COOLING SYSTEM PIPELINE REGENERATION

Grupo Navec is an assembly, engineering, manufacturing, and maintenance industrial

company located in Spain. Their expertise in replacing, restoring or increasing the

structural integrity lost in assets (providing the mechanical properties required at any

point on the surface of metal, concrete or fibre substrates, among others) has lead them

to patent new alternatives using composite materials compared to traditional repair

solutions e.g., fibre repairs, mortar replacements...

Grupo Navec has developed an

infusion and vacuum technology

named TECNOINVAC®, an

innovative system which consists

in the manufacture of in-situ pipes

using carbon fibre and a wet

method of high strength epoxy

resin infusion with homogeneous

vacuum pressure consolidation.

which solves the shortcomings of

manual applications for cooling

system pipelines renewal.

IS THIS YOUR CHALLENGE ? Either underground or overground, restoring the structural integrity of essential pipelines on a nuclear sites is often

problematic, expensive and time-consuming. Manual patch repair applications can often be unreliable, with an

inhomogeneous rendering affecting the mechanical properties and the durability of the repair.

The innovative system TECNOINVAC® eliminates these

uncertainties, restoring lost structural integrity, providing the

mechanical properties required at any point of the pipeline

without excavations, and without interference with other

facilities and services.

With a commitment to conserve, maintain, improve and

extend the value of the networks and infrastructures for the

distribution and storage of fluids, TECNOINVAC® offers

reliability, homogeneity and durability while improving safety

n confined space with no risk of explosion or inhalation of

vapors during the process and with execution in half the time

of traditional repairs.

USER CASE 1 ANAV Ascó-Vandellós II - Tarragona (Spain) - 2016

ANAV Ascó-Vandellós II, Nuclear Reactor Tertiary Cooling System

• In-situ rehabilitation of the nuclear reactor tertiary cooling system with carbon fibre.

• Length 1.5 km ND 800 mm,

concrete with steel core,

buried at 9 m, inclined,

vertical sections, elbows,

flanges, and manholes,

• Restore structural resistance

and tightness required by

design, without the

consideration of the existing

pipeline contribution.

Curated innovations for the nuclear

Issue 3 - July 2021

CNAT Almaraz - Cáceres (Spain) - 2018

CNAT Almaraz - Nuclear Power Plant - Purge filtration units sealing.

• Intervention allowed the customer to certify the systems

tightness through third party inspection body.

• Using a system with

silicone radiation ex-

posure, nylon fibre

and vacuum film.

• Repair and leak

sealing of H2 purge

filtration units in con-

tainment building.

USER CASE 2

THE TECHNOLOGY • TECNOINVAC® is an innovative system which consists in the manufacture of in-situ pipe, using a high-strength

epoxy resin infusion and homogeneous vacuum pressure consolidation until the end of the polymerization cycle.

• Depending on its condition, the original pipe (metallic or reinforced/

prestressed concrete) can be considered as a lost mold, either from the

outside or from the inside.

• The base material structural capacity to withstand flow rates and

pressures can be increased to be greater than the original design

without modifying the infrastructure, extending the service life of the

existing pipelines without replacements or dismantling, while improving

transport capacity.

TECNOINVAC® provides:

* Homogeneity: the resulting carbon fiber pipe has the same mechanical

properties at any point. The process also eliminates any uncertainty

derived from the human facto as lack of impregnation, resin excess, air

bubbles and occlusions, delamination problems, lack of compaction

between fiber layers, insufficient adhesion to the substrate or poor

adaptation to existing geometry.

* Reliability: only the amount of resin required is absorbed based on the

weight used in the carbon fiber, obtaining the optimal mechanical

properties.

* Durability: structural service life of 40 years, mitigating any future

corrosion problems without maintenance operations.

* Safety: safe process for workers in confined space, without risk of

exposition and inhalation of vapors, respectful of the environment.

* Quicker: execution in half the time of traditional repairs.

Talk to Francesc Robles

(Applied Engineering Division Director)

frobles@gruponavec.com

+34 (0) 6 61 44 28 33

www.tecnoinvac.com

Curated innovations for the nuclear

Issue 3 - July 2021

C/ del Plom núm. 39 A

Polígono Industrial Riu Clar,

Tarragona, Tarragona, 43006 - SPAIN