Let’s Line
ESCS Pipe Coating Systems discusses its in-situ lining solution for the UK Drinking Water Market.
ESCS Pipe Coating Systems (PCS) Ltd has its headquarters based in Southbank, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom; a town with strong industrial heritage, including ship building, iron and steel production, and port operations. Southbank is now witness to the development of a new major strategic facility for the North Sea offshore wind industry. It will become the largest wind turbine factory of its kind in the world and is testament to the creative re-development spirit of and industrial know-how retained in the area.
ESCS-PCS is a supplier of high-tech, in-situ pipe rehabilitation equipment designed for use in the UK drinking water market as well as for national/international potable water, raw water, sewerage and oil & gas projects. And whilst relatively new to the industry, its dedicated team brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in pipe coating and spray application; with over 75 years of combined experience. Throughout this time, they have forged strong working relationships with industry partners, both domestically and internationally, gaining extensive insights into the complex pipe coating industry.
Table 1: ESCS-PCS Equipment for In-situ Pipe Rehabilitation, Factory Pipe Coating, and Pipe Maintenance
The process of in-situ lining was conceived to extend the life span of 
ageing asset (pipeline) infrastructure using high performance polymer-based coatings and specialist equipment designed to facilitate their application.
The ESCS-PCS commitment to this required innovation is reflected in its novel approach to equipment design and manufacturing. From in-house, 3D CAD concept designs to the manufacture of HMI touch screen-controlled machines, the team at ESCS-PCS handles every step of the process to ensure superior quality and outstanding performance.
When asked what the company’s mission is, Steve Jones, ESCS-PCS Director, said “Our mission is to lead the market through innovation. The systems and technology integrated into our equipment are unmatched globally, 
underscoring our commitment to excellence and industry leadership.” He added, “We are dedicated to continuous growth in both company capability and team wisdom, seizing every opportunity to learn from and listen to our customers to meet their demanding needs in this ever-evolving field. This dedication extends to our comprehensive worldwide support and consultancy services.”
In addition to its design and manufacturing capability, ESCS-PCS offers a full worldwide technical support package and consultancy service. It operates an overseas support network with agencies in USA (Houston), South-East Asia (Singapore), and the Middle East (Dubai).
ESCS-PCS designs and builds all its in-situ pipeline rehabilitation equipment in-house. It can offer the Water Industry of the 
United Kingdom systems and lining technology that both meet and exceed the current UK guidelines outlined in WIS 4-02-01 (Operational Requirements: In Situ Resin Lining of Water Mains).
ESCS-PCS software and systems help to create advanced quality assurance (QA) and eliminate user error and present user bypass. These systems provide a robust control mechanism to ensure that the rig is operating properly and is on ratio. It provides the operator with confidence that they can proceed to spray. It provides the asset owner with peace of mind that the finished product – a rehabilitated/lined pipe – will be to spec and provide the required barrier protection between the pipe and water, in turn preventing leaching into the water supply and any leaks from the pipes.
It has been mentioned that ESCS-PCS designs and builds its in-situ lining rigs in-house using 3D CAD software. 
Strong electrical and mechanical engineering know-how and the employment of the latest production techniques has allowed ESCS-PCS to bring three main state-of-the-art lining rigs to market (see Table 2) and offer discerning UK Water Industry clients, demanding O&G concerns and their quality-focused contractors a choice (of lining solution).
Choice is important in all business environments, but particularly in industries and for customers where there are fewer supply chain stakeholders. Choice deprivation leads to questions about value for money, market control, and can lead to product development stagnation, as suppliers can seek to maximise their revenues, exploit their status, and do not innovate in a project-driven and project-cost conscious way, nor at speed nor scale.
Table 2: ESCS-PCS Horizontal & Vertical Lining Solutions
The coatings industry is by very definition protective and the customers its serves do not always benefit from a reduced flow of knowledge and an impaired transfer of project and application know-how. Reciprocally, coating/lining manufacturers and the applicators of this technology can be restricted by these processes in reverse. It seems clear that Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) is working very hard to change these industry dynamics by holding their annual Innovation Festivals, and 2024 was no different with the 8th iteration of this prestigious event taking place in July at Newcastle Racecourse. This is very encouraging to see and exciting to be part of in the UK. ESCS-PCS was in attendance and participated in the WRc-sponsored Sprint called “Lining up Value” with the collaborative aim of developing “a value proposition to increase the commercial viability of mains spray lining in the current market (…).”
According to NWG, “The Innovation Festivals are a key part of the innovation work we do”. “Being innovators, disruptors, creators…well, it’s in our DNA and it’s absolutely crucial to our success in solving some the biggest challenges facing our industry and beyond. ESCS-PCS is proud to support such an initiative. Roger Clark, ESCS-PCS Director, said at the event, “We love to innovate and push design boundaries, we feel it is our duty to disrupt to bring about industry change, and we are laser focused on creating highly developed application equipment solutions for the UK Water Industry.”
The features that each ESCS-PCS lining rig can offer the contractor are extensive and the Top 5 are listed in Table 3.
Table 3: Key Features of ESCS-PCS In-situ Lining Equipment
ESCS-PCS has prided itself on designing and building in-situ lining pipeline rehabilitation equipment since 2017, and their engineering skills do not end here.
The company was excited to be one of the first equipment suppliers to use 3D print technology to help with prototyping of new parts as part of their innovation process. ESCS-PCS was equally proud to develop an industry first when it undertook a design and build project to create a fully electric spray disinfection machine for use with Huwa-San – a worldwide and market leading DWI-approved, silver stabilised Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂0₂) solution.
ESCS-PCS has also partnered with JettyRobot from Czechia to create a robotic pipe coating solution combining two state-of-the-art technologies – believed to be another industry first. The combined solution allows the cleaning, coating, and inspection of complicated sections of pipework in both horizontal and vertical planes as well as bends. All processes can be witnessed using 960p resolution fisheye cameras, which also record and provide easily downloadable footage for customer/contractor records. This functionality is not offered by all machines available on the market today, either old or new.
ESCS-PCS now has a portfolio of lining projects under its belt, many of which cannot unfortunately be mentioned on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. A selection which has been approved by the end user for publication are detailed below:
• Crude Oil Pipe(line) Rehabilitation – Mero Tank Farm, Czechia
• Raw Water Pipe(line) Rehabilitation (700 mm dia.), Southern District, Israel
• Penstock (Pipe) Rehabilitation – Kinlochleven Hydroelectric Power Plant, Scotland, United Kingdom
The company is currently undertaking critical steps to acquire WRc approval for its lining rigs to allow their use under the programme of work that will take place during the 8th Asset Management Period (AMP8) for the UK Water Industry, which will begin in 2025.
The design objective of all ESCS-PCS equipment is to help facilitate pipeline rehabilitation in the United Kingdom and other countries, extending the life span of primarily drinking water, but also raw water, sewer, chemical, and condensate pipelines. ESCS-PCS specialises in spraying polymer-based materials for horizontal and vertical applications. It also offers robotic and hand-applied coating solutions for more bespoke infrastructure projects. ESCS-PCS works closely with major utility companies and contractors both in the UK and overseas.
Let’s line (up) together, make our industry great, and keep our drinking water clean.
References
https://www.innovationfestival.org/the-festival/sprints/wrc2 , Accessed: 12 August 2024.
https://www.innovationfestival.org/, Accessed: 12 August 2024.