Plastic Lined Pipe Fittings in Alabama

Alabama is the state we work from. Marspec Technical Products fabricates lined pipe spools in its own shop in Fairhope, on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. We also supply the lined fittings that join those spools. PTFE lined fittings in carbon and stainless steel are stocked; PVDF and polypropylene lined to order. For a fitting takeoff, call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online.

Where the fittings work hardest

The industrial overview is on our Alabama page, and the Mobile and Decatur-Huntsville pages go plant by plant. Elbows, tees and reducers see turbulence, impingement and mixing that a straight spool never does, so they deserve the closest look at liner selection.

The Mobile corridor

At the top of the corridor, the McIntosh chlor-alkali plant makes chlorine, caustic soda, bleach, hydrochloric acid and hydrogen. A 90° elbow on a bleach pump discharge takes the impingement, and an instrument tee carries the gauge on a wet chlorine header. Where 50 percent caustic meets dilution water, a tee takes the heat of mixing. For that service we recommend PTFE-lined fittings with vented housings, because chlorine and HCl permeate the liner. Polypropylene is not used on the bleach or chlorine lines.

Down the corridor, the Calvert steel mills pickle strip in acid, and the Theodore plants handle sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Peroxide decomposes on contact with metal ions, so its fittings are PTFE or PVDF lined.

The Tennessee Valley

At Decatur, a fluoropolymer plant of about 400 people makes PTFE and melt-processable resins, chemistry that runs on hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acid. HF permeates PTFE even at ambient temperature. PTFE-lined fittings for HF get vented housings, the spools around them get heavy-wall liners, and extended vent couplings are available for critical lines. The same riverfront has a flat-rolled steel mill with its own pickling line. On scale-laden pickle liquor and rinse lines, PVDF, the toughest, most abrasion-resistant of the three liners, earns its place.

Pulp mills on the Alabama river system and the water plants of Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville add bleach-plant and chemical feed fittings.

The fitting range

Sizes run from 1/2" to 12" in carbon steel or 304/316 stainless. Our lined pipe and fittings page tables the dimensions, liners and housings for each shape, and Technical Details carries liner thickness, flange and bolt torque data.

• Elbows: 90° and 45° elbows and 90° reducing elbows, most with rotating flanges; true 300 lb ells are available.
• Tees: equal and reducing tees, plus reducing run tees that can replace a reducer in a tight rack.
• Instrument tees: standard and lug-body patterns with split bodies and rotating outlet flanges, for gauges, transmitters and sample points.
• Branches and junctions: short-stack tees and crosses, standard crosses and laterals.
• Reducers: concentric and eccentric.
• Flanges: blind flanges, reducing flanges, and scalloped and straight-bore reducing flanges.
• Spacers: PTFE, PVDF or polypropylene, solid or armored, ring or full face.
• Fully jacketed fittings to match jacketed spools for steam or hot-oil service.
• Custom lined spools up to 20 ft, fabricated in Fairhope.

PTFE is the liner we recommend for nearly every service. Polypropylene is available where a specification calls for it, and in a finished spool the liner is a small part of the cost.

Matching a replacement to the line in your rack

A replacement fitting drops into a gap the surrounding pipe has already fixed, so four details have to match:

• Flange class: 150 or 300, and whether the existing flanges rotate or are fixed.
• Liner: PTFE carries no colorant, PVDF is black and polypropylene is orange, so the flare face usually tells you.
• Housing: carbon steel or 304/316 stainless.
• Dimensions: center-to-face on elbows, tees and crosses, face-to-face on reducers.

Our fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5, so a standard shape takes the same space as any B16.5 flanged fitting of that size and class. Where a lined valve's raised face differs in diameter from the fitting's, a 1/2" spacer between them evens out the joint. Lined valves for these lines are on our lined valves page and our Alabama valve page.

Standards and testing

Spark tests at a minimum of 10,000 volts are run on every lined spool and fitting, and our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545. The lined fittings we supply are welded to ASME B31.3 by welders certified to ASME Section IX, and their carbon steel housings are primed for field top-coating. Lined fittings carry identifying markings on their flanges in accordance with ASTM F1545, which helps when one has to be matched years later. We have been in lined pipe for more than fifty years.

Serving Alabama from Mobile Bay to the Tennessee River

We supply plants in Mobile, Theodore, Axis, McIntosh, Calvert, Selma, Montgomery, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Decatur and Huntsville. Strainers, spacers and blinds are on our Alabama accessories page. Every order is quoted with a fabrication time, and it helps to tell us your required date when you request a quote. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online to start the takeoff.

FAQ: Plastic Lined Pipe Fittings in Alabama

Are PTFE-lined fittings for Mobile corridor plants stocked or made to order?

Standard PTFE-lined shapes in carbon steel and stainless are stocked. PVDF and polypropylene fittings are lined to order, and each of those quotes carries a fabrication time.

What do you recommend for hydrofluoric acid fittings at a Decatur fluoropolymer plant?

PTFE-lined fittings in vented housings, joined to heavy-wall PTFE-lined spools. HF permeates PTFE, so the vents let it escape at the housing instead of collecting behind the liner. Anhydrous HF itself is handled in carbon steel.

Can PVDF fittings go into a PTFE-lined pickling line at a Decatur or Calvert steel mill?

Yes, where the acid and temperature suit PVDF, since both liners come in the same flange dimensions. We keep PTFE on anything hot and on anything carrying caustic above about pH 12.

Do you supply jacketed fittings for caustic lines at Mobile-area plants?

Yes. Fully jacketed fittings go with jacketed spools where 50 percent caustic, which crystallizes in the fifties Fahrenheit, must stay warm through every turn. Clamp-on steam heaters and electric tracing cover lines that only need freeze protection.