Wheelabrator Designs Unique Pipe Cleaning Machine for The Bayou Companies in Louisiana


LaGrange, Georgia - (December 18, 2007) - The Bayou Companies, LLC, a leading provider of products for the oil and gas industry, is known for its innovative exterior surface coating processes for pipes. The 50,000-square-foot fusion bonded epoxy pipe coating facility in New Iberia, La. is the largest of The Bayou Companies' three facilities.

Over the last 35 years, 26,000 miles of pipe for the oil and gas line industry have been processed at The Bayou Company's New Iberia and Baton Rouge, La., facilities. The company blasts and coats both domestically and internationally manufactured pipe.

The Bayou Companies utilizes Wheelabrator® Upblast Pipe Machines to remove rust and scale, as well as profile the exterior of the pipe prior to coating. These machines clean and surface profile pipe from two to 48 inches in diameter.

Additionally, The Bayou Companies worked with Wheelabrator engineers and product managers to design a new innovative Wheelabrator Down Blast Pipe Cleaning Machine for the New Iberia facility. This machine utilizes two 100 hp EZEFIT® wheels with 5-inch wide blades. The blast wheels are located on the cabinet roof and the cabinet moves up and down, depending on the size of the pipe, to keep the blast wheels at a consistent distance from the pipe.

The main advantage of the Down Blast Wheel design is that it throws the steel abrasive down on the small diameter pipe, stopping it from moving out of the center of the conveyor rollers. This positions the pipe directly under the wheel blast pattern to ensure that a consistent surface profile is maintained.

Because the coated pipe is either buried underground or laid on the bottom of the ocean, blasting is critical to the coating process. Improper surface preparation can be the culprit of coating failure, and when coatings fails, corrosion starts and pipe failure results. With Bayou's strict blasting procedures, their coatings adhere properly for required life cycles.
"The new Wheelabrator Down Blast machine design helped to increase production, is easy to maintain and is overall, an excellent machine," said Doug Finley, Plant Manager at the Bayou Companies.

"The relationship between the Wheelabrator experts and The Bayou Companies' managers and engineers proves that Wheelabrator can work under different extenuating circumstances to build a unique machine for a client's specific needs," said Bill Carver of Wheelabrator OEM Sales.

The new Downblast Pipe Cleaning Machine is designed to run multiple shifts per day. "We're extremely pleased with the design of the new machine and Wheelabrator's commitment to customer service," states Jimmy Shea, Managing Partner Operations.

Wheelabrator Group is a global provider of surface preparation and finishing solutions. Committed to offering the broadest array of technologies, products, services and technical know-how, Wheelabrator Group works closely with customers to deliver the best solutions for their specific requirements. The company's strategically located and electronically linked offices allow Wheelabrator Group to provide unrivalled customer service and support worldwide. For more information on Wheelabrator visit the web site at www.wheelabratorgroup.com or e-mail info@wheelabratorgroup.com.

Wheelabrator products are protected by patents issued and pending in the United States and other countries.

Wheelabrator reserves the right to change the specifications referred to in this literature at any time, without prior notice.

Wheelabrator is a registered trademark of Wheelabrator Technologies Inc.
EZEFIT is a registered trademark of Wheelabrator Group, Inc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Pamela Akin
Marketing Manager
Wheelabrator
800-544-4144, ext. 2295
Pam.akin@wheelabratorgroup.com

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