Lined Pipe in Wisconsin

No state makes more paper than Wisconsin, and no state makes more cheese. Both of those industries live on chemistry that is hard on metal: chlorine dioxide and hypochlorite in the bleach plant, hot caustic and nitric acid in the clean-in-place loop, salt brine in the cheese vat and sulfuric acid in the chlorine dioxide generator. Plastic-lined steel pipe was made for those services, and we have been building it for more than fifty years.

Marspec Technical Products fabricates PTFE-, PVDF- and polypropylene-lined pipe spools and fittings from 1/2" through 12" at our shop in Fairhope, Alabama, supplies lined valves, strainers, expansion joints and heat-tracing products, and ships nationwide. Wisconsin mills and plants can reach us at (251) 625-4949 or contact us online for a quote on anything from one lined elbow to a full bleach-plant piping package.

Paper country: the Fox and Wisconsin river valleys

Wisconsin ranks first in the nation in paper mills, paper employment and the value of paper products sold, with more than thirty mills and over 30,000 people in the industry. The densest cluster is the lower Fox River, where roughly two dozen mills line a 39-mile stretch from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay through Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Kaukauna and De Pere. A second concentration follows the Wisconsin River through Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. Every one of these mills runs corrosive chemical systems. Bleach plants generate chlorine dioxide on site from sodium chlorate, sulfuric acid and methanol or hydrogen peroxide, then pump ClO2 solution, hypochlorite, peroxide, caustic and sulfuric acid to the towers. Recycled tissue and towel operations deink with caustic and peroxide, and wet-end chemistry adds alum, sulfuric acid and biocides. Chlorine dioxide solution and hypochlorite will pit 316 stainless, which is why PTFE- and PVDF-lined pipe and lined valves are the standard choice from the generator to the washer, with PVDF on hypochlorite only where it is dilute or lower in pH.

Cheese, dairy and the food plants

Wisconsin produces about a quarter of the cheese made in the United States across roughly 140 cheese plants and some 200 dairy processing plants in total, and it ranks second in milk and butter. The product side is sanitary stainless, but the chemical side is not. Clean-in-place systems distribute 50 percent caustic, nitric and phosphoric acid blends, sodium hypochlorite and peracetic acid from bulk tanks to dozens of use points, and that distribution piping is where chloride pitting shows up first. Cheese brining and whey processing add saturated salt brine and acid whey, both of which pit and crevice-corrode ordinary stainless over time. PTFE-lined pipe carries the caustic, brine, hot nitric acid and hypochlorite on one liner specification, PVDF is an option for the nitric and for dilute or lower-pH hypochlorite and polypropylene for the caustic and brine where a specification calls for them, and lined ball and diaphragm valves give operators a clean shutoff with no metal in contact with the chemical. The same logic applies to breweries and canneries, and to the nine ethanol plants that put Wisconsin among the top ten ethanol states, where sulfuric acid, caustic CIP and ammonia are daily services.

Superior, Milwaukee and the rest of the map

At the head of Lake Superior, the state's only refinery processes about 50,000 barrels a day into gasoline, diesel and asphalt. It depends on spent caustic, sour water, amine and cooling tower acid systems, and it has to keep those lines from freezing. Milwaukee's foundries, plating and metal finishing shops handle pickling acids and plating baths, and its water reclamation plants feed ferric chloride and hypochlorite. Coal still supplies a large share of Wisconsin's electricity, so flue gas scrubbers, chloride-laden scrubber purge and demineralizer regeneration with hydrochloric acid and caustic are routine at generating stations around the state. Biotech and medical manufacturing around Madison adds high-purity acid and solvent service where PTFE-lined pipe keeps metal ions out of the stream.

Lined piping for Wisconsin mills and plants

What we supply, with spools fabricated to your drawings:

• Lined pipe spools up to 20 ft, 1/2" through 12", PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene liners in carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings
• Lined elbows, tees, reducers, laterals, flanged nipples and instrument tees, conforming dimensionally to ANSI B16.5
• Lined ball, plug, butterfly, diaphragm, check and sampling valves for isolation, throttling and sample draw
• Lined strainers, expansion joints, spacers, spectacle blinds, sight glasses and solid PTFE pipe
• Clamp-on steam heaters, electric heat tracing and heat-transfer compound for freeze protection and viscosity control

Northern winters put outdoor chemical lines at risk for half the year. Caustic above 30 percent crystallizes, hypochlorite freezes and loses strength, and sulfuric acid at 98 percent will solidify in the high 30s. Our clamp-on heaters and tracing mount outside the lined pipe, with no jacket to weld and no risk of overheating the liner. The full catalog, including vessel accessories, is on our Other Products page.

Standards behind every spool

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 each lined pipe spool and fitting passes a minimum 10,000-volt spark test before it ships. Liner chemical resistance, temperature limits and full-vacuum ratings are listed on our Technical Details page.

Serving Green Bay, the Fox Cities, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Rapids and Superior

We ship to Green Bay, Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Kaukauna, Oshkosh, Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Wausau, Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine, Madison, Janesville, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Marinette and Superior. Send a line list or a marked-up isometric. Call (251) 625-4949, or contact us online and attach the drawings.

FAQ: Lined Pipe in Wisconsin

What liner do Wisconsin bleach plants use for chlorine dioxide solution?

PTFE and PVDF both resist chlorine dioxide solution, and PTFE covers the wider temperature range; on hypochlorite, PTFE is our recommendation, with PVDF only for dilute or lower-pH solution. We supply lined spools, fittings and valves for the generator, ClO2 solution headers and bleach tower feed lines in the Fox Valley and Wisconsin River mills.

Can lined pipe replace stainless on the CIP chemical supply in a cheese plant?

Yes. The product side stays sanitary stainless, but the caustic, nitric and phosphoric acid, hypochlorite and brine distribution lines are ideal for PTFE-lined pipe, which does not pit or stress-crack in chlorides; PVDF is available for the acid and brine lines and polypropylene for the caustic and brine lines where a specification calls for them.

Do you supply lined valves and fittings for refinery and power plant chemical systems in northern Wisconsin?

We do. Lined ball, plug and diaphragm valves and ANSI B16.5 lined fittings suit spent caustic, demineralizer acid and caustic regeneration and scrubber chemical feed, and we pair them with clamp-on heaters or tracing for outdoor runs near Superior.

How do I get a quote on lined pipe for a Wisconsin mill outage?

Email a line list or isometric to info@linedpipe.com or call (251) 625-4949. Tell us the chemical, concentration, temperature, pressure and whether the line sees vacuum, and we will confirm the liner and quote the spools, fittings and valves together.