1400 Deg. F - Insulated Pipe Supports

[NozzleTwister]

Hi!

I previously posted this on the 'Piping & fluid mechanics engineering' forum but I though I would re-post here in hopes of getting additional input from those that may not follow the other forum.

I have an application where I need to support some stainless steel piping systems (6" NPS to 10" NPS, Sch. 40S)with a 1400 deg F. design temperature.

I'm trying to avoid welded attachments to the pipe and I'm thinking about using hot insulated supports something similar to what 'RILCO' or 'Pipe Shields' makes. With this type of support the pipe hanger or shoe clamps around the outside of the insulation and a high density insulating material is placed between the support and the pipe to carry the load and spread the load out over the pipe wall.

Most common insulating materials used in this application are limited to 1200 deg. F. and we are trying to avoid using ceramics. I haven't done a lot of research but I did talk to one support vendor who said he could handle this temperature with no problem, but he went silent when we asked what material he would use and he hasn't called back.

I don't anticipate any complicated supports like guides or line stops, just simple supports used with springs hangers or spring cans.

Any direction you can give about support manfacturers, materials to use for the support blocks and experiences good or bad would be most welcome.

Thanks,

NozzleTwister
Houston, Texas

 

[smckennz]

Hi Nozzle

I have done a few of these using metallic supports and controlled the heat loss by controlling the conduction path.
The means of control was by drilling the support to balance the conduction area with load/strength requirements. However there is an inevitable heat short. In my cases the local heat loss was acceptable; in your case it may not be.

To my knowledge, the high strength low conductivity, high temperature material has not been invented yet, so in general you have to live with either local heat shorting or spreading the load or a mixture of both. If you exclude ceramics, then you are imposing an additional constraint. I suggest you reconsider and look at lightweight refractory materials. A vermiculite based product would seem to meet your requirements at moderate cost.

Cheers

Steve

 

[TrevorP]

Onr thing I have seen used in the past for very high temperature lines is simply using some insulation (e.g. rockwool) inside the clamp. Putting aluminium cladding between the clamp and insulation helps spread out the load and minimise creep. It may not be the perfect 'engineering' solution, but it seems to work reasonably effectively. This whole clamp arrangement is then lagged over the top to the required degree of thickness.