On a cold spring day in 2018, we went on an emergency mission. We needed to solve a break in a local district heating line as soon as possible.
After a day of hard work, we sat and waited behind misty windows in a service car. The sun was setting and the work had stopped.
The work should have been completed a long time ago. Everything had worked well except for one detail: Water in the pipe made the last joint impossible to weld. The managers had tried all possible tricks. Despite this, water continued to flow down the chamber.
The evening cold began to be felt. The cold started to penetrate and we are other companies to help us and we realized it’s going to be late tonight”.
In the end, there was only one way out. At midnight we were allowed to drill holes in the pipe to divert the water. At last we could finish welding and go home.
This solution made the next maintenance action more risky: There was now a clogged hole in the chamber of a pressurized pipe with 100-degree water.
We had experinced this situation of waiting all night before due to water continously flowing. This was not the first time we waited all night. At this moment Isak got an idea:
“We suck the water through the pipe joint instead of drilling holes? So we can stop the water without damaging the pipes? ”
The idea that would become the Liqway method was born.
Two days later we stood in the workshop and fused narrow pieces of metal together. Our first prototype was a thin, curved suction nozzle in sheet metal that worked really well. We developed the prototype into a reliable tool using 3D printers.
Today, our suction nozzles are manufactured in one piece, completed without joints. We replaced the plate with a heat-resistant, flexible material that does not conduct electricity. Today, the product is in its second edition.
