Chilled Water ABS Installation - Problems

[yorkspipeman]

We have recently installed an ABS chilled water pipework system (7 Degrees C flow 12degrees C return) The pipework varies in size from 200mm dia down to 32mm dia. We have experienced a number joint failure problems and sent samples of the failed joints to the manufacturers 'Durapipe'. Their analytical chemist has said the joint failure is due to the prescence of a small quantity of and un specified 'alkyl ester' which i understand to be a form of synthetic mineral oil. There doesnt appear to be any mention of this substance attacking cemented joints in their technical literature. Has anyone experince similar failures

 

[JStephen]

Did you figure out where it came from?

A while back, we had a contract that required us to guarantee an epoxy lining was compatible with the proposed water treatment chemicals. When we contacted the water treatment chemical company, we were told that their chemical mix was proprietary, and information couldn't be released!

 

[yorkspipeman]

We think they may have been used in the manufacture of the cooling coils the pipework was serving, but the coil manufacturer denies using ethyl esters in their manufacture. What is strange is the only dia of pipe affected by these leaks is the 50mm dia tube which is starting us to think we may have received a 'bad' batch of pipe, not sure if Durapipe are putting up a smoke screen and we are considering having the sample independently tested. Thanks for your reply!