Plastic Lined Industrial Valves in Indiana
Northwest Indiana makes more steel than any other region in the country, and nearly every coil it cold-rolls or galvanizes first passes through a hydrochloric acid pickling line. Whiting runs the largest refinery in the Midwest, and Indianapolis makes pharmaceuticals that cannot tolerate a trace of iron. The valves on those lines, on acid, caustic, amine and solvent, are where unlined metal fails first.
Marspec Technical Products of Fairhope, Alabama supplies lined valves for that service and fabricates the lined spools they connect to. We supply Swissfluid PFA- and PTFE-lined valves and build automated valve packages in house; Swissfluid USA supports its national distribution network from its facility in Stafford, Texas. We have more than half a century in plastic lined piping and ship nationwide. Contact us online with a valve list, or call (251) 625-4949 to talk through a service.
Indiana services that call for a lined valve
Hydrochloric acid pickling on the lakefront
The integrated mills at Gary, Burns Harbor and East Chicago, the finishing plant at Portage and the sheet mills at Butler and Crawfordsville all pickle in hot hydrochloric acid and regenerate or neutralize the spent liquor. Pickle liquor carries scale and iron chloride that pack a ball valve cavity and gall a metal seat. The package that lasts is lined plug valves on acid circulation, where the tapered plug has no cavity to pack, PFA lined ball valves on fresh and regenerated acid, lined butterfly valves on rinse water and lined checks at the acid pumps. Tin and chrome plating lines add sulfuric and chromic acid.
Whiting: acid, caustic and amine at refinery scale
A 435,000 barrel per day refinery moves sulfuric acid, spent acid, spent caustic, amine and sour water in volume. Spent caustic with sulfides and spent acid with entrained hydrocarbons attack steel at the seat, so PFA lined ball valves do the isolation on caustic and amine transfer, lined plug valves take the acid and sludge services, and lined diaphragm valves throttle acid and caustic at the wastewater neutralization plant.
Pharmaceuticals from Indianapolis to Lebanon and Bloomington
Indianapolis, Boone County and Bloomington pipe solvents, acids, caustic, deionized water and CIP chemicals through lines where any metal pickup is a quality defect and any dead leg is a contamination risk. Lined diaphragm valves answer both: the PTFE faced diaphragm seals on a lined weir with no stem in the flow and nothing left to drain. PFA lined ball valves isolate solvent headers, and lined sampling valves pull a clean sample without opening the line.
Scrubber slurry, ethanol, biodiesel and batteries
Wet flue-gas desulfurization at Gibson, Rockport and Petersburg moves limestone and gypsum slurry with chloride-rich blowdown that pits stainless; lined diaphragm valves tolerate the solids best because they have no seat for grit to score, lined plug valves fit where slurry packs though grit can score the plug, and rubber-lined valves often outwear fluoropolymer on the neutral limestone slurry itself. The corn wet mills at Lafayette and Hammond and more than a dozen ethanol plants dose sulfuric acid, caustic and sulfur dioxide water through lined diaphragm and ball valves, and the battery plants at Kokomo and New Carlisle need valves that shed no metal into electrolyte solvents or high-purity water.
The six valve patterns we supply
Each pattern is listed with linings and ratings on our plastic lined valves page. Sizes run 1/2" through 12", flanged to mate with ANSI B16.5 lined pipe.
Plug valves
A fully lined body and PFA encapsulated tapered plug, sealing fluoropolymer on fluoropolymer, with no cavity for pickle scale or crystals and low operating torque that adjusts in line.
Ball valves
PFA lined ball and body, quarter-turn and bubble tight. The standard isolation valve on hydrochloric acid, caustic, amine, methanol and solvent transfer lines.
Butterfly valves
A PFA encapsulated disc in a lined wafer or lug body, 2" through 12", for rinse water, scrubber blowdown, dilute acid and large-bore lines.
Diaphragm valves
Weir pattern with a PTFE faced diaphragm and a PFA or PTFE lined body. Nothing but the diaphragm touches the process, which suits dosing, throttling, slurry and pharmaceutical service.
Check valves
Lined ball and disc check valves protect pickle acid pumps, metering pumps and tanks from backflow with no metal spring or hinge to corrode.
Sampling valves
Lined sampling valves take a representative sample from a pressurized acid, solvent or API line with no dead leg and no exposure for the operator.
Automated valve packages
Marspec assembles automated packages in-house: pneumatic or electric actuators, positioners, limit switches and solenoids mounted on the lined valve, stroked and tested before shipment. A pickle line or a scrubber feed gets a tagged, ready-to-wire assembly. See our services page.
Valves that match the lined pipe
We quote valves alongside the plastic lined pipe and fittings they bolt to, in PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene liners and carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings, so flange faces and bolt torques agree across the run, with lined strainers ahead of valves where scale is expected. Our Indiana lined pipe page covers the liner choices for each of these industries, and liner pressure, temperature and vacuum limits are on the technical details page.
Serving Indiana from Whiting to Evansville
Spools, fittings and valves ship from Fairhope, Alabama, to plants in Whiting, Hammond, East Chicago, Gary, Portage, Burns Harbor, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Kokomo, Indianapolis, Lebanon, Bloomington, Terre Haute, Columbus, Evansville, Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville. Tell us the media, temperature, pressure, line size and the valve's duty. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online.
FAQ: Plastic Lined Industrial Valves in Indiana
Which lined valves hold up on hydrochloric acid pickle lines at the Northwest Indiana mills?
PFA lined plug valves on acid circulation, where iron chloride and scale would pack a ball valve cavity, PFA lined ball valves on fresh and regenerated acid, lined butterfly valves on rinse water and lined check valves at the acid pumps. Fluoropolymers resist hydrochloric acid at every concentration, but HCl permeates them as temperature rises, so the limit is temperature and we confirm lining thickness and venting for hot acid; most pickle circuits sit well inside a PFA valve's rating.
Can lined valves meet refinery piping specifications at a plant the size of Whiting?
Yes. Our lined valves are flanged to ANSI B16.5, mate to lined spools welded to ASME B31.3, and we supply them for spent caustic, spent sulfuric acid, amine and sour water. Send the line class and we will match the valve pattern, lining and rating to it.
What valve do you recommend for Indianapolis-area pharmaceutical and API lines?
A PFA lined diaphragm valve. It has no stem in the flow path, no packing gland and a weir that drains, so it adds no metal ions and leaves no dead leg. Lined ball valves on solvent headers and lined sampling valves complete the set.
Will a lined valve survive limestone slurry at an Indiana scrubber?
A lined diaphragm valve handles limestone and gypsum slurry best, since it has no seat for grit to score, and a lined plug valve suits lines where solids settle and pack, though grit can score the plug; on neutral limestone slurry, rubber-lined valves often outwear fluoropolymer. Tell us the solids loading and velocity and we will pick the pattern and bore.