Plastic Lined Piping Accessories in Tennessee

Tennessee's corrosive chemistry follows its rivers. New Johnsonville handles chlorine and hydrochloric acid on the Tennessee. A zinc smelter on the Cumberland makes sulfuric acid, and a corn wet mill at Loudon regenerates ion exchange beds with acid and caustic. Each lined system needs blinds to isolate it, joints to let it move, strainers for its pumps and heat to keep it liquid.

Marspec Technical Products has supplied that kind of equipment for more than half a century, alongside plastic-lined spools from our shop in Fairhope, Alabama. Call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online. Our lined pipe in Tennessee page gives the statewide picture.

Four jobs accessories do in Tennessee plants

Isolating chlorine and acid on the Tennessee River

New Johnsonville's pigment plant, opened in 1958, makes titanium dioxide by the chloride process. A chlor-alkali unit run by a third party on the same site supplies its chlorine. Wet chlorine, hydrochloric acid from the off-gas scrubbers and caustic all run there. When a crew opens one of those lines, a closed valve is not isolation. A lined spectacle blind is: rotate the solid end into the joint and the line is positively blocked. When a valve or instrument comes out, a solid PTFE spacer takes its place in the run. Armored spacers, with a metal ring around the PTFE, suit thicker gaps. Spools on chlorine and HCl take vented housings, since both permeate PTFE.

Letting hot acid lines move on the Cumberland

At the Clarksville zinc smelter, an acid plant turns roaster gas into sulfuric acid, and the leach and cell house circulate zinc sulfate solution. The roaster runs at furnace temperatures, so lined pipe starts downstream of it. The acid transfer lines and clarified solutions are lined-pipe service. A steel-housed line grows with temperature like any steel pipe. PTFE expansion joints at pump and tank nozzles absorb that growth and the pump vibration, so the liner flares do not. Sight flow indicators show acid moving at a glance. For 98 percent acid, specify PTFE; PVDF is limited to about 93 percent at ambient temperature.

Blending regenerant at a corn wet mill

The corn wet mill at Loudon steeps corn in sulfurous acid, and its sweetener refining runs ion exchange beds regenerated with hydrochloric acid and caustic. Regenerant arrives concentrated and goes to the beds dilute. A PTFE-lined mixing tee feeds acid or caustic into the dilution water in the line, and the liner tolerates the heat that dilution releases. Lined Y strainers protect the regenerant pumps, and solid PTFE pipe handles short sample and analyzer runs.

Working inside the vessel

Many of Tennessee's batch reactors and chemical tanks sit in Kingsport, at Charleston on the Hiwassee and on Presidents Island in Memphis. PTFE-lined dip tubes fill and empty a tank from the top, so a hazardous tank needs no bottom nozzle. Spargers put steam, air or a reactant gas into a liquid. Reactor sampling systems draw a sample from a closed batch, and nozzle liners carry the fluoropolymer through the vessel wall. Our pages on lined pipe in Kingsport, lined pipe in Chattanooga and lined pipe in Memphis describe those plants.

Keeping lines liquid through a Tennessee winter

Sulfuric acid at 98 percent solidifies just above the freezing point of water, and 50 percent caustic starts to form crystals near 54 °F. Middle and East Tennessee winters go well below both. Electric tracing over heat transfer compound carries heat into the steel housing on long runs. Clamp-on steam heaters bolt over valves and low points. For a line held at temperature year-round, use fully jacketed pipe and fittings. Put steam jackets on PTFE-lined pipe, since 15 psig steam already runs close to PVDF's 275 °F limit.

The full range

Our piping accessories page lists spectacle blinds, solid and armored PTFE spacers, PTFE expansion joints, lined strainers, sight flow indicators, mixing tees and solid PTFE pipe. Reactor sampling systems, spargers, dip tubes, nozzle liners and tank bottom valves are under vessel accessories. Tracing, steam heaters, heat transfer compound and jacketed pipe are under temperature maintenance. Custom PTFE machining, for parts no catalog lists, and fluoropolymer powder coating are under services.

Standards and matching flanges

Our lined pipe and fittings comply with ASTM F1545, and fittings conform dimensionally to ANSI B16.5. A new fitting drops into the gap the old one left. PTFE lined fittings in carbon and stainless steel come from stock, and PVDF and polypropylene lined to order. Our lined pipe and fittings page has the dimension tables, and our technical details page has liner ratings and bolt torques. Valve patterns and sizes are on our lined valves page. See also plastic lined industrial valves in Tennessee and plastic lined pipe fittings in Tennessee.

Serving Tennessee from Memphis to Bristol

We ship to Memphis, Millington, Jackson, Clarksville, New Johnsonville, Nashville, Columbia, Spring Hill, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Charleston, Knoxville, Loudon, Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol. Send the line size, fluid and temperature: call (251) 625-4949 or contact us online.

FAQ: Plastic Lined Piping Accessories in Tennessee

Why use a spectacle blind instead of a closed valve on a chlorine line at a Tennessee River plant?

A closed valve can pass; a solid blind in the joint cannot. Procedures for opening chlorine and HCl lines usually call for positive isolation, and a lined spectacle blind gives it without exposing steel to the process.

Will PTFE expansion joints handle hot sulfuric acid lines in the Clarksville area?

Yes, within their pressure and temperature ratings. Install them at pump and vessel nozzles, anchor the line so the joint never carries pipe weight, and use PTFE-lined pipe for 98 percent acid.

Can a mixing tee dilute hydrochloric acid or caustic for ion exchange regeneration at a Tennessee plant?

Yes. A PTFE-lined mixing tee introduces the concentrate into the flowing water so the two blend in the line. The liner tolerates the heat of dilution. A lined strainer and a sight flow indicator downstream complete the arrangement.

How do we keep 98 percent sulfuric acid moving on an outdoor rack in East Tennessee?

Trace it with electric tracing over heat transfer compound, and put clamp-on steam heaters on valves and strainers, where cable wraps poorly. Some plants keep 93 percent acid in outdoor storage instead, because it does not freeze in a Tennessee winter.