German company Reline Europe offers all components for pipe lining projects from its liner product, Alphaliner, and the UV equipment needed for comprehensive curing services.

Around the world, there has been an increase in the renewal of damaged pipelines with light-curing gas fibre reinforced polymer pipe liners, around the world. The advantages of quicker curing and shorter construction times for a long service life of the renovated sewer also means lower costs for the network operator than a new installation. In comparison to other rehabilitation procedures, this technology is more flexible in construction site completion.

With the Alphaliner, Reline Europe has developed a GFRP pipe liner of the latest generation that also offers special advantages due to its design and material composition. The procedure is suitable for trenchless rehabilitation of drainage pipes with circular, ovoid or special shapes and includes dimensions of DN 150–1,200 mm. The construction of the liners is based on a special ECR fibreglass quality and a resin system with light-curing polyester or vinyl ester resin.

A novelty of this light-curing equipment is that the output of the nine UV lights mounted in the light chain are constantly checked and automatically readjusted. Therefore, the optimal light output for the liner curing is always available, said the company.

To flexibly adjust the curing output to the respective conditions, the individual lights can be switched in power levels from 400 to 1,000 W, which allows for the possibility of a very quick curing. Up to 300 m of sewer can be rehabilitated in a single day with the Alphaliner procedure. Due to the high quality of the procedure, rehabilitated sewers can achieve a service life of 50 years.

Director of Reline Europe Benedikt Stentrup said “Reline Europe considers itself not only a liner manufacturer, but as a system provider.

“Our responsibility for the quality of our liner does not end with the delivery. An Alphaliner is not complete until its has been successfully installed and cured.”

The company values a close and co-operative partnership with the users of the procedure and offers them comprehensive training and services. This ranges from the rental of installation equipment and providing the know-how on a specifically established internet platform to the training for the personnel of the Alphaliner user. If required, technicians from the company provide support for the project planning and can visit the site.

Market success

The management team of the young company includes specialists, with decades of experience in sewer rehabilitation, and who are systematically expanding the presence of the company products on the European and international markets. In addition to large rehabilitation projects, numerous customers beyond Europe employ the Alphaliner technology, such as Australia, Bahrain and Russia. The export rate has already reached about 40 per cent and is expected to expand further.

To offer pipe rehabilitation companies the appropriate equipment for preparatory and follow-up work of the inliner installation, there is a close sales co-operation with the Swiss KA-TE company, manufacturers of high-quality rehabilitation robots.

Continuous quality management

The company also attempts to set itself apart from the competition by self-imposed quality requirements, beyond the usual requirements of the ISO 9001. To provide optimal conditions for rehabilitation companies while improving the quality of the Alphaliner, a continuous quality management circuit was installed.

This Total Quality Management is based on thoroughly implemented product controls, ranging from the analysis of the incoming raw materials in and monitoring database-supported production to documenting the rehabilitations in co-operation with Alphaliner users.

An online-based system allows rehabilitation companies to give feedback data from their projects – such as the curing speed or the achieved mechanical characteristics of the installed liner. This information is then systematically evaluated in Rohrbach, Switzerland. As a result, Reline Europe is able to determine the causes for possible deviations and can control the quality of the Alphaliners in co-operation with the users.

In addition to the knowledge gained for the continuous development of the Alphaliner, the rehabilitation companies have a valuable instrument to constantly optimise the productivity of their own rehabilitation projects.