Bio-Seal E197 Seals and Reinforces Strengthened Silo Supports
DESCRIPTION
The 25 foot long support legs of a large elevated silo in a chemical plant needed to be reinforced to ensure an adequate load bearing safety margin. The silo was critical to daily plant operation so the required engineering work had to be carried out without disrupting normal plant activities.
The engineering solution was to install oversize new support legs around the existing legs with additional diagonal bracing. To permanently seal and reinforce the structure, the annulus between the old and new legs was filled with a slurry of BIO-SEAL E197 liquid epoxy resin
and #4 blasting sand.
BIO-SEAL E197 was chosen for this application because of its low viscosity, toughness, and long pot life or working time of about 45 minutes.
Lab testing at TFT determined a range of sand concentrations that would optimize pumpability and epoxy consumption. Threaded ports were installed at the tops of the fabricated outer legs to allow easy pumping and internal air release. The installation crew, located on a catwalk at the top of the legs, blended the BIO-SEAL E197 epoxy components with #4 blasting sand which was then transferred to a custom fabricated hopper feeding a 2” diaphragm pump. The outlet of this pump was then led sequentially to the new legs, and the BIO-SEAL E197 slurry was pumped into each leg over a period of about 10 minutes.
The BIO-SEAL E197 injection proceeded without a hitch and ahead of schedule. The silo now rests on an extremely solid base without any unnecessary disruption to the plant.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Location: Texas