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| Our Chairman’s article in IPI Journal | 23-06-2010 |
It was year 1968, Polyolefins Industries Ltd. (PIL), “An Arvind Mafatlal Group company in collaboration with M/s. Farbwerke Hoechst AG- West Germany” introduced HDPE pipe grade material in Indian Market.
GM - 5010 became a popular raw material grade in the user industry soon after its introduction.
To reap the benefits of this marvelous product the Company also started manufacturing Pipes for its captive consumption and for sale in the market. The brand name of “HASTI” for PIL HDPE Pipes was synomious to quality, reliability & integrity. The brand name was very apt since HASTI / elephant represented strength. “HASTI” Pipes from inception demonstrated quality, strength & reliability. PIL’s main intention of manufacturing “HASTI” Pipes was to create a bench mark in the industry for HDPE Pipes for various diversified applications.
The first PE Pipe was extruded on a PVC extruder and installed for an effluent disposal line of NOCIL (An erstwhile Arvind Mafatlal Group Petrochemical Company)
In late 70s Baroda City was reticulated with domestic fuel gas through P.E.Pipes for several thousand houses. It was a unique project “first of that kind in India” engineered by PIL expert installation team. The system integrity was so reliable that it has served very satisfactorily for all the times.
All thru the 1970’s HDPE pipes were known to limited users and was used for particular applications in Chemical industries.
1980-1990
The beginning of the decade witnessed the use of HDPE pipes in larger scale for potable water supply.
The early 80s saw the usage of HDPE pipes for potable water supply in Andhra Pradesh “the intellectual state of India”.
The Rural water supply Department was convinced about the techno commercial benefits of HDPE Pipes when compared to the conventional piping materials which were used till then.
Due to the availability of pipes in longer lengths and light weight, the various water supply projects in Andhra Pradesh were implemented in record time.
This facilitated in providing safe and protected drinking water to the rural population.
Many other states followed the example of Andhra Pradesh and soon Tamilnadu, Orrisa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala started using HDPE Pipes in implementation of rural water supply projects.
PE pipes managed to win the confidence of the consumers again and they started calling it the BLACK BEAUTY in the piping industry.
INTERESTING INCIDENT
PIL undertook a lot of jobs under UNICEF program in neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. “HASTI” pipes were specified for UNICEF Projects.
In the hilly terrains of Bhutan house wives had to travel several Kms to fetch a pail of water. Installation of HASTI pipes made it possible to have the water right in front of their houses.
PIL team completed this assignment of UNICEF in record time.
On return, after completion of the project we were fazed with several complaints of leakages. This was a shock and surprise for PIL installation team.
On investigation we found the pipes were deliberately cut by the frustrated house wives. Availability of drinking water right in front of their houses restricted their movement away from their homes for several hours for fetching the pail of water.
We realized that the boredom of the house wives were the sole reason for their abnormal behavior.
We constructed an auditorium and equipped it with Radio and T.V to facilitate entertainment for the Housewives in the evening hours. This auditorium became the place of general assembly for the house wives to chit-chat and gossip with the other members of the community. This action seemingly resolved the problems of pipe breakage and leakage.
Looking back to Malaysia
In the beginning of 1980s PIL made a JV in Malaysia for manufacturing and marketing of PE pipes in Malaysia. In the initial years of 1978-80, pipes were exported from India. In the year 1980 a production plant was started in Malaysia under PIL’s management and undersigned had an opportunity to manage the same for six years.
The factory was started for supplying Pipes for slurry transportation in Tin Mines.
In those days Malaysia had over 800 open cast tin mines. The tin ore slurry was traditionally transported using ERW steel pipes which had a very short life due to low abrasion resistance.
PIL team identified a great opportunity for P.E Pipes in the slurry application.
PE pipes have inherently much higher ability to stand abrasion, which made it as an obvious choice for this application.
Chinese Owners of Tin mines became addicted customers once we could demonstrate the cost benefits using PE pipes for slurry transportation in their mines. We needed to diversify the application for water supply, as the Tin mining industry was soon becoming uneconomical.
