TPI July 2023

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The trade magazine for tube and pipe products

July 2023

Photo credit: Erlend Ekseth

Business & market news

High performance triple-offset butterfly valves To coincide with the anniversary of Shipham Valves reaching its 225th year in operation, the company has expanded its range of high-performance butterfly valves, with the launch of a new range of triple-offset valves.

Several unique design features are incorporated into this range to reflect the wide range of applications they support, delivering a high performance, robust and effective through life isolation valve solution. As well as providing weight and space-saving benefits, the anti-rotational laminated seat design ensures no movement in service to maintain consistent sealing performance, when compared to a clamped design. Shipham Valves’ triple-offset design delivers fast opening and closing quarter turn operations and employs a uniform profile around the conical sealing face to ensure effective sealing is achieved. Three different body types available include: BU04 – wafer-type; BU05 – lug-type; and BU06 – double-flanged. Shipham Valves’ triple-offset butterfly valves are available in different sizes and pressure classes, depending on specific needs and are ideal for applications with high temperature, severe service and critical isolation requirements. The new triple-offset range delivers benefits such as: high performance – across a diverse range of applications; valve service longevity – triple-offset design removing seat wear; laminated metal seat arrangements provide zero-leakage bi-directional sealing; peace of mind – multiple anti-blowout devices integrated into the product to ensure stem retention under all possible failure conditions; Zero leakage sealing performance – in accordance with API 598; certified firesafe design; compact design – when compared to other metal seated isolation valves; and standard mounting interfaces enable easy actuation. Nick Gray, head of engineering and quality, said: “We are pleased to announce the launch of our brand-new range of triple-offset butterfly valves. This new range has undergone a comprehensive product design, development verification

The new range of triple-offset butterfly valves

and validation process to deliver a high-performing, effective and robust triple-offset butterfly valve solution meeting all the requirements of an API 609 Cat. B product.” He added: “Our triple-offset range design is firesafe certified in accordance with API 607, which provides fire test criteria for quarter-turn valves with non-metallic seating, when the valves are exposed to certain fire conditions and pressure.” This range can be manufactured in sizes from 3" to 24" in a wide range of specialist materials, including 6Mo, bronze, duplex, Hastelloy ® B, Hastelloy ® C, Inconel ® 625, Inconel ® 825, Monel ® , nickel aluminium bronze, super duplex and titanium.

Shipham Valves Limited www.shiphamvalves.com

Corinth Pipeworks awarded contract for Equinor deep water pipeline in Norway

The pipes will be manufactured at Corinth Pipeworks’ facilities in Greece and offshore installation work will commence according to schedule within 2025. Ilias Bekiros, general manager of Corinth Pipeworks, said: “CPW has had a huge impact in offshore pipeline markets in recent years, and we are proud to have successfully delivered our pipes to 20 major projects in the North Sea region over the last five years. “We are particularly delighted to be working with Equinor, one of the

Corinth Pipeworks has been awarded a contract to manufacture and supply approximately 15km of 23" and 26" longitudinally submerged arc welded steel pipes for Equinor’s IRPA field development project. The IRPA gas discovery is located in the Vøring Basin, the deepest field development on the Norwegian continental shelf (1,350m deep) and will be developed as tie-in project to Aasta Hansteen platform. This offshore tie-in project will contribute to increased gas supply to Europe and extend the lifetime of the platform.

Corinth Pipeworks has been awarded a major project in the Norwegian sea

pioneering global IOCs, and their frame agreement partner Mitsui, on this project.” Corinth Pipeworks www.cpw.gr

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Wolseley strengthens its UK offering after adding Cascade Pipelines to the group Last year Wolseley, a key distributor in the utilities market, welcomed Cascade Pipelines, a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialist pipe fittings and services to the water sector, to its group. This acquisition has since enabled Cascade Pipelines to draw on Wolseley’s nationwide distribution network, and offer its solutions at a number of branches across the UK. Cascade Pipelines’ range of specialist water products provide innovative solutions for joining, or repairing pipe, hot tapping and water flow control. Customer satisfaction remains at the forefront of this new partnership, and Wolseley branch colleagues have had training on Cascade Pipelines products. The recently launched Cascade ProDrill is a solution to help make connections in a water or gas supply network. The ProDrill is able to drill through a range of wall thickness and comes as a complete kit, with cutters, connectors and extension rods for added reach. John Hancock, managing director of Wolseley Infrastructure, said: “We are delighted to welcome Cascade Pipeline Corporation to Wolseley. “Our Fusion Utilities brand is built on industry-leading expertise and great customer service, attributes that are only enhanced with the Cascade team and their innovative range of products.

