Camaiore

Project Info

Polyethylene PE 100 RC pipes, no-dig technology – excellent qualitative standards: The case of S.P.1 of Camaiore, Lucca.

The choice of a thermoplastic polymer to be processed, the use of technologically advanced production techniques and the availability of the control devices both during the processing that the products obtained are key elements and critical on which is based and strengthens the bond between regulatory and quality requirements, mainly understood as a high performance during exercising.

The constant commitment to protecting these key points has always been the hallmark which over the years has made Idrotherm 2000 increasingly more involved with their products to advanced installations of new pipeline networks or the restoration of existing ones.

In view of the specific field of use and critical mode of installation, production of Reno 100 Blue® pipes on a water pipeline installed in August 2007 in a stretch of provincial road SP1-Lucca Camaiore, by the local water services committee: GEAL, was preceded by a thorough evaluation of the raw material by Idrotherm 2000, so that the polymer used was in possession of the technical requirements needed to tolerate the heavy pressure during the next phase of installation.

To ensure an optimal behaviour with a view to long-term resistance, as well as in relation to the phenomena of resistance to slow and rapid crack growth, characteristics of polyethylene, with the consequent improvement in terms of reliability and safety of the pipeline, has been selected a resin, blue in colour, PE100 able to transfer an excellent performance even in the pipes produced in the laying without excavation techniques. The polymer, classified as MRS 10, is characterised by a high resistance to slow crack growth (SCG> 1000 has 9.2 bars and 80 ° C) and excellent resistance to rapid crack growth (RCP> 10 bar at 0 ° C – test S4), properties which make it the most suitable choice for piping systems for the transport of water under pressure, also in consideration of good processing properties and a very low tendency to sagging (tendency to flow downward with the consequent lack of homogeneity of the thickness), in addition to the advantages intrinsically linked to the staining of the pipe.

The optimisation of the conversion of raw material results in a balanced combination of high productivity process with no drastic operative conditions, able to transfer into the pipe the excellent own qualitative characteristics of the raw material used.

Thanks to online devices installed, all of the obtained pipes, European Standard EN 12201 and manufactured in bars with a length of 13 m with dimensional characteristics DN 110 and SDR 9 (nominal pressure corresponding to 20 bar operating), was monitored through a system of measurement, ultrasonic, whose purpose is to detect the dimensional variations over the entire surface, over which record any structural defects (surface streaks and inclusions) through the ultrasonic signal reflected at different angles.