Finding acceptance for PE pipes in water supply was a Herculean task and a challenge for our team.
Workshops/Seminars, demonstration with case studies were all the tools used for getting acceptance from the decision makers.
Arriving an acceptable domestic standards and specifications for PE pipes was a priority for introducing these pipes in water supply projects.
Our team worked very closely with SIRIM (National Standards body of Malaysia) to get the standards & specifications approved for potable Water Supply.
This time I shall remember a great personality in Dr. Kam U the chief of Pennang Water Works. He supported and embraced HDPE Pipes for the first time in their water supply projects.
This gave the required impetus and the necessary momentum for the growth of PE pipes in Malaysia for various applications.
By the beginning of 1990s there were more than a dozen note-worthy manufacturers of PE pipes in Malaysia.
1990- 2000
Reinstated Confidence in the product, easy availability of the raw material, newer applications, satisfied user industry, appropriate Indian standards and specifications made this product accepted by all PHEs in all states of India.
In spite of being a unique material of construction PE pipes have not yet received the kind of acceptance in various projects.
Many a time a distorted comparison of pricing pushed this product behind other traditional pipes like MS, DI, RCC and GRP.
Price Comparison of pipe on meter to meter basis does not reflect the true picture.
If the “Unit Water Delivered Cost” is calculated this piping system becomes the most competitive option.
This cost encompasses Production, Transportation, Storing, Trenching, Jointing and Welding, installation with specials, Testing, Bedding and backfilling cost.
In early days, one of the flaws in marketing PE pipes, which inhibited the growth of the product, was possibly not positioning the PE pipes as a total system. However this was amended and soon PE piping system evolved with complete fittings and specials. Today a complete monolithic system is installed.
The jointing technology for P.E.Pipes is unique with Butt fusion and Electrofusion technique.
Mechanical jointing familiar with traditional pipes are also possible.
Newer Generation Raw Material
This decade saw the introduction of new bimodal PE 100 material.
This 3rd generation raw material made PE pipes more competitive with traditional piping materials.
Infact this development even attracted an international ‘PE 100 Association’ which ensures greater reliability and greater life expectancy of the product and the system.
Year 2000 onwards
Decade 2000 saw use of PE pipes all across India. To name a few, PE pipes were extensively used in Cities like Jamshedpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore,Mysore, Hubli, Gulbarga, Belgaum, Chennai,and all important towns of Kerala.
Hence HDPE was chosen as piping material for distribution mains in urban and semi urban areas (Municipalities.)
The state of Kerala, “Gods own land and a land of back waters” long before recognized the advantages of PE pipes in its water supply network. The implementation dates back to the early eighties.
Potable water was required to be transmitted to villages by crossing rivers. HDPE Pipes, because of lesser weight than water, the pipes were floated across and laid in position by loading counter weights. PE pipes have become so popular that even today Kerala PHED started implementation of larger diameter pipes for river crossings.
The classic example is water supply projects to Vypeen Islands near Kochi, where 630mm PN 6, 6500mtrs is used. The pipe line runs thru marshy lands, narrow by lanes and difficult terrains before reaching the Island. The town of Cherthala, near Alapuzha now boasts a 900mm pipe line for water supply distribution.
It was again in the year 1985. Govt of Andhra Pradesh (Irrigation department) was not able to find a solution to deliver fresh water from its canal in the main land to the two large islands located in the back waters of River Krishna. The islands named Edurumondi and Elachetladibba having population of 15000 and 6000 respectively was surrounded with salt water and had to depend upon rain water for irrigation and drinking purpose. An immediate solution to the problem was demonstrated by laying 630mm OD PN 6, three lines of 1000 mtrs each. This was supposed to be the first ever large diameter under water HDPE installation then in India.
Satya Sai Central trust under the aegis of Sri Satya Sai Baba implemented water supply and sanitation projects in the districts of Mahabubnagar and Medak Districts of Andhra Pradesh in the year 1999. The pipes were laid in the most back ward regions of the district to ensure that protected water reaches the poor. Even today, trust is undertaking water supply schemes in the districts of east and west Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh. Similar projects have been implemented in the neighboring states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu.
