Lined Pipe in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania refines crude on the Delaware River, cracks Marcellus ethane into polyethylene on the Ohio, runs the largest coke works in the country in the Mon Valley, pickles stainless in mixed acid north of Pittsburgh and manufactures medicines around Philadelphia. Each of those processes has lines that unlined steel cannot survive. Marspec Technical Products fabricates PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and supplies the lined fittings and valves for that kind of service, with spools shipping to Pennsylvania plants from Fairhope, Alabama. Call (251) 625-4949 with your line list.

We have been lining steel pipe for more than half a century. Contact us online to get a quote on a replacement spool, a full unit or anything in between.

Pennsylvania's process industries, one corridor at a time

The lower Delaware: refining, NGLs and chemicals

The refinery at Trainer in Delaware County processes on the order of 185,000 barrels a day and runs the usual list of corrosive utilities: spent caustic from treating units, sulfuric acid, amine, sour water and a wastewater plant that neutralizes with acid and caustic before discharge. Next door at Marcus Hook, the former refinery operates as a natural gas liquids hub for Marcellus production. In the northwest corner of the state, Bradford runs Pennsylvania-grade crude for base oils and Warren runs mostly Canadian crude. Up and down the Delaware Valley, from Philadelphia to Bristol and across into the Lehigh Valley, specialty chemical, coatings, catalyst and water-treatment chemical producers move hydrochloric acid, caustic soda, sodium hypochlorite, ferric chloride and solvents in sizes that match our 1/2" through 12" lined range.

Pittsburgh and the upper Ohio: polyethylene, coke, steel and alloys

The polyethylene complex at Monaca in Beaver County, the first major polyethylene plant in the Northeast, turns Marcellus ethane into roughly 1.6 million metric tons of resin a year, and its caustic wash, spent caustic and water treatment systems are classic lined-pipe territory. Pennsylvania leads the nation in coke capacity, with the largest coke works in the country at Clairton, which recovers anhydrous ammonia from its coke oven gas; coke by-product plants handle ammonia liquor, sulfuric acid, caustic and benzene-laden wastewater. The state makes about 4 percent of United States crude steel at the Mon Valley Works and at electric-arc mills, and the stainless and specialty-alloy mills in the Allegheny Valley, at Reading and at Latrobe pickle in nitric-hydrofluoric mixed acid, a service for PTFE liners, with PVDF an option only on cooler, dilute acid.

Medicines, paper, power and water

Greater Philadelphia is one of the largest cell and gene therapy clusters in the country, with pharmaceutical manufacturing spread from King of Prussia through Montgomery and Chester counties. Those plants need deionized utility water, clean-in-place acid and caustic, and solvent lines that add no metal ions to the product, which is exactly what a PTFE liner delivers. Many solvents 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. Kraft and freesheet paper mills at Johnsonburg and Spring Grove bleach with chlorine dioxide and run caustic, sodium chlorate and sulfuric acid in the bleach plant. The state's coal stations operate demineralizer regeneration systems and flue-gas scrubbers, and the water and wastewater utilities serving Philadelphia and Pittsburgh feed hypochlorite, ferric chloride and fluoride every day.

Lined piping built to your isometric

Our custom lined pipe spools and fittings come in PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene, in carbon steel or 304 and 316 stainless housings, from 1/2" through 12" and up to 20 ft per straight spool. Elbows, tees, reducers, crosses, laterals and flanged nipples are lined to the same standard so the system has no weak points at the fittings. We work from your drawings and flange specification and build to the face-to-face you need.

We also supply lined valves: PFA-lined ball and plug valves and PTFE-lined butterfly valves for isolation, lined diaphragm valves for throttling and slurry, lined check valves and lined sampling valves, all flanged to match the spools.

• Strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds and sight glasses, all lined, plus solid PTFE pipe
• Clamp-on steam heaters, electric tracing and heat-transfer compound for caustic, sulfuric acid and viscous lines exposed to Pennsylvania winters
• Vessel accessories plus custom PTFE machining and fluoropolymer coating services

Temperature maintenance is not an afterthought in Erie or Scranton. Fifty percent caustic crystallizes in the mid fifties Fahrenheit and concentrated sulfuric acid can freeze on a cold night, so an outdoor lined line usually needs a clamp-on heater or tracing under the insulation rather than a jacket. For jacketed or traced service, we recommend specifying PTFE.

Standards we build to

Our lined pipe and fittings comply with 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 passes a spark test at a minimum of 10,000 volts before it leaves the shop. Liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables are on our technical details page.

From Philadelphia to Erie

We ship lined piping to Philadelphia, Chester, Marcus Hook, King of Prussia, Allentown, Bethlehem, Reading, Lancaster, Harrisburg, York, Scranton, Williamsport, State College, Altoona, Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Monaca, Butler, Latrobe and Erie. Custom spools built to order, shipped nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online to get started.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Pennsylvania

Which liner handles nitric-hydrofluoric pickling acid at a Pennsylvania stainless mill?

PTFE is the first choice for mixed nitric-hydrofluoric acid because it resists both the oxidizing and the fluoride attack. PVDF can serve on cooler, more dilute rinse and recovery lines. Either way the liner keeps the acid off the carbon steel housing.

Can lined pipe be used in pharmaceutical plants around Philadelphia?

Yes. PTFE-lined pipe and lined valves add no metal ions to deionized utility water, buffers or solvents, and they stand up to the acid and caustic used in clean-in-place cycles, which is why they appear in many Delaware Valley pharmaceutical and biotech facilities.

Do you supply lined piping for refinery and polyethylene plant caustic systems?

We do. PTFE-lined spools and fittings with PFA-lined valves are a standard answer for spent caustic, caustic wash and sulfuric acid lines at the Trainer refinery type of unit or at an ethane cracker like the one in Beaver County, with PVDF an option on cooler, dilute sulfuric acid but not on the caustic.

Can you fabricate a replacement spool for a Pittsburgh-area coke or steel plant?

Send us the field dimensions, flange rating and service and we will quote a custom spool. We fabricate in Fairhope, Alabama and ship nationwide by truck.