MACHINERY | ON-SITE/MOBILE PRODUCTION
From deserts – to the Moon?
Polyline Piping Systems is another Australian company specialising in mobile pipe production technology – and says the technology could have far-reaching implications in the future. “Imagine in 50 years building pipes on the Moon or on Mars,” said David Wilkie, managing director. “Would we build a dedicated factory – with specialist workers – and then transport
Right: Mobile production facilities allow high quality pipe to be produced exactly where it is required
shipped on trucks.” In an interview with the local Midland Reporter-
Telegram (MRT) newspaper – located in West Texas, in the heart of the state’s oil and gas industry in the Permian Basic – Beard said that a huge demand for pipe was behind the decision to deploy mobile production technology. “Normally, you have a brick-and-mortar plant – but this can be moved in 48 hours,” he said of the Tubi system. “Tubi has proven this technology, and our customers reached out to us and said: ‘We need more pipe, we need longer lengths.’” Beard told MRT that the agreement with Tubi was six months in the making – and that the first systems have been in the US for the last few months at Milford’s Pecos location. It was tested for a few weeks to ensure it was completely operational, he said. “We’ve had a huge response,” he said. “Now
we’re evaluating our customers who want it and see how it best fits.”
Mobile irrigation Tubi originally began in the 1970s by supplying ‘fixed’ plant, but diversified in 2009 to specialise in mobile production technology. In the past year, it has been involved in a project
Pipes can be produced in huge lengths, with little need for joining
the finished pipe to where it is needed? It would be more logical to build a mobile plant that makes and lays the pipe right where it’s needed?” While such exploration may be some way off, he says of his company’s MPX 630 mobile extrusion system: “It is available on the doorstep of many of the world’s deserts. These are very like the lunar landscape, and they
need water, gas and other fluids to be carried across large distances.” One advantage of mobile pipe
production is that joining together sections becomes unnecessary – unlike with conventional systems, which need to be joined every 12m or so, he says. “Right now, this system can save 20% on pipeline budgets,” he said. �
www.polypipesystems.com
to irrigate 20,000 hectares of the Canterbury plains in New Zealand, for which the head contractor was Downer. For this, it has produced more than 170km of HDPE pipe using its mobile equipment. “For these kinds of irrigation projects in rural
areas, it’s key to have the opportunity to manufac- ture your pipe locally,” said Tony Pink, project director at Downer. “Had it come out of Christchurch or – even worse – Auckland, getting the pipe to this location would have been spectacularly difficult.” Tubi’s mobile plant could be moved to any
location in the area where the pipe was to be laid, he said, which meant that transportation of pipe on public roads was minimised. The client was very impressed with the technol- ogy – which was the only technology of this type local to the project, said Pink. Tubi ended up making 150km of the 170km of pipe, in three location across the project site. The pipe was produced in 100m lengths and transferred from the manufacturing site to the installation location. In addition to oil and gas and irrigation, Tubi also works in sectors including mining, shale gas, water infrastructure and pipe relining.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.tubigroup.com
38 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | October 2018
www.pipeandprofile.com
PHOTO: TUBI
PHOTO: TUBI
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