Lined Pipe in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a manufacturing state that hides it well. Behind the Seacoast tradeport and the mill buildings of Manchester and Nashua sit a biologics campus running mammalian cell culture at commercial scale, a membrane filtration plant in Jaffrey, investment casting and jet engine component shops in Milford and Hooksett, defense electronics in Nashua and Hudson, and the tissue and specialty paper mills of Gorham and the Monadnock region. Those operations consume acids, caustics, hypochlorite, solvents and ultra-pure water, and Marspec Technical Products fabricates the PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and supplies the lined fittings and valves that carry them, with spools shipped from Fairhope, Alabama.
For a quote on lined spools, fittings or valves, call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with your sizes, media and temperatures.
New Hampshire industry and the fluids it moves
Manufacturing in the state is led by industrial machinery, electronics, instruments, fabricated metal and primary metals. Manchester, Londonderry, Portsmouth, Nashua and Hudson carry the most manufacturing jobs.
The Seacoast: biologics, filtration and the Piscataqua terminals
The contract biologics campus at the former air base in Portsmouth has produced monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins by mammalian cell culture under cGMP since the mid-1990s and employs about 1,500 people. A plant of that size runs purified water and water-for-injection loops, clean-in-place systems on sodium hydroxide and phosphoric acid, buffer preparation with acetic and hydrochloric acid, and bulk caustic for column cleaning; the water loops run in orbital-welded, electropolished 316L sanitary systems, and PTFE-lined pipe and PFA-lined diaphragm valves keep metal ions out of the chemical lines around them. In Jaffrey, a membrane and microfiltration plant handles casting solvents and acid and caustic cleaning on a similar scale. The Piscataqua River terminals in Portsmouth and Newington receive road salt by ship for three states, along with propane, gypsum and plastic resin, and salt brine, fuel additives and tank-farm water are lined pipe services we quote in PTFE, with polypropylene available where a specification calls for it. Hydrocarbon fuel additives can build a static charge that pinholes a plain lining or ignites vapor, so bond and ground the spools and use anti-static PFA-AS valves; tell us if your specification calls for an anti-static liner.
Electronics, castings and plating in the Merrimack Valley
Defense electronics and electro-optics in Nashua, Hudson, Manchester and Londonderry rely on circuit board fabrication and plating lines that run cupric chloride and ammoniacal etchants, sulfuric-peroxide microetch, electroless copper and nickel, and tin and gold plating, with fluoride, copper and nickel waste treatment behind them. Thin-wall investment casting in Milford and aircraft engine components in Hooksett add caustic shell removal, nitric-hydrofluoric pickling, chromic and sulfuric anodizing and chemical milling. Bearing production in Peterborough and firearms manufacturing in Newport and on the Seacoast bring phosphate, passivation and bluing baths. PTFE-lined pipe and lined plug or ball valves handle the hot and mixed acid services and the ambient rinses, acid transfer and waste treatment headers alike; polypropylene-lined pipe is available for the ambient rinse and waste treatment lines where a specification calls for it, but not for nitric, chromic or peroxide service. On peroxide-bearing lines such as sulfuric-peroxide microetch, use lined diaphragm valves, or ball valves with a vented ball (vent facing upstream).
Paper, power and water
The tissue mill in Gorham, with capacity of about 30,000 tons a year, and the specialty paper mill in Bennington use sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite and sulfuric acid in pulping, bleaching and de-inking. The gas-fired plants in Newington and Londonderry regenerate demineralizers with sulfuric acid and caustic. Municipal treatment plants on the Merrimack in Manchester, Nashua and Concord and along the Seacoast dose sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulfite, plus ferric chloride and alum for phosphorus. Each of these fluids is a standard lined pipe application; hypochlorite in particular belongs in PTFE-lined pipe with lined diaphragm valves, or ball valves with a vented ball (vent facing upstream), rather than in stainless.
Lined pipe, fittings and valves for New Hampshire
We fabricate custom lined spools from 1/2" through 12" in PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene, inside carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings, up to 20 ft, to your isometrics. Lined fittings, elbows, tees, reducers, laterals and flanges, conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5, and our lined pipe and fittings page lists their dimensions.
Lined valves come in ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling styles with PTFE or PFA wetted parts, and our piping accessories include lined strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe.
Cold-weather lines
New Hampshire winters reach well below zero in the North Country, and lined pipe does not change the physics: 50 percent caustic crystallizes in the mid-50s F, sodium bisulfite thickens, ferric chloride can freeze in an exposed feed line, and sodium hypochlorite can freeze in deep cold, so trace it only to keep it from freezing and never overheat it, since heat speeds its decay. The liners have minimums too, PTFE -20 °F (-29 °C) and PVDF and polypropylene 0 °F (-18 °C), so exposed lines that get colder need tracing and insulation plus low-temperature (impact-tested) housing steel. We supply clamp-on steam heaters, electric tracing and heat-transfer compound, sized so the line stays liquid without overheating the liner. For jacketed or traced service, we recommend specifying PTFE.
Specifications
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 receives a minimum 10,000-volt spark test. We have worked in plastic-lined piping for more than half a century; liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables are on the Technical Details page.
Serving Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth and the North Country
We ship spools nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama, to Manchester, Hooksett and Concord; Nashua, Hudson, Merrimack and Milford; Londonderry, Salem and Derry; Portsmouth, Newington, Dover, Rochester and the Seacoast; Keene, Jaffrey and Peterborough in the Monadnock region; Lebanon and the Upper Valley; Laconia; and Berlin and Gorham in the North Country. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with your line list.
FAQ: Lined Pipe in New Hampshire
Can you supply lined pipe for the CIP and buffer systems at the Portsmouth biologics campus or similar plants?
Yes. PTFE-lined spools and PFA-lined diaphragm valves carry caustic, phosphoric acid and buffer acids without adding iron, chromium or nickel to the stream, and they are rated for the temperatures used on the chemical side of a cell culture plant.
What liner handles the etchants and plating chemistry at a Nashua or Hudson circuit board shop?
PTFE across the board, from hot or mixed services such as sulfuric-peroxide microetch and nitric-hydrofluoric pickle to ambient cupric chloride, rinses and waste treatment headers; polypropylene is available for the ambient rinse and waste treatment lines where a specification calls for it. Send us the bath list and we will match liners line by line.
Is lined pipe used in New Hampshire paper mills?
Yes. Hypochlorite, peroxide, caustic and sulfuric acid feeds in bleaching and de-inking are common PTFE-lined services, and lined valves avoid the seized stems that chlorine chemistry causes in metal valves.
Do you heat trace lined pipe for the North Country?
We do. Clamp-on steam heaters or electric tracing with heat-transfer compound keep caustic and ferric chloride lines flowing through a Berlin or Gorham winter, sized so the liner never exceeds its temperature rating. For jacketed or traced service, we recommend specifying PTFE. On hypochlorite, trace only to keep it from freezing, and never overheat it, since heat speeds its decay.