PE Pipes for lift irrigation
The early eighties saw the application of PE pipes in Lift irrigation schemes. Many places in North Karnataka were devoid of Canal Irrigation and farmers had to invariably depend on lifting water to irrigate their fields from rivers. Hitherto farmers were using PVC/ GI/ AC pipes. Entry of PE pipes gained popularity and many schemes were implemented on the banks of River Krishna and tributaries of Krishna named Malaprabha and Ghattaprabha flowing thru the districts of Belgaum, Dharwad, Bijapur, Raichur. The schemes witnessed the use of pipes ranging from 90mm to 315mm size and the lengths were varying from 500 meters to 10kms.
Sprinkler application:
Under sprinkler irrigation water is sprinkled under pressure into the air and plant foliage through a set of nozzles attached to network of High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) pipes in the form of rainfall. These systems are suitable for irrigating crops where the plant density is very high. Sprinkler irrigation is suitable for horticultural crops like vegetables and seed spices. Conventionally, sprinkler irrigation has been widely in use for irrigating Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and other field crops.
Depletion of ground water levels and innovation of more scientific method of irrigation for better crop yields necessitated invention of sprinkler Irrigation. Even though aluminum sprinkler net work was prevalent, the use of HDPE system came into existence in the year 1982. Soon the sprinkler irrigation using HDPE pipes became popular since the pipes were easy to carry and install at various locations for irrigation. Soon there was innovative method of devising a set, consisting of around 30 pipes with couplers and sprinklers which can irrigate around 1 hectare. This enabled the farmer to decide the sprinkler system required for irrigation.
Today farmers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh lead the country in implementation of sprinkler systems. In order to encourage use of optimum water for plants, various state Governments have come forward to grant subsidies to farmers for purchase of sprinkler systems.
The HDPE sprinkler systems also became popular in Tea gardens and coffee estates of Assam, Kerala, hilly regions of Tamilnadu and Karnataka., essentially because of elephant menace and high flexibility and high impact strength . They do not get damaged when these animals trespass the estates.
Drip Irrigation:
Drip Irrigation involves technology for irrigating plants at the root zone through emitters fitted on a network of pipes (mains, sub-mains and laterals). Water requirement, age of plant spacing, soil type, water quality and availability are some of the factors which would decide the choice of the emitting system. All types of surface and subsurface irrigation systems are covered under Micro Irrigation Technology.
Application of PE pipes for this technology was initiated in mid 90s and soon became popular. Today all the state Governments implement drip irrigation under Micro Irrigation Technology.
PE pipes for submersible pumps
Rapid growth/migration of population to urban areas in the past two decades resulted in increase of housing colonies, layouts, apartments and individual houses. Govt. utilities like water department and municipalities could not augment water supply, which resulted in indiscriminate digging of bore wells and installation of submersible pumps/jet pumps etc.
Availability of PE pipes in coil form prompted the engineers and technicians to implement PE pipes to draw water from the bore well. Today submersible pump is sold along with HDPE pipes in all the cities across India.
Popularity of PE pipe usage encouraged the farmers to use HDPE pipes for the bore wells in farms.
In the year 2004, SC/ST Corporation, Govt. of Karnataka has made it mandatory for the small and marginal farmers to use HDPE pipes for submersible pump installation. This was due to the fact that there is an energy saving of 30% compared to the use of other conventional pipe like GI.
Similar practical studies were conducted way back in 1983 by the Rural Electrification Corporation and Karnataka Electricity Board for study of energy conversation. Pilot project was implemented in the nearby places surrounding Bangalore city to replace the old conventional pipes with HDPE pipes for suction and delivery of the existing agricultural pump sets. This experiment proved to be a great success since it was practically observed that the electricity department was saving as much as 30% energy and the Karnataka Govt. Issued orders that Power connection will be released only to those who install HDPE pipes for suction and delivery.
Application in chemical transfer in Industries.
HDPE pipes will be omni present in all chemical/pharmaceutical industry. