Our site uses cookies necessary for its proper functioning. To improve your experience, other cookies may be used: you can choose to disable them. This can be changed at any time via the Cookies link at the bottom of the page.


Plastic pipework for gas in buildings and the consequences of fire

 

Papers

Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2012 Barcelona

Hella J.M.Rijpkema, Hendrik J.Roebers, Marco C.A.Mekes

The application of plastic pipework for gas inside buildings is still restricted by national laws or local regulations in many countries, while other countries allow this application. The exclusion of plastics is in the main based on the supposed fear of the impact of a fire on the pipework and the escape of unburned gas with all its consequences. Supporting data based on incident statistics will help to pave the road to more favourable legislation for plastic pipework inside buildings. In many countries over the world gas incident data of gas installations have been collected for many years. In some of these countries incident data are confidential while in other they are published and may be used freely. The causes of incidents with pipework vary widely. Not only material failure and third party involvement are well known causes but also manipulation or suicide actions. It is obvious that the later two mentioned causes have to be removed from statistics because these are not material related. In view of statistical data, critical pipe failure due to fire impact are extremely seldom. As a result a corrected overview of incidents will be presented and field experiences from The Netherlands will be reported. In this country the use of multilayer pipe in domestic pipework is very common for more than ten years. The conclusion is that the incident rate (excluding manipulation and suicide) is very low and plastic pipework for gas in buildings does not contribute to an increase in failure statistics. The experiences with working with plastic installation pipework are excellent. Especially the tightness of the pipework has been mentioned as an advantage. As soon as the road has been paved, the application of plastic pipework can be rolled out worldwide! National and international regulations have to be modified in favour of Multilayer(ML) domestic gas pipework.

Please note that the whole article content is available on PPCA website only :

Related papers

2016 Berlin : Recent practical applications in pipelines with advanced grades of polyolefins

Author(s) : Marco Michelotti, Raffaella Sartini

Polyolefins piping systems have greatly evolved over the last decade through both material innovation and extrusion technologies which have undergone significant advancement. Though high density polyethylene and polypropylene pipes are currently estimated as the best solution for a safe fluid supply, various...

2012 Barcelona : Machine and cutting process for PP and PVC-U extrusion lines producing short pipes for indoor sewage

Author(s) : Giorgio Tabanelli and Marco Gulminelli

Piping systems for indoor sewage usually use PP and PVC-U socketed pipes with diameters no greater than 160 mm [6.30"]. The pipes are short in length in comparison to pipes used in outdoor sewage or in pressurised water distribution networks. Pipes less than three metres in length are produced, and there is...

2001 Munich : Opportunities for Plastics in Flexible Indoor Gas Pipe Systems

Author(s) : Oesterholt, Scholten, Roebers

Worldwide more and more buildings are connected to natural gas. Until recently the gas within the building was exclusively distributed through metal pipe systems, such as straight copper pipes, soldered together and straight steel pipes, screwed together. About six years ago some pilot projects with PEX (crosslinked...

1992 Eindhoven : Field failures in PE Gas Pipes - Analysis versus Lifetime Prediction

Author(s) : Scholten, Rijpkema

Eight excavated HDPE pipes of the 1st generation along with 3 modern PE types have been investigated. Comonomer content as a function of molecular weight of the old HDPE pipes appeared to be nonoptimal with respect to the modern PE types. Further unwanted effects in the old pipes were  : particles, oxydation,...

1992 Eindhoven : Service Life Anaylsis of PVC Gas Pipes in Practice

Author(s) : Rijpkema, Wolters

In the Netherlands about 20,000 km of uPVC (unplasticized PolyVinylChloride) gas pipes are in use. The oldest uPVC pipes have been in operation for over 30 years now. These systems were usually designed for a period of between 30 and 50 years. Probably, however, the actual service life will turn out to be much...

Methane Permeation through Advanced High-Pressure Plastics Pipes

Author(s) : Scholten, Rijpkema

Members of the Association

BOREALISBOROUGEFormosa Plastics CorporationHanwha TotalEnergiesINEOS O&PIRPCKorea Petrochemical IND. Co., LTD (KPIC)LyondellBasellORLEN UnipetrolPetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical CompanyPRIME POLYMERSABICSCG Chemicals & Thai PolyethyleneSinopecTASNEE