Plastic Lined Industrial Valves in Tennessee
Tennessee handles more corrosive chemistry than most people expect: chlorine and caustic off membrane cells on the Hiwassee, titanium tetrachloride on the Tennessee River, sulfuric acid from a zinc smelter on the Cumberland. Each stream needs a valve that will not corrode, will not contaminate the product and will shut tight for years.
Marspec Technical Products has spent more than half a century in plastic lined piping, and we supply Swissfluid PFA- and PTFE-lined valves and build automated valve packages in house, with the lined spools and fittings they bolt to fabricated in Fairhope, Alabama. Swissfluid USA supports its national distribution network from its facility in Stafford, Texas. Call (251) 625-4949 with your media, temperature and pressure, or contact us online.
Where lined valves earn their keep in Tennessee
Chemical manufacturing in East Tennessee
Kingsport holds one of the largest integrated chemical complexes in North America, roughly 900 acres of units making acetyl chemicals from gasified coal, cellulose esters and copolyesters; hot, halide-bearing acetic acid and anhydride pit stainless steel but not PTFE. In Bradley County, a membrane cell chlor-alkali plant at Charleston makes chlorine, caustic soda and potassium hydroxide, and a nearby polysilicon site runs chlorosilane chemistry on hydrogen chloride. Wet chlorine, HCl and hot caustic call for PFA lined ball and plug valves on isolation, with a vented ball or plug on the chlorine, and lined diaphragm valves on brine and caustic feed.
Memphis and Middle Tennessee
Memphis is the second-largest port on the shallow-draft Mississippi, with a refinery on the port grounds, eighteen liquid bulk terminals and a sodium hypochlorite and caustic producer at the port. Hypochlorite is the textbook lined valve case: iron, nickel and copper ions catalyze its decomposition, so a metal wetted valve corrodes and spoils the product. Upriver, a chloride process titanium dioxide plant at New Johnsonville handles chlorine and titanium tetrachloride, and the Clarksville zinc smelter runs a sulfuric acid plant and zinc sulfate electrolyte.
Pulp and paper
The kraft linerboard mill at Counce on the Tennessee River moves kraft liquors and sulfuric acid for tall oil, and the tissue mill at Calhoun on the Hiwassee and the recycled containerboard mill at Kingsport run their own water treatment and chemical feed. Lined plug valves ride through hot, scaling liquors without seizing, lined diaphragm valves throttle peroxide and hypo without a packing gland, and lined butterfly valves cover the big filtrate lines.
Automotive battery plants
Tennessee has drawn more than 12 billion dollars of electric vehicle investment: Spring Hill makes LFP cells for energy storage, Clarksville has LG Chem's 60,000-ton-a-year cathode plant, and Jackson has a battery materials plant. Cathode precursors run on nickel, cobalt and manganese sulfate, caustic, ammonia and lithium hydroxide, all intolerant of iron pickup, and electrolyte salts release hydrofluoric acid at the first trace of moisture. PFA lined valves meet both requirements.
TVA power and water treatment
TVA's coal and gas plants run demineralized and cooling water chemistry, and the coal units with wet limestone scrubbers add an acidic purge. Lined diaphragm valves suit the scrubber purge, lined ball valves handle regeneration acid and caustic, and water plants in Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis dose hypochlorite, fluoride and ferric salts through lined diaphragm valves, with vented-ball ball valves (vent facing upstream) where hypochlorite needs isolation.
Valve types we supply
Every type below is on our plastic lined valves page with sizes and ratings. Sizes vary by pattern: ball valves 1/2" through 10", plug valves 1/2" through 6", diaphragm valves 1/2" through 8", butterfly valves 1" through 42", ball check and sampling valves 1/2" through 6", and swing check valves 1-1/2" through 24". Here is where each fits in Tennessee.
Diaphragm valves
A PTFE faced diaphragm closes on the weir of a PFA-lined body and keeps stem and bonnet out of the process, so there is no packing to leak. First choice for slurries, viscous media and throttled dosing of hypochlorite or peroxide.
Ball valves
PFA lined body and ball, quarter-turn, bubble tight, with a smooth bore that drains clean. The isolation valve for chlorine gas (with a vented ball), HCl, hot caustic and solvents on transfer lines. Many 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.
Plug valves
PFA-lined cylindrical plug valves, 1/2" through 2" full port and 3" through 6" reduced port, cavity-free, with no in-line adjustment: low torque and no body cavity to trap solids. Our pick for acid and caustic carrying scale or crystals, kraft liquors included.
Butterfly valves
For 1" through 42" lines of dilute acid, brine, filtrate or slurry, a PTFE-lined butterfly valve with a PFA encapsulated disc is the lightest and least expensive lined option, in wafer or lug pattern.
Check valves
Lined ball and disc check valves stop backflow into pumps on hypochlorite, brine, acid and high-purity water, with no metal parts to corrode open or seize shut.
Sampling valves
Lined sampling valves pull a representative sample from a live line with no dead leg, no metal pickup and no operator exposure, which is why battery materials plants specify them.
Matching valves to the lined pipe system
We supply valves with our own plastic lined pipe and fittings, 1/2" through 12", PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene lined, in carbon steel or 304/316 stainless housings, so liner and flange details match across the run and each valve seals in a joint built for it. Fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5 and are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX, every lined pipe spool and fitting gets a minimum 10,000-volt spark test, and our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545. Liner temperature limits, liner thicknesses, flange dimensions and torque tables are on our technical details page.
Serving Tennessee from Memphis to the Tri-Cities
Spools, fittings and valves ship from Fairhope, Alabama, to plants in Memphis, Nashville, Clarksville, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Kingsport, Johnson City, Jackson, Columbia and Spring Hill.
Tell us the media, concentration, temperature, pressure, line size and whether the valve isolates, throttles, samples or stops backflow. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online for a quote.
FAQ: Plastic Lined Industrial Valves in Tennessee
Which lined valve should we use on sodium hypochlorite at a Memphis water or chemical plant?
A lined diaphragm valve for dosing, and for isolation either a lined diaphragm valve or a ball valve with a vented ball (vent facing upstream), since a plain ball can trap gassing hypochlorite in its cavity. Hypochlorite decomposes on contact with iron, nickel and copper ions, so a fully lined valve protects both the valve and the product, and a lined check valve on the pump discharge stops backflow into the feed tank.
Can PTFE or PFA lined valves handle the chlorine, HCl and chlorosilane streams at the Bradley County chemical plants?
Yes. Fluoropolymers are among the few materials that resist wet chlorine and concentrated hydrochloric acid at the same time. We recommend PFA linings on ball and plug valves for those services because PFA permeates less than PTFE and gives a smoother sealing surface; send us the temperature and concentration and we will confirm the rating.
Do lined valves make sense for the battery materials plants around Clarksville and Jackson?
They are often the only practical choice. Cathode precursor solutions and lithium hydroxide must stay free of trace metals, and electrolyte salts generate hydrofluoric acid with any moisture, which etches glass but leaves a PFA lining untouched. Lined ball, diaphragm and sampling valves give the chemical resistance and the purity in one part.
Will lined valves hold up on the limestone slurry at a TVA scrubber?
Limestone and gypsum slurry is abrasive, and in neutral slurry rubber-lined valves often outlast fluoropolymer. Where the slurry or purge is acidic, a lined diaphragm valve has no seat for grit to score. Tell us the solids loading and velocity and we will recommend the valve and size the bore to keep velocity in a range the liner tolerates.