Temperature sensing within an underground structure to determine liner cure schedule
View Patent ↗The invention utilizes temperature sensing to measure the internal temperature of an underground structure, such as a pipe, for the purpose of determining a proper cure interval and/or mix ratio of a resin system during a lining operation. A temperature sensor is placed within a pipe or other underground structure to be rehabilitated and at least one temperature measurement is taken within the structure prior to or simultaneously with the installation of a liner. Once the temperature of an internal aspect of the structure is taken, a cure schedule is utilized to determine the appropriate curing time based on test data obtained from baseline tests performed under simulated conditions in a soil cell apparatus. A computer program may be utilized such that upon entering the type of resin, the lowest recorded temperature of the structure, and the initial resin temperature, a cure schedule is supplied.
1. A method for determining a cure interval for a resin system used in a lining operation, comprising:
performing a plurality of tests under simulated conditions in a soil cell apparatus to obtain an expected cure time of a resin over a range of resin temperatures, wherein the soil cell apparatus includes a housing having a media with an aperture therein for receiving a pipe and a heat exchanger for adjusting a temperature of the soil cell for each of the plurality of tests; and
obtaining an initial temperature reading of a structure to be lined;
determining the cure interval of the resin system based on the initial temperature reading by comparing the initial temperature to the expected cure time for the initial temperature determined in the plurality of tests performed under simulated conditions;
wherein the cure interval is the expected cure time of the resin.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lining operation is a cured-in-place pipelining operation.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structure to be lined is a sewer pipe.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resin system is an ambient-cure resin system.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial temperature reading is obtained by an apparatus comprising:
a temperature probe;
a member adapted to transport the temperature probe to a location remote to a user; and
device for providing the initial temperature reading to the user.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the temperature probe comprises a thermal radiation thermometer.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the member adapted to transport the temperature probe to a location remote to the user comprises a fiberglass rod.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the device for providing the initial temperature reading to the user comprises a wire.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the device for providing the initial temperature reading to the user further comprises a digital display.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the media comprises at least one of sand, soil, water, rock, and clay.
11. A method of determining pipe lining characteristics for lining an underground structure, comprising: determining a temperature inside the underground structure, a type of resin used in the underground structure, and an initial temperature of the resin used; inputting the inside temperature, the type of resin used, and the initial resin temperature into a computer program on a computing device; and obtaining the pipe lining characteristics from the computer program based on the temperature inside the underground structure, the type of resin used, and the initial resin temperature; wherein the computer program comprises a set of data obtained by performing a plurality of tests under simulated conditions in a soil cell apparatus, wherein the soil cell apparatus includes a housing having a media and an aperture within the housing for receiving a pipe which is surrounded by the media, and a heat exchanger embedded within the media for adjusting a temperature of the pipe and the media during the plurality of tests.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the pipe lining characteristics comprise an expected cure time of the resin, a mix ratio of resin components, or a hardness of the cured resin.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising lining the underground structure according to the pipe lining characteristics from the computer program.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein the media comprises at least one of sand, soil, water, rock, and clay.