Lined Pipe in Chicago, IL

Greater Chicago handles acid by the trainload: the largest refinery in the Midwest at Whiting, two more on the canal at Joliet and Lemont, the three biggest integrated steel mills in the country on the Indiana lakefront, the Argo corn mill at Summit and the largest wastewater plant in the world at Stickney. Marspec Technical Products fabricates PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and supplies the lined fittings and valves that keep those plants' acid, caustic, hypochlorite and brine lines in service, with spools shipping to Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana from Fairhope, Alabama. Call (251) 625-4949 to get started.

After more than half a century lining steel pipe, we know the liners. Contact us online with isometrics or a line list for a quote.

From Whiting to Lake County, end to end

Refining on the lakefront and the canal

The Whiting refinery on the Indiana shore runs about 435,000 barrels a day of mostly heavy Canadian crude, and the Joliet and Lemont refineries southwest of the city on the Des Plaines corridor add roughly 267,000 and 188,000 barrels a day. Alkylation runs on sulfuric acid, so spent and fresh acid, spent caustic, sour water, amine and the acid and caustic of demineralizer regeneration all include lines that unlined steel cannot hold. A sulfuric acid regeneration plant at Hammond and a sulfuric acid works in the city that has run since 1893 complete the acid loop.

The mills at Gary, Burns Harbor and East Chicago

Indiana leads the nation in crude steel, and its three integrated mills on Lake Michigan at Gary, Burns Harbor and Indiana Harbor in East Chicago are the three largest blast-furnace plants in the United States. Burns Harbor and Indiana Harbor make their own coke, while Gary has brought coke in since 2013. Each pickles hot band in hydrochloric acid before cold rolling and galvanizing, and acid regeneration roasters turn the spent liquor back into fresh acid and iron oxide. Pickle liquor, rinse water, scrubber recycle and regenerated acid lines are where PTFE- and PVDF-lined spools and lined plug valves replace rubber-lined and alloy pipe, with vented housings on PTFE because hot HCl permeates the liner.

Corn, chemicals and the Calumet

The Argo plant at Summit, built in 1910 and long described as the largest corn wet mill in the world, steeps corn in sulfur dioxide water, hydrolyzes starch with hydrochloric acid and cleans in place with hot caustic and acid, and its food-grade product cannot tolerate iron from the pipe. The Calumet region from Lake Calumet to Hammond and Whiting holds specialty chemical, water-treatment chemical and lubricant plants whose transfer lines carry sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, caustic and hypochlorite, and the Ports of Indiana terminal at Burns Harbor moved 2.8 million tons of barge, laker and ocean cargo in 2024.

Water at a scale found nowhere else

The Stickney water reclamation plant in Cicero treats up to 1.4 billion gallons a day for about 2.4 million people, the largest secondary treatment plant in the world, and recovers phosphorus as struvite with magnesium chloride and caustic. Calumet on the South Side is the next largest of the district's seven plants. On the drinking water side, the Jardine plant north of Navy Pier and the Sawyer plant on the South Side draw from Lake Michigan cribs and together serve about 3 million households in the city and 118 suburbs, feeding chlorine, fluoride and phosphate on the way out. Hypochlorite, ferric chloride, fluorosilicic acid and caustic feed piping at those plants is PTFE-lined work, with PVDF an option on the ferric chloride and fluorosilicic acid and on dilute or lower-pH hypochlorite; polypropylene is available for the ferric chloride and caustic where a specification calls for it, never for hypochlorite.

Lake County pharmaceuticals

North of the city, the Lake County pharmaceutical cluster is adding active ingredient capacity, including two API plants and a chemical synthesis facility at North Chicago worth 575 million dollars together. Chemical synthesis means solvents, hydrochloric acid, caustic and deionized water in lines that must not shed iron, chromium or nickel, which is what a PTFE liner provides.

Spools, valves and accessories for Chicago plants

Custom lined pipe spools and fittings in 1/2" through 12", lined with PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene in carbon steel or 304 or 316 stainless housings, fabricated to your isometric in straight lengths up to 20 ft, with matching lined elbows, tees, reducers and laterals.

• PTFE-lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves, flanged to the spools
• Lined strainers and expansion joints, PTFE spacers and spectacle blinds, sight glasses, solid PTFE pipe
• Vessel accessories, custom PTFE machining and fluoropolymer coating

Our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545. Fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5 and are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX, and each lined pipe spool and fitting is spark tested at a minimum of 10,000 volts before it ships. Ratings by liner, size and temperature are on the technical details page.

January on the lakefront

An outdoor chemical rack in Gary or Cicero sees wind off the lake and temperatures well below zero. Fifty percent caustic crystallizes in the mid 50s F, hypochlorite and ferric chloride lose strength or freeze, and pickle liquor thickens. Our temperature maintenance products, clamp-on steam heaters, electric tracing and heat-transfer compound, keep a lined spool warm under its insulation without a jacketed line.

Serving Chicago and Northwest Indiana

We ship lined piping to Chicago, Cicero, Summit, Joliet, Lemont, Romeoville, Waukegan, North Chicago, Calumet City, Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Gary, Portage, Burns Harbor and Michigan City. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with what the line carries.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Chicago, IL

Can lined pipe handle pickle liquor and regenerated acid at a Northwest Indiana steel mill?

Yes. PTFE- and PVDF-lined spools with PTFE-lined plug valves carry hydrochloric acid at pickling strength and temperature, including the hot regenerated acid off the roaster, and they hold up where rubber linings blister and alloys pit.

Can you support a turnaround at a refinery like Whiting, Joliet or Lemont with spools built to our isometrics?

Yes. Send the spool list and isometrics once scope is fixed; we fabricate, spark test and ship the package from Fairhope, Alabama ahead of the window, then turn quick replacements for the spools found corroded after opening.

Which liner do you recommend for the chemical feed lines at a Chicago-area water reclamation plant?

PTFE for hypochlorite, ferric chloride, magnesium chloride and caustic, since it covers the feed lines and any line that sees heat or a mixed stream on one liner; PVDF is an option on the chloride lines and on dilute or lower-pH hypochlorite, and polypropylene is available for the chloride and caustic lines where a specification calls for it. Lined diaphragm valves throttle these services without a metal wetted part.

Will your lined fittings bolt to the existing lined piping at an Argo or Lake County plant?

They will. Our fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5 and our pipe to ASTM F1545, so a replacement spool or elbow fits the flange pattern already on the rack without an adapter.