“We look forward to providing customers of both businesses our newly enhanced product and service proposition.” Andrew Munro, director of Cascade Pipeline corporation, added: “Over the years Cascade has established itself as a reliable brand in the UK water industry servicing frameworks with major water authorities and supplying an extensive range of products to clients throughout the country.” “Cascade has been approached on many occasions by parties interested in joining forces; however, none of these suitors had the infrastructure, product range or reach that Wolseley has.” Wolseley www.corporate.wolseley.co.uk

The ProDrill from Cascade

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Business & market news

Fine Tubes names Paul O’Gara as new operations director as David Cawse retires

operational excellence under the leadership of David Cawse, and I am honoured to be entrusted with continuing this valuable work.” Mr Cawse added: “I have very much enjoyed my time working with the Fine Tubes team and I am delighted to be leaving the factory in the capable hands of Paul O’Gara. I am confident that he will take the business from strength to strength and use his extensive experience to ensure its ongoing growth and success.” Fine Tubes produces high-quality precision tubing products for a range of demanding markets. The manufacturer is one of five businesses that form AMETEK Specialty Metal Products, alongside Superior Tube, AMETEK Eighty Four, AMETEK Wallingford and Hamilton Precision Metals. Fine Tubes www.finetubes.co.uk

retires. This will follow a comprehensive transition period that will take place over the coming weeks. Mr O’Gara will oversee the operations function at Fine Tubes, which will cover strategic goal setting, optimal working processes and productivity. He brings with him a wealth of experience in operational leadership in the manufacturing and logistics sectors. Previous responsibilities include operational accountability for production, facilities, process engineering, supply chain, purchasing and technical operations. Mr O’Gara holds an MBA from Keele University and a Bachelor’s degree in applied chemistry from Liverpool University. Mr O’Gara said: “I am excited to be taking on such a pivotal role in this highly regarded specialist manufacturer. Fine Tubes has developed a strong reputation across the industry for

Precision tubing manufacturer Fine Tubes has named Paul O’Gara as its operations director (designate). He will take up his new appointment in full in the summer, when the current operational director, David Cawse

Paul O’Gara

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Business & market news

TOM PVC-O DN1200mm pipe launched MOLECOR Peru presented its latest technological innovation, the largest PVC-O pipe in the world, the DN1200mm at the recent Expo Agua 2022. In addition to TOM ® Oriented PVC pipes, ecoFITTOM ® PVC-O fittings and SANECOR ® pipes and manholes, products from the wide range of solutions offered by Molecor, were also presented. The company now offers the largest diameter of Oriented PVC pipes to date, breaking its own record. The 1,200mm diameter pipe opens up new possibilities in the market, offering an efficient and sustainable solution for transporting pressurized water. Juan Suárez, general manager of Molecor Peru, presented the conference paper “Innovative solutions to the problem of drinking water, sewerage and irrigation”. Molecor www.molecor.com

Ambassador visits Artrom Steel Tubes plant in Romania

Artrom Steel tubes was recently visited by Stefan Tomašević, ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Romania.

He was greeted by the president of the board of directors of the company, Adrian Popescu and the executive director, Cristian Drînciu. During the private meeting, the ambassador of Serbia took an interest in the Artrom Group’s activity and visited the pipe factory in Slatina, Romania. Artrom Steel Tubes was acquired last year by Hefestos Capital, headquartered in Belgrade and operating in Europe, Asia and Africa. Following the transaction, Artrom became the largest company owned by Serbian investors. At the steel plant in Reșița the company produces the necessary steel for the pipe plant in Slatina, from where it delivers products to Europe, the US and Asia. The Artrom companies in Romania have about 2,350 employees and has exported products to more than 600 clients in Europe and America. Artrom Steel Tubes www.artrom.com

Stefan Tomašević visits the steel tube plant in Romania

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Are expansion loops and expansion joints obsolete? Dealing with the issue of thermal movement in riser pipes By Adam Fox, director, Mason UK

