MATERIALS | POLYOLEFINS
“Although PE compounds are fairly similar, the test methods and requirements for assessing the performance of the designations differ significant- ly,” he said. “Our document goes into detail about this and provides a comparison chart and other data that can be helpful.”
Above: A New Orleans project to replace water transmission mains used 4,400ft of 48in HDPE pipe from Agru
resulted in the material’s certification as disinfectant resistant under the NF114 quality mark group 2 as PE100-RD managed by LNE (Laboratoire national de métrologie et d’essais). The high performance of the grade was shown
by its resistance lasting for 24 months – at which point the test was stopped. The material’s performance makes suitable for no-dig installation methods, as well as renovation methods such as pipe slip lining, pipe bursting or pipe slitting. Here, its high resistance to slow crack growth enables cost effective and less invasive installation methods, while keeping maintenance costs low and leakage rates low, says Borealis. “We are pleased that BorSafe HE3490-LS-HP has been validated through robust testing by Suez experts,” said John Webster, global commercial director for infrastructure at Borealis.
Pipe comparison US-based Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) has pub- lished a document providing a technical basis for comparing PE 100-RC and PE4710 pressure pipe. The document, TN-68, provides a perspective on the slow crack growth (SCG) resistance require- ments for the PE 100-RC designation in compari- son with the North American PE4710 designation. “The PE 100-RC concept has been around since
2009,” said Patrick Vibien, technical director of PPI. “However, there is a lack of clarity to the implica- tions of the designation and a lack of consensus on whether a comparable designation has value for the North American industry given the already elevated SCG resistance requirements of PE4710.” Development of the PE 100-RC designation was not due to documented performance issues with PE 100, he said. The grade designation has been promoted internationally by the PE 100+ Associa- tion and is now being introduced into ISO and CEN standards, he added.
36 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | Spring 2025
Polyolefin projects Several polyolefin pipe projects were successful at last year’s PPI awards. In the building and construc- tion category, the award went to Versaprofiles of Canada, for a geothermal heating and cooling system for the 1 Java Street project – the largest mixed-use development in New York State to incorporate a ground source geothermal system for heating and cooling. When completed in 2025, there will be more than 800 residential apartments plus retail spaces in the block in Brooklyn. The geothermal system included 321 vertical boreholes drilled 499 feet into the ground, spaced 15ft apart with a 1.25in diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) PE4710 pipe inserted into each. A total of 326,000ft was used in the boreholes with another 31,000ft of HDPE pipe in various diameters used for lateral distribution. At the University of Alabama, its Crimson Tide stadium required a non-typical underground drainage system. Because it is often used in playoff games, it now has a system that can provide heat to support grass growth in the cooler months. Hundreds of feet of both perforated and non-per- forated HDPE Goldflo dual-wall pipe from Prinsco was used. In Texas, 7,000 ft of 1.25in HDPE pipe from Petroflex was used to construct an aquatic habitat for the fish in Lake Conroe. The synthetic branches accumulate algae and plankton to feed the numerous species of fish in the lake. The HDPE conduit was better than small trees, limbs or brush because it does not deteriorate and can be easily configured into various shapes. And in New Orleans, authorities launched the huge South Claiborne project to replace its 100-year-old water transmission mains with a modern piping system. It featured an innovation from Agru called compressed fit, which uses existing infrastructure as a framework for installing a new pipeline to minimise disruption. Agru expanded its production capabilities to include 30in and 48in SDR 17 solid-walled HDPE pipes to support the installation. In all, the project required 4,400ft of 48in pipe, installed by Murphy Pipeline Contractors. Especially important to this section of New
Orleans was the pipe’s corrosion resistance, flexibility, durability, and lower seismic susceptibility
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IMAGE: PPI
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