Analysis of Various Solvent Alternatives for Decalin used for Patches in the Repair of Polyethylene Pipes

Team: Kelly Perry, Nick Boehm, Audrey Turpening
Mentor: Skip Rochefort

Dr. Skip Rochefort discovered a method of repairing polyethylene pipes commonly used for transport of natural gas. The current method uses the solvent Decalin to swell a polyethylene patch and attach it to the pipe. While Decalin is not currently listed as carcinogenic, Dr. Rochefort is interested in researching other solvent alternatives which may be more benign. The Polysolve senior research project involves testing a number of viable solvent alternatives to see if any are available which will achieve the same patch strength as Decalin. Kelly and Audrey will be conducting strength and property tests for each solvent in the lab while Nick will conduct environmental literary research as well as numerical calculations for each solvent.