ANZCO foods Rakaia hot water ring main pipe replacement

ANZCO Foods Rakaia needed to replace their leaking hot water ring main pipe work, along with laterals which supplied various lines throughout the plant. The project presented a number of challenges to their engineering team who would undertake the work.

Firstly, they wanted to install a pipe system that would provide a leak-free, long service life to eliminate the ongoing maintenance that the previously installed pipework required.

The biggest challenge was that whatever system was selected, it needed to be installed within the tight constraints of surrounding pipe work and wall penetrations. As the pipework was suspended overhead, being able to utilise the existing pipe support system would be beneficial.

ANZCO selected MM Kembla’s KemPress Stainless Steel press fit system for the project. Being made of 316L stainless steel it had proven service life in similar applications and a 25 year leakproof warranty. The speed and ease of installing the KemPress system meant that ANZCO’s own engineering team could undertake the work. The flame free nature of the KemPress Stainless Steel system meant it was ideal to install close to the existing plastic pipework.

ANZCO’s engineering team installed over 260 metres of pipe work, ranging from 76mm for the ring main down to 15mm for the various laterals. As the KemPress Stainless Steel was lighter than the pipe work it was replacing, ANZCO utilised the existing pipe support system.

The installation took around 140 man hours to complete, being significantly quicker compared to welding the pipework. ANZCO’s Engineer, Tony MacKay commented that “due to the tight space we had to work around the other plastic pipework, we simply couldn’t have done the installation any other way.”