Lined Pipe in Virginia

Virginia's process industry runs from a century-old chemical complex on the James River to a memory chip fab in Manassas, and every stop between moves something that eats bare steel. Marspec Technical Products fabricates PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and fittings and supplies lined valves, piping accessories and temperature-maintenance products for those lines. Reach us at (251) 625-4949, or contact us online with a line list and we will price it.

We fabricate in Fairhope, Alabama, ship nationwide, and bring more than half a century of plastic-lined piping experience to each order. What follows is where Virginia's plants put lined pipe to work and what we can build for them.

Where Virginia uses lined pipe

Hopewell and the James River chemical corridor

Hopewell, where the Appomattox meets the James, is home to one of the largest caprolactam producers in the world, a plant that also makes ammonia, sulfuric acid and ammonium sulfate on the same site. Caprolactam chemistry is oleum, hydroxylamine, cyclohexanone and ammonia, and it leaves the site as nylon feedstock and fertilizer crystals; the piping between those steps carries oleum and concentrated sulfuric acid, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, caustic and hot ammonium sulfate liquor that crystallizes the moment it cools. Fibers and specialty chemical plants around Richmond and Chesterfield add solvent and acid services of their own. PTFE-lined pipe for the acid and oleum side and for the caustic, and jacketed or traced PTFE-lined lines for the sulfate liquor are the standard tools here.

Radford and the New River Valley

The Radford Army Ammunition Plant on the New River in Pulaski and Montgomery counties is the only producer of military-grade nitrocellulose in North America and makes more than two dozen propellants. Nitration runs on mixed nitric and sulfuric acid, and the plant's acid handling, spent-acid recovery and concentration circuits are classic PTFE-lined services: hot mixed acid attacks stainless, and lined carbon steel with PFA-lined plug and diaphragm valves is the economical answer. Defense-related chemistry elsewhere in the state brings the same acids and solvents.

Chips, pharmaceuticals, paper and the coast

Micron's Manassas fab, expanded with more than $2 billion of investment, makes DRAM and runs the full fab chemical set: ultrapure water, hydrofluoric, nitric and sulfuric acids, peroxide, ammonium hydroxide and solvents. Ultrapure water and electronic-grade chemicals run in solid natural PVDF or PFA; lined pipe and lined valves are for bulk chemical supply, acid waste and neutralization. Petersburg is a hub for active pharmaceutical ingredient and essential-medicine manufacturing, which means solvent, acid and caustic lines built to pharmaceutical cleanliness. The bleached paperboard mill at Covington and the fluff pulp mill at Franklin run chlorine dioxide, sodium chlorate, caustic and peroxide through their bleach plants, and the containerboard mill at West Point runs kraft liquor and caustic. On the coast, Hampton Roads shipyards pickle, plate and treat wastewater with acids, caustics and hypochlorite. Inland, the coal station at Clover in Halifax County runs limestone scrubbers, and generating stations across the state run demineralized water trains. Northern Virginia's data centers, meanwhile, treat enormous volumes of cooling water with acid, biocide and scale inhibitor feeds.

Supplied from one shop

Custom lined pipe spools and fittings in 1/2" through 12" sizes, carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings, built to your isometrics in lengths up to 20 ft, with elbows, tees, crosses, laterals, reducers and instrument tees to match. Three liners cover the state:

• PTFE for oleum, mixed nitrating acid, hydrofluoric acid, chlorine dioxide and anything hot or uncertain.
• PVDF for alcohols, aliphatic hydrocarbons, dilute acids and abrasive service, with ketones, esters, amines, NMP, DMF, DMAc and DMSO and the hot aromatic and chlorinated solvents left to PTFE. Hydrocarbon and chlorinated 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.
• Polypropylene for cool caustic and brine lines where a specification calls for it, though PTFE covers caustic, brine, hypochlorite and cool acid as well.

Around the spools we supply lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves (PFA-lined, except the PTFE-lined butterfly valve), plus lined strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe from our piping accessories line. For ammonium sulfate liquor, 50 percent caustic and molten sulfur in a Shenandoah Valley or Piedmont winter, our temperature maintenance products include jacketed lined pipe, clamp-on steam heaters, electric tracing and heat-transfer compound. For jacketed or traced service, we recommend specifying PTFE. Flange dimensions, liner thicknesses and torque tables are on our Technical Details page.

The paperwork your spec requires

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 spool and fitting is spark tested at a minimum of 10,000 volts. Certifications ship with the order, which matters when the receiving inspector works for an Army plant.

Serving Richmond, Hampton Roads, the Valley and Northern Virginia

We ship to Richmond, Hopewell, Petersburg, Chesterfield, Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Franklin, West Point, Covington, Roanoke, Radford, Manassas and Ashburn. Send a spool list or valve schedule and we will quote it and sequence the lines you need first. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Virginia

Can lined pipe carry oleum and concentrated sulfuric acid at a Hopewell chemical plant?

PTFE-lined pipe handles concentrated sulfuric acid and oleum within the liner's temperature limits, and we supply PFA-lined valves to match. We will want the oleum strength and operating temperature before we confirm the rating.

Do you supply lined piping for mixed nitric-sulfuric acid at Radford or similar defense plants?

Yes. Mixed nitrating acid is a textbook PTFE service, and we supply spools, fittings and PFA-lined plug and diaphragm valves for acid supply, spent-acid and recovery lines, with full material certification.

What liner do Virginia fabs and pharmaceutical plants specify?

At the Manassas fab, lined pipe and lined valves are for bulk chemical supply, acid waste and neutralization; ultrapure water and electronic-grade chemicals run in solid natural PVDF or PFA. In the Petersburg API plants, PVDF suits alcohols, aliphatic hydrocarbons and dilute acids, and PTFE takes ketones, esters, amines, NMP, DMF, DMAc and DMSO, the hot aromatic and chlorinated solvents and the hydrofluoric and mixed-acid lines. Neither liner adds metal ions to the stream.

How do you keep ammonium sulfate liquor or caustic from solidifying in a Virginia winter?

With jacketed lined pipe or clamp-on steam heaters and electric tracing set in heat-transfer compound, sized for the line and the coldest night you expect. For jacketed or traced service, we recommend specifying PTFE. The spools and the heating ship together from Fairhope, Alabama.