Lined Pipe in Hawaii

Every gallon of acid, caustic and hypochlorite used in Hawaii arrives by ship, and every pipe that carries it lives in salt air. That combination makes lined piping an unusually good fit for the islands: a corrosion-resistant liner inside a steel housing that can be ordered in 316 stainless for the exterior. Marspec Technical Products fabricates that pipe, with PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene liners, supplies matching lined fittings and valves, and ships spools to Hawaii from our shop in Fairhope, Alabama.

Send us a drawing, a valve list or the medium and line size, and we will quote it promptly. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online. We have spent more than half a century fabricating plastic-lined piping, and custom spools built to order are our specialty.

Hawaii's process industries and what they move

The refinery and Campbell Industrial Park

Hawaii's only refinery sits in Campbell Industrial Park at Kapolei on the Ewa plain, and because the islands generate a larger share of their electricity from petroleum than any other state, it is the anchor of an industrial district that also holds oil-fired generating stations, a waste-to-energy plant, fuel and chemical terminals and the pipelines that feed jet fuel to the airport and the military. A refinery runs on fluids that steel cannot carry for long: spent caustic, sour water, demineralized water, sulfuric acid for pH control and the sodium hypochlorite and ferric chloride at its wastewater plant. PTFE-lined pipe and PFA-lined plug and ball valves take those streams without pitting, with lined diaphragm valves, or ball valves with a vented ball (vent facing upstream), on the hypochlorite, and lined spools let the plant use carbon steel housings instead of alloy. Power plants at Kahe, Waiau and Kalaeloa on Oahu, and their counterparts on Maui and Hawaii Island, treat boiler feedwater with acid and caustic regeneration of demineralizers and dose cooling water with hypochlorite, which are the same lined-pipe applications in a smaller frame.

Water and wastewater

Honolulu draws its drinking water from basal aquifers and chlorinates it, and its two largest wastewater plants are Sand Island and Honouliuli. Treatment on an island means sodium hypochlorite, ferric chloride, polymer and sodium bisulfite, with odor control scrubbers running caustic and hypochlorite, all of it steps from the ocean. Water utilities on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island run the same chemistry. Hypochlorite and ferric chloride will corrode stainless steel; a PTFE liner ends the problem, with PVDF an option for the ferric chloride and dilute hypochlorite, and lined diaphragm valves do not seize on the salt and scale that hypochlorite leaves behind.

Geothermal, biodiesel, shipyards and food

On Hawaii Island, the geothermal plant in the Puna district reinjects hot brine carrying hydrogen sulfide and silica, and its condensate and cooler brine lines, within the liner's temperature limit, are lined-pipe service. The state's biodiesel producer converts used cooking oil and crop oils with methanol, sodium methylate and sulfuric acid, then washes the fuel with acidified water. Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard runs plating, chemical cleaning and industrial wastewater systems on chromic, nitric and hydrochloric acids and caustic. And Hawaii's food and beverage plants, from the Honolulu bottlers and breweries to the macadamia, coffee and juice processors on Hawaii Island and Maui and the rum and vodka distilleries, clean with hot caustic, acid detergents and peracetic acid sanitizer. In each case lined pipe keeps iron out of the product and acid out of the steel.

Lined products sized for island plants

• Custom spools up to 20 ft, 1/2" to 12", PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene lined, housings in carbon steel or, for salt air, 316 stainless
• The full fitting range: lined elbows, tees, crosses, laterals, reducers, flanged spacers and instrument tees
• Lined valves: ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling, PTFE or PFA lined
• Piping accessories: lined strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe
• Temperature maintenance: clamp-on steam heaters, electric heat tracing and heat-transfer compound

Two island conditions shape our recommendations. The exterior of the housing matters as much as the liner, so for lines near the shore or under a cooling tower plume we often suggest a 316 stainless housing or a fluoropolymer coating over carbon steel. And while freezing is not the concern it is on the mainland, temperature maintenance still earns its keep on heated caustic for CIP, on 50 percent caustic held above its crystallization point, and on viscous biodiesel feedstock lines, where electric tracing or heat-transfer compound holds process temperature. For jacketed or traced service, we recommend specifying PTFE. Keeping the liner inside its rating, even when the line is not flowing, depends on sizing the steam pressure or tracer output, and we need your application data to make that recommendation.

Standards we build to

Our lined pipe and fittings are produced to comply with ASTM F1545, with fittings dimensioned to ANSI B16.5. The lined fittings we supply are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX. Every lined pipe spool and fitting gets a minimum 10,000-volt spark test before it ships, which matters when a replacement is an ocean away. Liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables are on our technical details page.

Serving Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island

We ship spools, fittings and valves nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama, and Hawaii orders are crated for ocean or air freight to Honolulu, Kapolei, Kalaeloa, Pearl City, Aiea, Waipahu, Kahului, Lihue, Hilo, Keaau and Kailua-Kona. Because every shipment crosses the Pacific, we check each spool against your drawings and flange standard before it leaves. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with the line size, the medium and the operating temperature.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Hawaii

What housing do you recommend for lined pipe in Hawaii's salt air?

For lines exposed to sea spray, a 316 stainless housing is the minimum, since 304 stains and pits in salt spray, and for carbon steel housings we can apply a fluoropolymer coating; on traced or insulated lines ask us, since warm stainless under wet, salty insulation can crack. The liner choice, PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene, is made separately based on the medium inside.

Can your lined pipe serve sodium hypochlorite and ferric chloride at the Sand Island and Honouliuli plants?

Yes. PTFE-lined pipe with lined diaphragm valves, or ball valves with a vented ball (vent facing upstream) on the hypochlorite, is a standard specification for hypochlorite and ferric chloride feed systems at water and wastewater plants, because both chemicals pit stainless steel and leave deposits that bind valve seats. PVDF also suits the ferric chloride, but commercial 12.5 percent bleach carries excess caustic at about pH 12 to 13 that attacks PVDF over time, so PTFE is our recommendation for hypochlorite.

Do you supply lined pipe for the Kapolei refinery and Campbell Industrial Park plants?

We supply lined spools, fittings and valves to refinery and power plant piping specifications for spent caustic, amine, sour water, acid and demineralized water service. Lined fittings are welded to ASME B31.3 and every spool and fitting is spark tested, so they fit the documentation those plants require. Lined valves suit many refinery line classes within 232 psi and about 400 °F (204 °C), but check the line class for fire-test (API 607) requirements, which Swissfluid doesn't claim for its lined valves.

How do you handle shipping lined pipe to Hawaii?

We ship spools and valves nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama, and crate both for ocean or air freight to the islands. Because corrections are costly at that distance, we build to your isometrics and flange standard and verify every spool before it leaves the shop.