Steve Vick International (SVI) which has traditionally been renown for providing products and services to the utilities industry has branched out into new markets.
In August, they supported Frogmech Ltd, with a unique and exciting project at an alcohol distillery in Selby which is owned by the Yorkshire based agribusiness SEDAMYL.
From its Yorkshire base in Selby, SEDAMYL converts wheat into a range of products, including gluten, starch, alcohol for food and beverages and wheat feed. Headquartered in Saluzzo, located in the Piedmont region of Italy, SEDAMYL remains one of Europe’s industry leaders, supplying and selling ingredients to the major industries throughout the continent.
Frogmech Ltd approached SVI with a requirement to install 600 meters of 75mm twin wall PE pipe onto pipe racking ranging from 2 to 11 meters in height, all within a day. The pipe was essential to the distillery operations for carrying chemicals from the chemical storage area to various plants on site where the chemical is needed so shut down wasn’t an option.
From a health and safety perspective, manual handling of pipe is unacceptable therefore Frogmech Ltd approached SVI to find a safe solution for their pipe handling requirements, enabling them to manoeuvre and accurately position the pipe onto the raised purpose-built racking. The SVI technical support team provided on-site training and guidance throughout the installation.
SVI supplied a hire solution to meet the requirement on time and to budget which included the SVI 125/160 Pipe Coil Trailer and the Perpetual Pipe Pusher. The 125/160 Pipe Coil Trailer is designed to safely transport and dispense coiled PE pipe and it can handle coils of PE with a diameter from 40mm up to 160mm. It can accommodate a 100m coil of 160mm or a 150m coil of 125mm.
The SVI trailers are designed with safety as the number one priority. The unique central drum design ensures the pipe is dispensed or recoiled smoothly and quickly. The whole operation can take place from ground level and there is no need for operatives to put hands within the rotating drum at any stage. The coil is restrained within a steel cage to prevent it ‘springing away’ and pipe is restrained during transport and dispensing. The trailers are robust in construction, the maintenance requirements are low, and the trailers can be towed by a typical long wheelbase vehicle.
The 50/90 and the 125/160 pipe coil trailers form part of a larger range of trailers available for purchase or hire from Steve Vick International. The Perpetual Pipe Pusher is an excavator attachment used to continuously insert PE from 63mm / 2” up to 180mm / 6”. Attached to the quick hitch or standard bucket pins of an excavator, the Perpetual Pipe Pusher is designed to grip the PE and insert the pipe. Once positioned the machine remains anchored to the excavator arm and firmly in place. The pipe is then inserted by the hydraulically driven rubberised rollers. The entire operation is controlled from the safety of the cab, avoiding the need for operatives to handle the pipe. This safety feature, plus the efficient insertion speed made the Perpetual Pipe Pusher the perfect tool for this unique project.
Mark Metcalfe, Installation Manager, Frogmech Ltd commented:
“SVI understood our requirements and provided us with a safe, speedy solution to enable us to safely install the required PE pipe to the racking high above the ground. Without the hire of this equipment, we wouldn’t have been able to install the pipes which are essential to the distillery operations.”
