Lined Pipe in Pensacola and Northwest Florida

Northwest Florida's process plants run from the Alabama line to Panama City. They handle nitric acid and diamines, kraft liquor, methylamines, tall oil and turpentine. Marspec Technical Products fabricates plastic-lined pipe for that service in Fairhope, Alabama, about an hour from Pensacola. Call (251) 625-4949.

The peninsula is on our Florida lined pipe page, and the Mobile chemical corridor, just over the Alabama line, has a separate page. Send a line list or isometric through our contact page.

Escambia County

The nylon complex on the Escambia River

Monsanto opened a nylon complex near Gonzalez, twelve miles north of Pensacola, in 1953; it covers more than 2,000 acres on the Escambia River. Ascend Performance Materials runs it, making adipic acid, hexamethylene diamine and nylon 6,6. Huntsman makes maleic anhydride there, and Celanese makes Santoprene TPV elastomer on the same site. The air permit lists cyclohexane oxidation and a 1,500-ton-a-day nitric acid plant that burns ammonia over a catalyst. That acid oxidizes KA oil into adipic acid.

Stainless 304L handles clean commercial nitric acid at ambient temperature, so much of an adipic plant is alloy. Lined pipe fits where the acid runs hot and strong, picks up chlorides, or reaches scrubbers and wastewater neutralization. PTFE resists nitric acid at every strength, with vented housings on hot concentrated acid; polypropylene is never used on nitric. The diamine is an amine, which rules out PVDF, and it melts near 108 °F, so diamine lines are traced as well as lined.

The kraft mill at Cantonment

International Paper's Pensacola mill in Cantonment has been part of the area since 1941 and makes kraftliner and other containerboard. A kraft mill's liquor piping is mostly carbon steel and stainless. Lined pipe belongs where acid enters: sulfuric acid unloading and dosing, and the tall oil plant. There, soap is split with acid at 180 to 200 °F, leaving a hot sodium sulfate brine. PTFE carries that brine and the strong caustic make-up, which is beyond PVDF.

Power and water around Pensacola

The Gulf Clean Energy Center, the former Plant Crist, runs on natural gas, with four combustion turbines. ECUA's Central Water Reclamation Facility, permitted for 22.5 million gallons a day, sends reclaimed water to that plant. It disinfects with 0.8 percent hypochlorite generated on site. ECUA's 28 active wells each treat their own water with lime, phosphoric acid for corrosion control and chlorine.

Lime is a slurry job for carbon steel, HDPE or rubber lining. The phosphoric acid and hypochlorite feeds take PTFE-lined spools, with PVDF an option on the dilute generated hypochlorite.

Pace and Milton

Pace, on US 90 just west of Milton, has Eastman's amines plant, the former Taminco site. It reacts methanol with ammonia to make methylamines and also makes higher alkylamines and tertiary amines. Much amine piping is carbon steel or stainless. Lining pays on purity-critical lines, scrubbers and wastewater neutralization, and the liner is PTFE: amines attack PVDF, and we prefer PTFE for ammonia.

Fort Walton Beach to Panama City

Fort Walton Beach draws water from nine deep Floridan Aquifer wells and needs only aeration and chlorination. Bay County treats surface water from the Deer Point Lake Reservoir. Lined steel suits their long or exposed unloading runs.

Kraton's plant at Panama City runs two refineries, one for crude tall oil and one for crude sulfate turpentine, both byproducts of kraft pulping. The hot vacuum columns are alloy work, but turpentine and fatty acids swell many elastomers and leave PTFE alone.

What we build for Panhandle plants

Our shop builds lined spools in 1/2" to 12" sizes, in straight runs to 20 ft. Housings come in carbon steel or 304/316 stainless, with PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene liners and lined fittings to match. PTFE is the liner we recommend; PVDF is the toughest, most abrasion-resistant of the three liners; polypropylene is available where a specification calls for it. PTFE lined fittings in carbon and stainless steel are stocked; PVDF and polypropylene lined to order. Valve selection is on our Northwest Florida valve page.

• Swissfluid lined valves for nitric acid, diamine, caustic and hypochlorite
• Spectacle blinds, PTFE spacers, lined strainers, sight flow indicators and PTFE expansion joints
• Fully jacketed pipe, electric tracing and steam heaters for diamine lines
• Dip tubes, spargers and nozzle liners for acid and neutralization tanks

Standards

Our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545, and fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5. The lined fittings we supply are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX. Every lined spool and fitting is spark tested at a minimum of 10,000 volts. Liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables are on our technical details page.

Serving the Panhandle

We serve Pensacola, Cantonment, Gonzalez, Molino, Pace, Milton, Navarre, Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Panama City, Lynn Haven, Port St. Joe, Marianna and Tallahassee. Tell us your required date when you request a quote; we quote a fabrication time with every order. Call (251) 625-4949 for the shop, or contact us online with the line list.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Pensacola and Northwest Florida

Which liner do you recommend for nitric acid at the Escambia River nylon complex?

PTFE, which resists nitric acid at every concentration within its 450 °F rating. On hot, concentrated acid we vent the housings, because nitric vapor slowly permeates the liner. PVDF is limited to dilute, cool acid, and polypropylene is not used on nitric at all.

Can you supply lined pipe for the amine units at Pace?

Yes, in PTFE. Amines and strong caustic attack PVDF, and we prefer PTFE for ammonia, so PVDF is left out; polypropylene is available only where a specification calls for it. Much amine piping is carbon steel or stainless; lining pays on purity-critical lines, scrubbers and wastewater neutralization.

What do Panhandle water and reclamation plants use lined pipe for?

Unloading and feed lines for phosphoric acid corrosion inhibitor, coagulant and hypochlorite. PTFE covers all of them, with PVDF an option for dilute hypochlorite generated on site. Lime slurry is not lined-pipe service; it runs in carbon steel, HDPE or rubber lining.

How close is your shop to Pensacola, and how do we get a quote on outage spools?

Our shop is in Fairhope, Alabama, about an hour from Pensacola. Send isometrics or a marked-up line list with your required date, and we will quote the spools with a fabrication time.