.