250psi rated PVC pipe available? 2

[ProjectEng]

Hello,

I am looking for 12" PVC bell/spigot pipe for a fire main project. Pressure rating needs to be 250psi.

All I can find is C-900 and C-905 pipe which is rated for 200psi. The pressure rating only jumps to 250psi in 14" or larger diameter.

Anyone know of a vendor/manufacturer that has 12" PVC pipe available at the higher pressure rating?

Thanks.

 

[minerk]

Why PVC? Have you considered HDPE? In pressure service HDPE generally outperforms PVC, and handles water hammer and pressure surges better.

 

[TravisMack]

If you are in the US, try contacting US Filter. We use 250 PVC all the time for site fire loops on the discharge side of a fire pump. It should be readily available.

 

[h2oman]

my question is why PVC? why not 12 DIP class 350? if exterior corrosion is a problem try poly-wrap. if internal corrosion is a concern the DIP I have seen is cement morter lined. and the cost may be comperable to PVC with oil prices being high right now.

h2oman

 

[TravisMack]

Factor in labor costs to that as well. From my experience, the field guys get more footage of plastic than ductile. If you are doing a large loop in a complex, the added costs of ductile can get pretty large.

 

[ProjectEng]

Is HDPE available in bell/spigot with at least 250psi rating? The HDPE that I've seen had to be "welded", which requires a little more equipment, good ambient conditions, and more time. Are thrust blocks still needed at bends?

The PVC bell/spigot pipe is gasketed and is just pushed together. Thrust blocks are needed, of course. Most of the existing fire mains at our complex are PVC bell/spigot and the only time we've had a problem with it is when too much pressurized pipe was exposed.

DIP has corrosion issues. Yes you can line it but lining isn't 100%. Also, this line will be close to another large diameter steel line that is coated and cathodically protected.

I did find out that ASTM D2241 pipe is available in DR17 and DR13.5 which is rated at 25opsi and 315psi, respectively. The couple of vendors I checked said delivery times were 3-6mo, however.

I think I'll stick with C-900 200CL DR14. It has a 2.5x safety factor and a surge capacity factor built in. System pressure usually runs around 180psi so I should be ok.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[minerk]

HDPE does need to be welded, around here that's not a problem (lots of mining, oilfield, and nat. gas service outfits doing it). You might even be able to rent a fusion machine. Fusion machines are simple to operate and not very expensive, and if you use a lot of large pipe might be worth checking on. Ambient conditions don't have to be perfect, I'm on the high plains of WY, lots of wind. HDPE requires a little more time to fuse than bell/spigot PVC, but once properly welded is maintenance free virtually forever. Exceeding the allowable bend radius can break joints, but other than that there's not much that can go wrong with them.

Thrust blocks are required at fittings/sharp direction changes, but gradual bends can be done by the pipe itself--minimum bend radius is a function of pipe diameter and DR #, but for pretty heavy duty pipe (DR 9) is on the order of 20x the pipe OD.

I work in mining, we use tons of this stuff for pit dewatering, process applications, and fire water systems. I gave up on IP/DIP a few years ago and never looked back. One operation I worked at used bell/spigot PVC for well casing in the coal, but for any other piping used HDPE.

Check out:

http://www.cpchem.com/performancepipe/literature/Field Handbook/PP 901 Field Handbook Feb.03.pdf

 

[JedClampett]

Call Unibell in Dallas, TX at 972-243-3902 for questions on buried PVC pipe. They also have a real slick book, "Handbook of PVC Pipe" that they gave me for free.

 

[cvg]

Why 250 psi? If your fire line is connected to a standard municipal water supply main, your working pressure is probably less than 100 psi. 200 psi pipe will easily handle a working pressure of 120 - 140 psi. Higher pressures will require a fire pump at the building. However, I would keep the working pressures below 120 psi.

 

[ProjectEng]

Our complex has an internal fire main circuit that is maintained at approx 180psi.

 

[flexy]

Try fiberglass reinforced PVC pipe (aka PVC-FRP) pipe. A company like Fabricated Plastics in Maple, Ontario.

 

[HydroJo]

The HPPE suggestions are a good idea. But if you are limited to uPVC - yes it does come as 16 bar (232psi) or sometimes 20 bar (290 psi) In Europe these are to DIN8061/2 or BS1452. Contact

http://www.ips-plastics.com.

 

[semo]

Another option might be groove lock pipe such as Certainteed's Yellowmine pipe. I believe it comes in a class 250 rating and has an easy installation.

I used it for directional boring applications before the HDPE became widespread. Yellowmine is also used routinely in mine shafts so I'm told.