Papers
Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2010 Vancouver
Richard Wolf, Koji Nakamura
In 2004 a project was initiated by UBE Industries, Ltd. to evaluate the feasibility for use of polyamide 12 in natural gas distribution systems in the United States. The objective of the project was to develop a polyamide 12 natural gas distribution system capable of operating at pressures greater than that imposed by current restrictions and at temperatures above those achieved by commercially available thermoplastic systems. US regulatory restrictions limit the use of thermoplastic systems to a maximum operating pressure of 125 psig. As the project progressed, the scope was expanded to include global activities. The project was broken into two distinct phases. Phase 1 from February 2004 to December 2006 included a comprehensive laboratory evaluation and limited field service use to determine the feasibility for use of polyamide 12 natural gas distribution systems operating at pressures greater than 125 psig and elevated temperatures. Long term strength performance, slow crack growth and rapid crack propagation characteristics, the effect of secondary stresses along with extensive testing to accepted industry test methods were evaluated. Studies were conducted to develop a full set of installation, maintenance and operating procedures for the use of polyamide 12 systems. Additionally, several small scale private property installations took place as part of the Phase 1 project. Based on the positive results from laboratory and field evaluations of polyamide 12 systems, a Phase 2 project was developed. The objective of the Phase 2 project was to commercialize the use of polyamide 12 systems for use at pressures greater than 125 psig. During this phase of the project, installations are being performed with utilities in North America within their respective operating areas. These installations are being performed under special permits in cooperation with the respective state and federal regulatory bodies. As a separate activity, samples have been removed from the trial installations at specific time intervals and characterized for retention of physical and mechanical properties. The sample removal and evaluation study is an ongoing activity. The paper presents an overview of the laboratory analysis and field installation activities performed in the Polyamide 12 gas distribution systems project. The data is presented in the context of compliance to the active ASTM polyamide 12 standards.
Related papers
Author(s) : Tom Stewart, Richard Hicks, Patrick Vibien, Lance MacNevin
Arguably, broadband technologies have become as vital to society as water delivery, waste removal and energy distribution. However, the role of plastic conduit in broadband is often overlooked within the piping industry and society in general. HDPE conduit is an essential component to the build -out of 5G cell...
Author(s) : Michael Pluimer, Richard Thomas
Over the past decade, there have been several key research projects to evaluate the performance of corrugated HDPE pipes manufactured with post-consumer and postindustrial recycled materials for highway and railroad drainage applications. Three of these projects were recently completed and published (NCHRP Project...
Author(s) : Richard St-Aubin, Dr. Thomas O’Rourke, Dr. Brad Wham, Blake Berger
Molecularly oriented polyvinyl chloride (PVC-O) pipe has been found to withstand large ground deformation during seismic events without damage. The properties of PVC-O pipe that support this performance have been investigated in a multi-year testing program undertaken at the Geotechnical Lifelines Large Scale Testing...
Author(s) : Bill R. Vanhoose, Jarrett A. Nelson, Christa K. McNish, Richard W. Thomas
The Stepped Isothermal Method (SIM) is a form of Time-Temperature Superpositioning (TTS) that involves measuring the creep rate of a sample while it is subjected to a series of isothermal temperature steps. The accelerated temperature results can then be shifted back to room temperature to produce a master-curve....
Author(s) : Tom Marti, Richard (Bo) Botteicher
In North America, trenchless pipe installation methods continue to see rapid adoption in municipal markets with well over 70 percent of utilities having used some form of trenchless methods in the recent past according to a 2012 survey. This adoption rate is a function of improving equipment, installation experience,...
Author(s) : Richard Thomas and David Cuttino
The BFF test is an un-notched, constant load, stress crack test performed at elevated temperatures (70 or 80ºC) in deionized water. The test is a combination of the BAM test, developed in Germany in the early 1990s, the Florida Department of Transportation protocol for 100 year service lifetimes, and uses a dumb bell...
Author(s) : Wolf, Akagawa, Nakamura, Patadia
With support from natural gas utilities, the Gas Technology Institute and Polyamide 12 material suppliers, a project was developed to determine the suitability for use of Polyamide 12 natural gas distribution systems operating above the current 125 psig limit imposed on polyethylene systems. The projects goals are to...
Author(s) : Wolf, Nakamura
Members of the Association
