76
Tube Products International 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.
“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
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.
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
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.
Robor Pipe Systems
– South Africa
Lightweight pipes for cargo drainage system
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.
“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,
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
PFW Aerospace AG
– Germany
Aerospace pipes
