Lined Pipe in New York

From the chlor-alkali cells at Niagara Falls to the semiconductor fabs north of Albany and in the Mohawk Valley, from the salt mines under the Finger Lakes to the biologics plants on the Hudson and the wastewater plants that treat New York City's sewage, New York State moves a remarkable volume of chlorine, caustic, brine, hydrofluoric acid and ultra-pure water through pipe. Marspec Technical Products fabricates PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and supplies the lined fittings and valves for those services, with spools shipping to New York from Fairhope, Alabama. Call (251) 625-4949 to get started.

We have spent more than half a century in the plastic-lined piping business. Contact us online with a line list, an isometric or a photo of the failed spool and we will quote a replacement.

Where New York runs on lined pipe

Chlorine, caustic and brine in the west

Niagara Falls has made chlorine and caustic soda from salt since cheap hydroelectric power arrived more than a century ago, and a chlor-alkali plant there still produces chlorine, caustic, hydrogen and bleach for the Northeast. A cell room and its tank farm move saturated brine, wet chlorine, 50 percent caustic and sodium hypochlorite, and PTFE-lined pipe, fittings and plug valves are the standard answer for the chlorine and hypochlorite side and for the brine and caustic side as well, with vented housings where chlorine can permeate the liner; PVDF is available for the brine lines and polypropylene for the brine and caustic lines where a specification calls for them. The Buffalo and Tonawanda industrial corridor adds specialty chemical, coatings and metal finishing plants with their own sulfuric and hydrochloric acid and caustic lines.

Semiconductors and electronic materials

New York has become one of the country's semiconductor centers: a large logic fab in Saratoga County north of Albany, a silicon carbide fab in the Mohawk Valley near Utica, a fab in the Hudson Valley at East Fishkill, the research complex at Albany, and a planned memory megafab north of Syracuse. Fabs run on ultra-pure water, hydrofluoric, sulfuric, nitric and phosphoric acids, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium hydroxide, solvents and slurries, and the acid waste and scrubber systems behind them neutralize with caustic and lime. The rule in a fab is no metal ions, which is exactly what a PTFE or PVDF liner provides, and lined carbon steel spools let the bulk acid delivery and waste lines carry full flange ratings without alloy.

Salt, glass, paper and pharmaceuticals

Under Cayuga Lake and in the Genesee Valley, New York operates some of the largest rock salt mines in the country, and brine wells and evaporators near Watkins Glen produce evaporated salt. Brine is as corrosive to carbon steel as a dilute acid, and lined pipe handles it without pitting. The glass industry at Corning uses hydrofluoric acid for finishing, pulp and paper mills in the Adirondack and North Country regions bleach with chlorine dioxide and caustic, and biologics and pharmaceutical plants at Rensselaer, Pearl River, Rochester and on Long Island depend on water for injection, which runs in orbital-welded, electropolished 316L, and on solvents and clean-in-place acid and caustic that must not pick up iron. The dairy and yogurt plants of the Mohawk Valley and Western New York run the same CIP chemistry at food-plant scale.

Then there is water. New York City's wastewater plants treat more than a billion gallons a day, with sodium hypochlorite for disinfection and ferric chloride for phosphorus and odor control, and the upstate cities on the Great Lakes and the Hudson feed hypochlorite, alum and fluoride at their drinking water plants. Nuclear and gas-fired stations on Lake Ontario and the Hudson add demineralizer regeneration with sulfuric acid and caustic.

What we build for New York plants

• Custom lined pipe spools and lined fittings, 1/2" through 12", PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene lined, carbon steel or 304 and 316 stainless housings, straight spools up to 20 ft
• Lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves, flanged to match
• Lined strainers and expansion joints, PTFE spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe for the rest of the line
• Clamp-on steam heaters, electric tracing and heat-transfer compound
• Vessel accessories, PTFE machining and fluoropolymer coating

Temperature maintenance is where New York differs from the Gulf Coast. Buffalo, Syracuse and Watertown winters freeze concentrated sulfuric acid, crystallize 50 percent caustic well before the thermometer hits freezing, and thicken ferric chloride and polymer feeds. A lined spool with a clamp-on steam heater or electric tracing under the insulation, with heat-transfer compound for good contact, keeps the line in service without the thermal stress a fully jacketed line puts on a liner.

Specification, testing and standards

Our lined pipe and fittings are built to ASTM F1545. Fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5 and are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX, and every lined pipe spool and fitting is spark tested at a minimum of 10,000 volts before it leaves our shop. Liner temperature, pressure and full-vacuum ratings are on our technical details page.

Serving New York from Buffalo to Long Island

We ship lined piping to Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Tonawanda, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany, Schenectady, Malta, Rensselaer, Binghamton, Corning, Poughkeepsie, Pearl River, New York City and Long Island. We fabricate custom spools in our own shop and ship nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online for a quote.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in New York

Which liner handles wet chlorine and hypochlorite at a Niagara Falls chlor-alkali plant?

PTFE. It is the only liner we recommend for wet chlorine and warm hypochlorite over the long term, in vented housings because chlorine permeates it. For the brine and 50 percent caustic lines in the same plant we quote PTFE too; PVDF is available for the brine and polypropylene for brine and caustic where a specification calls for them.

Can lined pipe be used for bulk acid delivery and acid waste at a New York semiconductor fab?

Yes. PTFE- and PVDF-lined spools and lined valves resist hydrofluoric, sulfuric and nitric acid and add no metal ions, so they serve bulk chemical delivery, acid waste collection and neutralization systems where high-purity plastic piping alone lacks the pressure rating. HF permeates PTFE even at ambient temperature, so HF spools get heavy-wall liners and vented housings.

How do you keep lined caustic and acid lines from freezing in a Buffalo or Syracuse winter?

We supply clamp-on steam heaters, electric tracing and heat-transfer compound that mount outside the lined spool under the insulation, holding 50 percent caustic above its crystallization point and sulfuric acid above its freezing point.

Do you supply lined pipe for brine service at the Finger Lakes salt operations?

We do. PTFE-lined spools and PTFE-lined ball valves handle saturated brine without the pitting that destroys carbon steel and attacks stainless, at a fraction of the cost of alloy pipe. PVDF- or polypropylene-lined spools are available where a specification calls for them.