Development of Validation and Test Protocols for Rig to Test Seal Integrity of CIPP Junction Liners

George Brown College’s Research and Innovation office and the Centre for Construction Engineering and Technologies (CCET) are collaborating with Liquiforce Services Inc. (Liquiforce) to design, develop, validate and implement a test rig that will evaluate the integrity of the seals of cured in place pipeline (CIPP) junction liners under conditions representative of the service environment. Liquiforce is an 80-employee business based in Kingsville, ON, who is a leader in no-dig pipeline rehabilitation for the clean water, waste water, and other pipeline systems. Their unique, green pipeline rehabilitation systems provide new pipe standards and durability (50-100 years) for pipes 10 centimetres (4 inches) to 6 metres (20 feet) in diameter. Although the product and method for installing CIPP junction liners have been proven in the field, ex-situ seal integrity testing is sometimes required to satisfy customer requirements, for internal quality assurance and for new product development. Liquiforce has conducted air pressure test per ASTM F2561, whereby off-the-shelf PVC piping is made into a representative junction segment and lined with Liquiforce’s CIPP liner, sealed with sewer plugs and the pressure drop is monitored. Failures are periodically seen, and it is unknown whether this is related to material, application, pipe geometry or the test itself. There is no alternative ex-situ test for seal integrity that is representative of the service conditions, nor is there a means to test seal integrity in-situ. Liquiforce is presently collaborating with a student capstone team from GBC’s Mechanical Engineering Design program to design and prototype a bench scale test rig that can test the seal integrity of representative sections of repaired pipeline junctions under service conditions. It is envisaged that the test jig would apply water pressure to the outside of a representative sample, and measure the water leakage into the main pipe. A prototype is expected to be produced by April, 2016. In parallel, a team led by Diana Facchini will develop the test method and the protocol to validate the uncertainty, reproducibility and reliability of the test.