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 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 PTFE-lined plug and diaphragm valves is the economical answer. Defense-related chemistry elsewhere in the state brings the same acids and solvents.

Nuclear fuel at Lynchburg, reactors at Lake Anna and Surry

Lynchburg's nuclear fuel and reactor-component plants work with uranium compounds, hydrofluoric and nitric acid and uranyl nitrate solutions, and the North Anna and Surry stations dose boric acid, sodium hydroxide and hydrazine into some of the purest water in the state. In both settings a liner that adds no iron, nickel or chromium to the stream is the point, and PTFE and PFA do exactly that.

Chips, pharmaceuticals, paper and the coast

The DRAM fab in Manassas is in the middle of a multibillion-dollar expansion and runs the full fab chemical set: ultrapure water, hydrofluoric, nitric and sulfuric acids, peroxide, ammonium hydroxide and solvents, distributed in PVDF- and PFA-lined systems. Petersburg has become 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, the containerboard mill at West Point and the fluff pulp mill at Franklin run chlorine dioxide, sodium chlorate, caustic and peroxide through their bleach plants. On the coast, Hampton Roads shipyards pickle, plate and treat wastewater with acids, caustics and hypochlorite, and the generating stations in Chesterfield and Halifax counties run limestone scrubbers and 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 ultrapure water, solvents and abrasive or high-purity services in fabs and pharmaceutical plants.
• PTFE for caustic, brine, hypochlorite and cool acid as well; polypropylene is available for the caustic and brine lines where a specification calls for it.

Around the spools we supply PTFE- and PFA-lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves, 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. Flange dimensions, liner thicknesses and torque tables are on our Technical Details page.

The paperwork your spec requires

Our lined products 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 part is spark tested at a minimum of 10,000 volts. Certifications ship with the order, which matters when the receiving inspector works for a fuel fabricator or 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, Lynchburg, 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 matching PTFE-lined valves so there is no dissimilar joint. 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 PTFE-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?

PVDF for ultrapure water and most solvent and dilute acid distribution, PFA or PTFE for hydrofluoric and mixed-acid lines. Both are smooth, extractable-free and add no metal ions, which is what the Manassas fab and the Petersburg API plants are protecting.

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. The spools and the heating ship together from Fairhope, Alabama.