Expansion loops and joints Figure A shows a system of expansion loops, supported by anchors either side of the loop. During expansion, the loop bends and stresses the pipe, but it accepts the movement. Figure B depicts a system of expansion joints. Here you locate bellows between each anchor point that act as an expansion compensator, absorbing the forces generated by thermal expansion. The system of expansion loops has multiple drawbacks. Firstly, once the pipe goes into or out of the riser chase and into the building, it is occupying valuable, rentable space. Secondly, each loop has four elbows and two additional vertical runs that are adding resistance to flow. This means you require a higher horsepower pump and greater energy consumption to deliver the same volume of water. The expansion joints may allow the engineer to keep the riser straight, but potential failure becomes a major issue. If an expansion joint fails, it means not only the loss of heating or cooling, but a high possibility of extensive water or steam damage. The expansion joints must also remain accessible for periodic inspections; something that is not always possible. Finally, both these systems require multiple anchor points, which present the engineer with a difficult task, as the load at each point is indeterminate. The alternative is springs As a supplier of expansion joints, you might find it strange that we would question their efficacy. However, while expansion joints are ideal for horizontal pipe runs in many applications, for the scenario described in this article there is a superior alternative.

Supporting pipe risers, which are subject to thermal expansion and contraction in multi-storey buildings, can present major challenges for design engineers. The traditional methods for allowing and supporting movement are expansion loops or expansion joints. Here, Adam Fox, director at building services and plant engineering specialist Mason UK, argues that these two methods have major drawbacks for vertical pipe runs and that supporting the pipes on springs is a far more effective solution to the problem presented by thermal movement. All pipes expand when they get hotter and shrink when they get colder. The rates of expansion vary depending on the material. For example, the rate of expansion in stainless steel is approximately 10mm/10m/100°F. In other words, if you have a stainless steel pipe that is 10m long and it was 70°F, raise the temperature by 100 degrees and the pipe would grow approximately 10mm longer. For plastic pipes, the movement is tremendous in comparison – an additional 86mm in the scenario above. On the face of it, these might seem like small amounts, but the problems created by this movement should not be underestimated. Even one tenth of a millimetre in change can lift a pipe off from a support, meaning that support is no longer doing its job. If a pipe is clamped, and therefore cannot move, you introduce the risk of buckling and pipe failure, potentially leading to flooding and enormous costs. Given you cannot prevent expansion of the pipe, how do you deal with this problem? Firstly, it is important to adopt a holistic approach. By that I mean you need a concerted design effort

that looks at the entire pipe system or pipe run. The two traditional approaches to this problem are a system of expansion loops, or a system of expansion joints. I’ll explain briefly how they work, before telling you why they provide a suboptimal solution at best.

Springs

Figures A, B & C Anchors

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July 2023 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL

The number of spring mounts may vary, depending on the desired load distribution. Importantly, you can calculate the load at each support point. The engineer will know the load at the installation phase, when empty, when full, and when operating at different temperature extremes. This allows you to calculate which type of spring mount to select, and pre-compress it to the correct level during the installation phase. The spring mounts are pre-compressed to a carefully calculated ‘‘initial deflection’’ rating, to resist the anticipated load when water enters the system. It is during this stage of the installation, where the pipe is empty, that the anchor has to resist the most force, the uplift force presented by the springs. When the pipe is full and the system is operating, the load on the anchor point is neutral, as the spring forces pushing up, and the combined weight of the water and pipe pushing down, negate each other. If the pipe were to expand, the spring mounts above the anchor lose deflection while those below would gain deflection. Again, the system remains in balance with the load at the anchor zero. The system also performs perfectly from an acoustic point of view, as the springs effectively absorb any vibration. As the anchor is neutral during operation, this means it does not operate as a significant vibration transmission path. If you read any of the literature online about dealing with expansion in pipe systems, you would be led to believe that your only options were either expansion loops or expansion joints. Both these systems have major drawbacks and for scenarios like the one described in this article, they will soon become obsolete. There is an alternative system, which involves supporting the pipe on a system of springs. This system was developed by Mason Industries and is common in many high-rise buildings in the US, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Hopefully, engineers in the UK will soon see the benefits too.

Supporting the pipe run on springs is both more affordable and more effective. I will try and illustrate the basic concept here, using the scenario of a vertical pipe run in a multistorey building. However, the same concept can also be applied in horizontal pipe runs where appropriate. The spring support system typically uses a single anchor – located as close as possible to the middle of the riser – to direct the pipe to expand away or contract toward the anchor point. Alternatively, the system can be designed as totally free standing and without any anchor point, but control is far more difficult to achieve in these circumstances.

Block B1 Lv 8 anchors

Block B1 Lv 9 springs

Block B1 Lv 11 guides

Mason UK www.mason-uk.co.uk

Block B1 Lv 17 hangers

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Email: linda@intras.co.uk Tel: +44 1926 834685

Email: jason@intras.co.uk Tel: +44 1926 834684

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