TPI April 2009

developments products & Complete systems for energy efficient pipe production

Seamless stainless and carbon steel pipes Guangzhou Hongda Steel Tube Co, Ltd, established in 1988, specialises in the production and sale of steel tubes. In 2003, Hongda invested in a mill – Guangzhou Junjia Steel Tube Manufacturer Co, Ltd. The mill is located inHuangpuDistrict of Guangzhou, China, and occupies 34,000m 2 . The mill uses advanced production equipment with German technology, and precise testing equipment using Japanese technology. ODs range from 6 to 325mm, and wall thickness ranges from 0.5 to 25mm. Annual output is 15,000 metric tons of seamless stainless steel pipe and 150,000 metric tons of seamless carbon steel pipe. Guangzhou Junjia produces 15,000 S S metric tons of seamless stainless steel pipe and 150,000 metric tons of seamless carbon steel pipe per year The company’s products are widely used in fields such as petroleum, chemical industry, aviation, power stations, energy, environmental production, boilers and heat exchangers. The company is a specified supplier for Petro-China and China Sinopec and exports products to over 40 countries. In order to improve quality and management, the company has introduced the ISO9001:2000 International Quality management system, ISO14001:2004 Environmental management system, OHSAS 18001:1999 management system, GB/ T2800-1001 Occupational health and safety management, PED97/23/EC and AD2000-WO/TRD100. The company can produce pipes according to GB, ASTM, DIN, EN and JIS standards.

Cincinnati’s presented its new KryoSys system for manufacturing polyolefin pipes at the company’s in-house pipe symposium in Vienna. Cincinnati claims that the system can reduce energy consumption by up to 30%. The gain in efficiency with KryoSys is achieved by the combination of a high- speed extruder with a newly developed pipe die, an efficient pipe cooling section and a heat recovery system.

Kryosys lines lend themselves to the production of smooth mono- layer and multi-layer PE or PP pipes with diameters ranging from 110 to 2,000mm. They are also suitable for the production of corrugated pipes. The length of the cooling section can be halved compared to conventional extrusion lines, even for large pipe diameters. For example, a total length of 40m is sufficient to produce a 400mm PO pipe with a wall thickness of 36.4mm, using a

The newly developed KryoS pipe die is a core S S component of the KryoSys line, featuring a melt cooling system in the pipe die

Monos+ 90-37G extruder. On the assumption of an identical output level of 1,300kg/h, the total length of a comparable, ‘normal’ pipe extrusion line would be 85m. To ensure optimal melt distribution, the KryoS pipe die, specially developed for the system, has been designed on the basis of a spiral mandrel die. The advantage of this particular pipe die is its innovative melt cooling system which makes it possible to start cooling the melt in the die, allowing a substantial reduction in the length of the cooling section. The lower melt temperature also brings about an increase in viscosity at the point of exit from the die, which counteracts sagging, especially in thick-walled pipes. In this aggregate, the pipe is cooled simultaneously from the outside and the inside by a combination of water and air cooling, which permits a further shortening of the cooling section. With its direct drive, the Rapidex high-speed extruder operates with a high level of energy-efficiency. Through a reduction in the number of vacuum and spray cooling baths required for the downstream aggregates and the optimised cooling system consisting of water and air cooling, energy consumption can be cut by up to 71kW (about 27kW are saved by the reduction in the number of circulation pumps, and about 44kW by less water being circulated). Another source of energy savings is the use of heat set free by the pipe cooling system in the die. This energy can be used for material pre-heating. The torque of the extruder can be reduced, resulting in energy savings of up to 95kW. By combining all of these measures, Cincinnati claims that a total reduction in energy consumption of roughly 186kW can be achieved. KryoS features a large internal aperture that allows air cooling of the extruded melt. The system is rounded off by a highly efficient pipe cooling section.

Guangzhou Hongda Steel Tube Co, Ltd – China hongdasteel@21cn.com www.hongda-steeltube.com

Cincinnati Extrusion GmbH – Austria steger.c@cet-austria.com • www.cet-austria.com

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Tube Products International April 2009

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