Lined Pipe in Idaho

Idaho makes phosphoric acid and elemental phosphorus in the southeast, memory chips in Boise, french fries, cheese, yogurt and beet sugar across the Magic Valley and the Treasure Valley, silver and lead concentrate in the Silver Valley, and bleached pulp at Lewiston. Those plants move fluoride-laden phosphoric acid, hydrofluoric acid and chlorine dioxide, fluids that destroy bare steel and attack most stainless grades, along with sulfuric acid, ultrapure water and CIP caustic. Marspec Technical Products fabricates the PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined steel pipe spools and supplies the lined fittings and valves built for that duty, with spools shipping to Idaho from Fairhope, Alabama.

Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online to send drawings, describe a service or ask which liner fits a line you are replacing.

Phosphate country: Soda Springs and Pocatello

The Phosphoria Formation in Caribou County supports open-pit phosphate mines around Soda Springs and two kinds of plant. One smelts phosphate rock in electric furnaces into elemental phosphorus, among the last operations of its kind in the country. The others, including the large fertilizer complex at Pocatello, make phosphoric acid by reacting sulfuric acid with ground rock, concentrate it and convert it with ammonia into monoammonium and diammonium phosphate. Wet-process phosphoric acid carries hydrofluoric and fluosilicic acid, chlorides and abrasive solids, so stainless steel pits in it and these plants rely on lined pipe for acid transfer, filter feed, evaporator circulation and sulfuric acid headers. PTFE and PVDF liners resist the fluoride attack that defeats glass, PVDF run within velocity limits takes the abrasive filter feed, and lined diaphragm valves, which have no seat to score, handle the gypsum solids.

Chips in Boise, food across the valleys

Semiconductors

Boise is home to one of the world's largest memory chip makers and its research and development fab. A fab runs on ultrapure water, hydrofluoric, nitric, sulfuric and phosphoric acids, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium hydroxide, developers and solvents, and the acid waste neutralization systems downstream handle the same chemicals in dilute, mixed form. Metal ions leached from a pipe wall are a defect problem on the wafer side and a corrosion problem on the waste side. On the wafer side, ultrapure water and electronic-grade chemicals run in solid natural PVDF or PFA. PTFE-lined pipe and PFA-lined valves, lined sampling valves and solid PTFE pipe serve the bulk chemical supply, acid waste and neutralization systems, giving them a metal-free wetted surface.

Potatoes, dairy and sugar

Idaho grows more potatoes than any other state, and processing plants at Caldwell, Nampa, American Falls, Burley, Twin Falls and Idaho Falls run caustic peel, blanch water and heavy clean-in-place cycles. The Magic Valley around Twin Falls, Jerome and Gooding has become one of the largest dairy processing regions in the country, with cheese, whey and yogurt plants that cycle hot caustic, nitric and phosphoric acid blends, peracetic acid and chlorine sanitizers through their lines several times a day. Beet sugar factories at Nampa, Twin Falls and Paul add milk of lime, carbonation gas, sulfur dioxide and ion exchange regenerants. Lined pipe in 304 or 316 stainless housings does not corrode, does not shed iron into product and handles caustic and acid in the same line.

Silver Valley and Lewiston

The Coeur d'Alene mining district along the Silver Valley, from Kellogg through Wallace to Mullan, produces silver, lead and zinc concentrate from deep underground mines, with flotation reagents, lime slurry and acidic mine water to handle, and the water treatment plant at Kellogg neutralizes metal-laden drainage with lime. At Lewiston, a bleached kraft pulp and paperboard mill runs chlorine dioxide, caustic, sodium hypochlorite, sulfuric acid and spent liquor through its bleach plant and recovery area.

The lined piping we supply

Custom lined spools, built to your drawing in 1/2" through 12" sizes and lengths up to 20 ft, come with PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene liners in carbon steel or 304 and 316 stainless housings. Our lined pipe and fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5, so elbows, tees, reducers, laterals and instrument tees bolt directly to the flanged lined runs already in your plant.

• Plastic-lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves in PTFE and PFA
• Lined strainers, lined expansion joints, PTFE spacers, spectacle blinds and sight glasses
• Solid PTFE pipe and other products for high-purity and small-bore service
• Clamp-on steam heaters, electric heat tracing and heat-transfer compound for lines that freeze or crystallize

Winter in Pocatello or Idaho Falls will freeze 50 percent caustic in an exposed rack and leave superphosphoric acid too viscous to pump. Our temperature maintenance products are matched to the liner's temperature limit, so a traced or steam-heated lined line stays fluid without damaging the plastic.

Standards your spec can cite

Our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545. Lined fittings are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX, and every lined pipe spool and fitting passes a minimum 10,000-volt spark test before it ships. We have more than half a century in the plastic-lined piping industry, and our technical details page gives liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables.

Serving Boise, Pocatello, Twin Falls and all of Idaho

We ship custom spools nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama, built to order for plants in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Twin Falls, Jerome, Burley, Pocatello, Soda Springs, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with your line list.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Idaho

Why do Idaho phosphate plants use lined pipe instead of stainless steel for phosphoric acid?

Wet-process phosphoric acid contains hydrofluoric and fluosilicic acid and chlorides that pit stainless steel. PTFE and PVDF liners resist the fluorides chemically, and the carbon steel housing supplies the strength, so lined pipe is a standard choice from Soda Springs to Pocatello.

Can you supply lined pipe and valves for a Boise semiconductor fab's acid and waste lines?

Yes, for bulk chemical supply, acid waste and neutralization; ultrapure water and electronic-grade chemicals run in solid natural PVDF or PFA. PTFE-lined pipe, lined ball valves (with a vented ball on peroxide, vent facing upstream), lined diaphragm valves and solid PTFE pipe carry hydrofluoric and nitric acid, peroxide, ammonium hydroxide and mixed acid waste without leaching metal ions into the stream. HF permeates the PTFE face of the diaphragm, so on those lines we supply the PTFE/FPM diaphragm, whose FPM backing resists it, rather than the standard PTFE/EPDM.

Do you build lined pipe in stainless housings for Magic Valley dairy and potato plants?

We do. Lined spools and fittings are available in 304 and 316 stainless as well as carbon steel, and PTFE liners handle hot caustic, nitric and phosphoric acid CIP blends and peracetic acid without corroding or contaminating product.

What liner handles chlorine dioxide and hypochlorite at the Lewiston pulp mill?

PTFE is the usual liner for chlorine dioxide solution, sodium hypochlorite and the acidic and caustic bleach plant filtrates, and PVDF is an option for some of those lines. We can supply lined spools and fittings in either liner, with PFA- or PTFE-lined valves, to your conditions.