Pipe Freezing Kalgoorlie & the Goldfields

We do pipe freezing in Kalgoorlie and across the Goldfields, mostly on mine site plant. It’s a fly in job and we plan it that way. Liquid nitrogen on the outside, a solid plug on the inside, and a system that keeps running around it.

Call 1800 468 827, tell us what we’d be freezing and what’s in it, and we’ll let you know if it can be done.

What we get asked to freeze in Kalgoorlie

Chiefly process water, cooling water and reagent lines on mine site plant, from mine site maintenance planners and shutdown coordinators.

Site inductions and the permit system usually shape the programme more than the pipework does, so tell us what yours involve early.

Goldfields work is almost always tied to a planned shutdown, and the useful question is what else can be done in the same window. Valve installation, pipe section replacement, equipment isolation, branch termination, pipe diversion, pipeline abandonment. Any of those can sit behind the call.

Do you travel to Kalgoorlie?

Yes. The Goldfields is a fly in and out job from either Bayswater in Victoria or Currumbin Waters in Queensland. We’ve got clients in every state and territory, and remote mine sites are a normal part of that.

The Goldfields is a long way from both depots, so the trip gets planned as one visit with everything on the list. Detail up front is what makes that work.

Is freezing the method for this line?

It’s not the only option and it’s not always the right one. Freezing suits pipes that can’t be welded on, tight spots, and short duration work. A mechanical line stop is the mechanical alternative where the line allows it. A valve fitted live leaves a valve behind for next time. Tapping a new branch in is what you want if the job is adding a branch rather than blocking one. The side by side comparison has them side by side.

Hot tapping in Kalgoorlie is the usual companion job.

What the method is

There’s no penetration of the pipe at all. Heat comes out through the wall until the product inside sets into a solid plug, and it thaws out when you’re finished. It stands up to very high differential pressures, and because we never opened the pipe there’s nothing to make good afterwards.

We need the product still. That’s usually straightforward, but it’s worth knowing before anyone books a date. Materials, contents and applications are covered on the pipe freezing page.

Emptying a system means venting it, moving the contents and storing them, then buying back the treated water and inhibitors that went out with them. Freezing skips the lot, which is usually where the saving is. Where the line carries something volatile or contaminated, nobody has to deal with it at all.

Any of carbon steel, stainless, Kunifer, aluminium alloys, nickel alloy, copper based alloys, ductile iron or cast iron. Contents run from water and coolants to acids, oils, alcohols, paints, liquid food product, various chemicals and sewage.

What we need to price it

Nothing else on this list matters if the contents won’t freeze, so start there:

• The contents of the line
• Whether they can be stopped moving
• Pipe diameter and material
• Temperature and pressure
• How long you need it isolated
• Where the site is in Western Australia, and how we get to the pipe

Call 1800 468 827 or write to [email protected]. If you’re not sure whether a freeze is the answer, just give us a call, we’ll ask a few questions and let you know.

Other work we do in the Goldfields

The rest of the work comes on the same flight. We do line stops, valves inserted live and testing and purging. Shutdown windows are tight, so it pays to list everything up front. Coverage is on where we work.

Pipe freezing in Kalgoorlie, at a glance