>B< Press Inox: the most reliable solution for HGV wash station

Background

PRO LAVAGE specialises in washing HGVs in record short times, often under technical constraints dictated by stringent standards, implying that the HGV wash station, located in Angers, had to obtain ISO 22000 certification for washing and drying food tanks. The washing operations are carried out using cold and/or hot water that sometimes gets mixed with detergents and/or disinfectants, and variably require preliminary sweeping (flour, gluten, etc.) or pass through several washing cycles.

Products

Conex Bänninger’s >B< Press Inox system, consisting of 316L grade stainless steel press fittings and pipes for utmost corrosion resistance, was specified by PRO LAVAGE to install its new water supply network in its HGV wash station located in Angers, Loire Valley, France.

François Guionnet, Managing Director of PRO LAVAGE, explains: “HGV washing operations, either for standard vehicles or industrial and food tanker lorries, entail demanding technical performances. On our site in Angers, we selected >B< Press Inox for its reliability to supply our station’s internal water networks, thus ensuring continuous operating conditions for a HGV wash station that must meet constraints such as:

• Permanent aggression from water containing detergents and disinfectants.
• On certain lines, aggression from demineralised water, a highly corrosive fluid.
• High working pressures and temperatures. For instance, when we clean a tank that has been containing flour, we need to go through a first washing cycle of 10 minutes at 100 bar and 80°C, and a second washing cycle of 10 minutes at 100 bar with cold water.”

Steve Doret, Conex Bänninger France’s Area Sales Manager in the West, specified >B< Press Inox in diameters 28mm to 54mm plus stop valves, thus allowing PRO LAVAGE to wash between 30 and 70 HGVs daily, for a water consumption varying between 15m3 and 35m3. Pipes and fittings were delivered via local merchants BENJAMIN CHIRON, based in Cholet.

>B< Press fittings have a high quality EPDM O-ring that forms a secure, permanent, leak-free joint when pressed. They have the benefit of a 3-point press technology, with one press each side of the bead and a third compressing the O-ring.

The fittings also have a leak-before-press feature (available for sizes 12-54mm) that is designed to leak at low pressures (from 0.1 to 0.6 bar) when the system is tested, alerting the installer to any unpressed joints. It means there is no need to go to full test pressure.

>B< Press has been engineered to allow for operating pressures up to 16 bar at temperatures of up to 110°C.

Since its joining method is purely mechanical, fire risks are totally suppressed, unlike traditional brazing. Therefore, there is no more need for any hot works permit, or for waiting while each joint cools down. Once the elements to be joined have been prepared, it only takes 5 seconds to complete a permanent joint with adapted press tools and jaws.

It only takes a few very simple steps to install >B< Press fittings: cut the pipe to length and deburr, push it up to the fitting’s internal stop and press. The operations require minimum tooling: a press tool with adapted jaws and a deburrer.

The press-fit method’s main advantages are its fast and easy joining process, and the high reliability of the joints obtained. As shown by this case study, >B< Press Inox (316L grade) combines a high corrosion resistance with a remarkably simple joining method, without compromising o