Grooved piped services deliver successful refurbishment project
Victaulic’s grooved pipe-jointing system has been used to replace welded steel pipework in a major upgrade of HVAC systems of William Booth College in Denmark Hill, London. Not only was the system faster to install, but it also overcome the many hazards of hot working, especially in tunnels carrying pipes from the central plant room to the various buildings on the site.
The distribution piping conveys low-temperature hot water and chilled water through the tunnels.
Peter Hanson, manager with mechanical contractor Halsion, explains, ‘We carried out a value-engineering exercise at the start of this job and chose Victaulic because it was the most cost-effective and user-friendly option overall.’
Removing asbestos from the tunnels and cleaning them caused a long delay. However, the speed of installing mechanical couplings and avoiding time-consuming hot-work procedures made up for lost time and brought the programme back on schedule.
Rigid and flexible couplings were used on carbon-steel pipe up to 200 mm diameter. Installation-ready couplings were used; they slide onto the pipe ends without having to take the joint apart.
Rubber-arch bellows to reduce vibration were designed out and replaced with flexible couplings on the suction and discharge side of pumps in the plantroom. Grooved check valves, butterfly valves and wye-type strainers were also installed in the plantroom.
To accommodate angular deflection and thermal movement in the tunnels, flexible couplings and mover expansion joints were installed. Flexible couplings were installed on bends to accommodate movement.
Despite the delayed start, which could have cost thousands of pounds, the project was completed on schedule.
