TPi October 2012

water, drainage & underground

Rural water supply increase in South Africa Since March, there has been an increase in the rural water supply services in some of the provinces of South Africa, with various water projects being undertaken, reports Gavin Fait, sales director for steel tube and pipe manufacturer Robor Pipe Systems. failure left communities in the Springbok region without water. Robor supplied the project with galvanised grooved pipelines fitted with a mechanical pipe-joining system manufactured by Victaulic. The supply also included all the necessary fittings and couplings. have been no water shortages in the area.

Training for locally employed labour was provided during the project. A site agent trained contractors on grooved piping and coupling installations on-site and then inspected the work carried out on the projects. “The people who benefit from the water transfer should be involved in the project,” said Mr Fait. “The training is based around pipe and Victaulic coupling installation, and usually lasts between one and three days, depending on the number of people being trained.” Robor is also installing piping for backfill mining operations for mining giants Gold Fields and Harmony Gold. The company is providing underground backfill pipeline for high-pressure applications. The pipes are small diameter, seamless and welded using a submerged arc process.

The above-ground pipeline was chosen specifically for its ease of installation as no skills were required to weld the pipeline because it is a groove system, which involves the grooving and manipulation of pipes without removing any material. According to Mr Fait, the grooved piping system is up to three times faster to install and also more reliable than threading or flanging, and reduces installation costs. The pipes are coated or galvanised and delivered to a site utilising a bag and tag principle, which allows for easy installation and tracing of product. A pre-lubricated gasket is installed before a coupling is placed between two formed machine grooves on either end of the pipe. Since the project was commissioned in July last year there “PFW Aerospace has been supplying metal tubing to the aerospace industry for nearly 100 years. Given the increasing demands of the aerospace industry to reduce weight we needed to identify alternatives to metal,” said Rupert Kästel, vice president sales and marketing, PFW Aerospace AG. “We worked closely with Victrex for over three years, involving them in every stage of the product development phase through to the qualification. Together we have successfully delivered an alternative to metal tubing and a next generation solution for commercial aircraft.” Used for draining condensed water from the cargo hold, PFW’s cargo drainage system was previously made out of metal tubing and connectors. The new system, including pipe and fittings, is made of Victrex PEEK polymer, delivering a one- material solution. A typical straight 1" PEEK pipe with an outer diameter of 25.4mm and 1mm wall thickness weighs only 100g per metre without fittings,

“We have seen a strong push for improved service delivery in the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga as well as the Western Cape and, through various projects, we see an increase in the delivery of basic services,” said Mr Fait. Robor is supplying the eThekwini municipality in KZN with products on a yearly supply contract. The manufacturer has also been involved in a two bypass line project in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape, where it replaced a failing pipeline for water-service provider Sedibeng Water Board. The bypass project took place in March 2011 and was classified by the board as an emergency project because the pipe UK aircraft manufacturers are driven by the need to design the most lightweight and environmentally fuel-efficient aircraft possible and reduce overall manufacturing costs. Responding to this need, Victrex Polymer Solutions, a leader in polyaryletherketones, together with aerospace tubing system specialist PFW Aerospace AG, developed and qualified a Victrex ® PEEK polymer-based pipe system for the cargo drainage system on the Airbus A350 XWB. Offering weight saving potential due to the use of lightweight, thin wall Victrex pipes, the pipe system is an alternative to metal tubing in the aerospace market.

Robor Pipe Systems – South Africa steelpolypipe@robor.co.za www.robor.co.za Lightweight pipes for cargo drainage system

offering a weight reduction of up to 60 per cent compared to an equivalent stainless steel straight pipe. Additionally, Victrex Pipes are not only made of an aerospace-approved polymer, but they are robust, easy to install, have good vibration and dampening properties and offer a high degree of design freedom with ability to be bent and formed. “Because they are lightweight, durable, exceptionally strong, chemically resistant, and inherently flame retardant, Victrex polymers have been used in the aerospace industry for years,” said Frank Schemm, European pipe market leader, Victrex Polymer Solutions.

Victrex plc – UK www.victrexpipes.com

PFW Aerospace AG – Germany info@pfw.aero www.pfw.aero

Aerospace pipes

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Tube Products International October 2012

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