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Tube Products International September 2013
plast ic pipes and tubes
Pipes and fittings from China
Kingstiger, a private company
established in 2001, has become one of
the largest professional manufacturers
of plastic pipes and fittings in China.
Products include PVC pipe and fittings,
PE pipe and fittings, HDPE pipe, CPVC
pipe, glass steel power pipe, silicon core
pipe and MPP power pipe. The products
are widely used in applications such
as water supply pipe, drainage pipe,
power pipe, permeable pipe, farming
irrigation pipe, crossing pipe and grid
pipe. Kingstiger has experienced
and reliable teams for production,
research, sales and after sales, and has
obtained ISO9001 Quality Management
System Certification and ISO14000
Environmental Management System
Certification.
The company acts as deputy director-
general of the Plastics Pipe Professional
Committee of China Plastics Processing
Industry Association, and is a core
member of the National Technical
Committee of Standardization for
Plastics Products. Kingstiger applies
advanced production technology to
produce PE pipes, PVC pipes, PE-RT
pipes, PP-R pipes, HDPE protection
pipes, M-PP power cable coving pipes,
FPPE trenchless special drainage pipes,
anti-corrosion and thermal insulation
energy transfer pipes, steel reinforced
spirally wound HDPE drainage pipes
and pipe fittings.
TianJin Kingstiger Plastic Products
Co, Ltd
– China
A real asset for Giant’s Causeway project
Asset International Ltd, manufacturer
of Weholite HDPE plastic sustainable
drainage and water management
products, has entered the ecological
heating and cooling sector, and one
of its first projects was to supply a
bespoke header pipe work system for
a ground air heat exchanger at the new
Giant’s Causeway Visitors Centre in
Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The award-winning building, which is
owned by the National Trust and was
designed by Dublin based architects
Henehan Peng, cost £18.5mn to build
and took 18 months to complete.
Central to the philosophy behind the
design was the issue of ecology and
sustainability, and the entire complex
was designed with this in mind. This
is represented by the aesthetics of
the building, which is hidden from the
coastal landscape by a grass roof. To
underline the success of the project,
the Visitors Centre has already achieved
a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ award, which
measures overall sustainability in
design, materials, energy, construction
management and ecology. Crucial to
the BREEAM status was the heating
system utilised within the centre, which
operates a REHAU-designed ground-air
heat exchanger system – an innovative
zero-carbon method of heating and
cooling a building. The system (also
known as ‘earth tubes’) draws air
through underground Weholite pipes at
a depth of 1.5m, which pre-cools the air
in the summer and pre-heats it in winter,
using the near constant temperature of
the ground (7-12°C).
Asset International supplied 125m of
1,050mm diameter Weholite pipework
to REHAU for use in the ground-air heat
exchanger system. Weholite is used
as the main header pipe within the
REHAU air heat exchanger system. The
header pipes carry air to and from the
patented heat transfer pipes into the
base of the Visitors Centre. It also acts
as a conduit for all of the condensation
produced in the damp winter months.
Asset also provided all of the airtight
access shafts to complete the system.
The shafts provide an access point for
maintenance, as well as housing the
sumps and pumps that remove the
condensed water created in the system.
The design of Weholite pipes made them
a suitable choice for this ecologically
focused project. Weholite is a structured
wall product, providing an air barrier
between the inner and outer wall of the
pipe. This barrier reduces the thermal
co-efficiency of the pipe, meaning that
once the air has passed through the
heat transfer pipes the Weholite header
pipe minimises the residual energy loss
until it reaches the main building.
Asset International manufactures a range
of advanced technology polyethylene
drainage pipes. The company has
exclusive UK and Ireland rights to
manufacture the Weholite range of
structured wall pipe. Weholite was first
developed in Finland and is recognised
as a lightweight, durable, easy to install
and abrasion-resistant product that
is tolerant of ground movements. It is
manufactured in internal diameters from
400 to 3,500mm. The low pressure, high
technology pipe offers the construction
and water industries a solution across a
range of applications, including surface
drainage, inter-process pipe work,
attenuation tanks, ducting and outfalls.
Asset International Ltd
– UK
Giant’s Causeway Visitors Centre
