Lined Pipe in Washington

Between the five refineries on Puget Sound, the paper mills, the food plants and the acid lines in its aerospace shops, Washington moves a remarkable amount of fluid that plain steel cannot survive. Marspec Technical Products fabricates PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and supplies lined fittings and valves for exactly that service, with spools shipping to Washington from our shop in Fairhope, Alabama.

We have been in plastic-lined piping for more than fifty years, and custom spools built to your dimensions are what we do best. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online with a drawing, a line list or just the medium and the size.

Washington's lined-pipe industries

Refining at Cherry Point, Anacortes, Ferndale and Tacoma

Washington has the fifth-largest refining capacity of any state, about 683,000 barrels a day across five plants: the big refinery at Cherry Point north of Bellingham, two side by side at March Point in Anacortes, one at Ferndale and a smaller one in the Tacoma Tideflats. Together they run the usual corrosive utilities of a refinery: alkylation acid and spent acid, caustic treating and spent caustic, amine, sour water, demineralized water and the sodium hypochlorite and ferric chloride at the wastewater plant, plus a nonene unit at Anacortes. Lined pipe handles spent acid and caustic without pitting, lined plug and ball valves give dependable shutoff on acid and caustic, with diaphragm valves on the hypochlorite, and lined spools let a plant replace alloy lines with carbon steel housings.

Pulp, paper and chemical recovery

The unbleached kraft mill at Port Townsend on Puget Sound, the paper mill at Camas and the recycled containerboard mill at Wallula carry on an industry that once ran mills across the state. Kraft chemistry is unforgiving: white liquor and 50 percent caustic on the recovery side, sulfuric acid for tall oil and pH control, and hypochlorite and alum at the water plant. PTFE-lined pipe covers the caustic, acid and filtrate lines, with PFA-lined diaphragm valves on the hypochlorite; polypropylene liners are available for the caustic lines where a specification calls for them.

Aerospace, food and water treatment

On Puget Sound the airframe plants in Everett, Renton and Auburn run chromic, sulfuric and nitric acid anodizing, caustic chem-milling and plating lines. Washington's food industry is just as chemical-intensive: the apple, juice and hop processors of the Yakima Valley, the potato plants of the Columbia Basin, the wineries around the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla, dairy plants and the seafood processors of Seattle and Bellingham all push hot caustic, nitric and phosphoric acid and peracetic sanitizer through CIP systems. The region's water utilities and the King County treatment plants dose hypochlorite, ferric chloride and sodium bisulfite. Lined pipe serves every one of these without rust in the product or metal in the bath.

The lined products we ship to Washington

• Custom spools in 1/2" through 12" sizes and lengths to 20 ft, PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene lined, in carbon steel or 304/316 stainless
• Matching lined fittings, from elbows, tees and crosses to laterals, reducers, flanged spacers and instrument tees
• Lined valves: ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling, PFA-lined except the PTFE-lined butterfly valve
• Piping accessories: lined strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe
• Temperature maintenance: clamp-on steam heaters, electric heat tracing and heat-transfer compound

Temperature maintenance matters more east of the Cascades than west of them. Spokane, the Tri-Cities and Moses Lake see winters cold enough to crystallize 50 percent caustic and thicken black liquor or syrup in an outdoor rack. Electric tracing or a clamp-on steam heater under insulation keeps those lines flowing while staying under the liner's temperature limit, and we size the heat input to the liner, not just to the pipe.

Standards our spools and fittings are built to

Our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545, and our fittings match ANSI B16.5 dimensions. Lined fittings are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX. Every lined pipe spool and fitting receives a minimum 10,000-volt spark test before it leaves Fairhope. Liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables are on our technical details page.

Serving Puget Sound, the Columbia and the Inland Northwest

We ship lined pipe and valves nationwide from Fairhope, Alabama, and Washington orders go out the same way, to Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Renton, Bellingham, Ferndale, Anacortes, Vancouver, Longview, Kalama, Camas, Port Townsend, Olympia, Yakima, Kennewick, Pasco, Walla Walla, Moses Lake and Spokane. Tell us the line size, medium and temperature and we will quote it. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Washington

Which lined products suit spent acid at Anacortes and spent caustic at the Puget Sound refineries?

PTFE-lined pipe and fittings with PFA-lined plug or ball valves are the common choice for spent sulfuric acid and spent caustic, because PTFE resists both across the concentration and temperature ranges found in alkylation and treating units. Our lined fittings are welded to ASME B31.3, and every spool and fitting is spark tested, to fit refinery piping specifications.

What liner do you recommend for caustic and acid lines at a Washington kraft mill?

PTFE. It handles white liquor, 50 percent caustic and the sulfuric acid used for tall oil and pH control at mill temperatures, and PFA-lined diaphragm valves give tight shutoff without a metal stem in the flow. Polypropylene is available for cooler caustic lines where a specification calls for it.

Do you supply lined pipe for CIP chemicals at Yakima Valley and Columbia Basin food plants?

We do. Lined pipe and lined sampling valves are used on concentrated caustic, nitric and phosphoric acid and peracetic acid feed lines from bulk storage to the CIP skids, with lined ball valves on the caustic and acids and lined diaphragm valves, or ball valves with a vented ball (vent facing upstream), on the peracetic acid, keeping rust and metal out of the chemical supply.