Lined Pipe in Kansas

Kansas refines crude oil at El Dorado, McPherson and Coffeyville, makes ammonia and UAN from petroleum coke, mines and evaporates salt from one of the largest deposits in the world under Hutchinson, finishes aircraft in Wichita and ferments nearly 600 million gallons of ethanol a year. Those plants have little in common on the surface, but they all pump sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, caustic, brine, hypochlorite and solvents through pipe that was never meant to touch them.

Marspec Technical Products solves that with plastic-lined steel. For more than half a century we have fabricated PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and fittings from 1/2" through 12" in Fairhope, Alabama, and we supply lined valves, strainers, expansion joints and heat-tracing products, shipping nationwide. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with your Kansas line list.

Refining and fertilizer from El Dorado to the southeast corner

The refinery at El Dorado, with a crude unit rated around 135,000 barrels a day, is the largest in Kansas and sits on the oil field that made the state a producer a century ago. The cooperative-owned refinery at McPherson serves the central part of the state, and Coffeyville runs a refinery of more than 100,000 barrels a day alongside a nitrogen fertilizer plant that gasifies petroleum coke into roughly 370,000 tons of ammonia and 630,000 tons of UAN solution a year, one of only two North American fertilizer plants that do not depend on natural gas. Kansas still ranks among the top ten oil-producing states, so gathering, treating and disposal of produced water rounds out the picture. The lined-pipe services in all of this are the ones every refinery engineer knows: sulfuric acid alkylation and spent acid, spent caustic, sour water, amine reclaiming, demineralizer regeneration, cooling tower acid feed, and on the fertilizer side the acid and caustic that keep boiler feedwater pure. PTFE-lined spools and lined plug valves replace alloy piping in those lines at a fraction of the cost.

Salt and brine under Hutchinson

Hutchinson sits over one of the largest salt deposits anywhere, worked since 1887 by brine wells and since 1923 by a rock salt mine that still operates, with two evaporated-salt plants in town and additional salt production at Lyons. Evaporated salt starts as saturated brine pumped from solution-mined caverns, and saturated sodium chloride brine, with the calcium and magnesium chlorides that come with it, is one of the most reliable ways to pit stainless steel. PTFE-lined pipe and lined butterfly and plug valves carry brine, purge and purification chemicals (caustic, soda ash and chlorine for brine treatment) without corrosion, with vented housings on the chlorine line because chlorine permeates the liner, and PVDF or polypropylene are available for the brine where a specification calls for them. The same salt beds host solution-mined storage caverns for natural gas liquids, which bring their own brine displacement lines.

Wichita aerospace, packing plants, ethanol and the cities

Wichita is one of the largest aircraft manufacturing centers in the world, and finishing an airframe is a chemical process: chemical milling in hot caustic, anodizing in sulfuric and chromic acid, conversion coating, cadmium and chrome plating, acid pickling of titanium and steel, and paint stripping, followed by a metals wastewater plant that neutralizes and precipitates with lime, caustic and ferric chloride. Lined pipe and lined diaphragm valves on those tank lines and chemical feeds are standard practice. Out west, the beef plants at Dodge City, Liberal and Holcomb clean with caustic, hypochlorite and peracetic acid every night and treat high-strength wastewater, while the state's ethanol plants, which put Kansas among the leading biofuel states, consume sulfuric acid, caustic CIP and ammonia daily. The Kansas City industrial districts add auto assembly paint pretreatment, food and chemical plants, and metal finishing, and municipal utilities in Wichita, Kansas City, Topeka and Lawrence run lime softening and hypochlorite, ferric and fluoride feed systems. Coal units in the state's power fleet scrub flue gas with limestone slurry, which usually runs in rubber-lined pipe, and purge chloride-laden water, another classic lined-pipe service.

Marspec products for Kansas plants

We fabricate custom lined pipe spools up to 20 ft, 1/2" through 12", in PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene inside carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings, plus lined elbows, tees, reducers, laterals and instrument tees. We supply lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves, and lined strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe. For outdoor caustic, brine and hypochlorite lines that a Kansas norther will freeze, we offer clamp-on steam heaters, electric heat tracing and heat-transfer compound that mount outside the liner, and the full catalog is on our Other Products page.

Standards you can write into the spec

ASTM F1545 for the lined pipe and fittings, ANSI B16.5 dimensional conformance for fittings, ASME B31.3 welding of the lined fittings by welders certified to ASME Section IX, and a minimum 10,000-volt spark test on every lined pipe spool and fitting. Liner ratings are on our Technical Details page.

Serving Wichita, Kansas City, Hutchinson, El Dorado, Coffeyville and the west

We ship to Wichita, El Dorado, Hutchinson, McPherson, Salina, Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, Emporia, Coffeyville, Pittsburg, Atchison, Garden City, Dodge City, Liberal and Hays. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with the chemical, concentration, temperature and pressure for each line and we will confirm liners and quote the job.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Kansas

Do you supply lined pipe for alkylation and spent caustic service at the Kansas refineries?

Yes. PTFE-lined carbon steel spools, fittings and lined plug and ball valves are rated for concentrated sulfuric acid, spent acid and spent caustic across normal unit temperatures, and the fittings mate to ANSI B16.5 flanges already in the rack.

What liner handles saturated brine at the Hutchinson and Lyons salt plants?

PTFE handles the widest range and is what we quote for sodium chloride brine, hotter brine and chlorine-treated brine alike; PVDF also covers the hotter and chlorine-treated brine, and polypropylene is available for brine at moderate temperature where a specification calls for it. All three stop the chloride pitting that shortens the life of stainless brine lines.

Can lined pipe be used on anodizing and plating tank lines in a Wichita aerospace shop?

It can. Chromic, sulfuric and nitric acid, caustic etch and chrome and cadmium plating solutions are all within PTFE liner ratings, and all but the caustic etch and any bath above about pH 12 within PVDF's, and lined diaphragm valves give clean shutoff with no metal in contact with the bath.

Can you supply lined spools for a Kansas plant turnaround?

We fabricate to order and ship nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama. Send isometrics or a line list and we will give you a firm fabrication time with the quote.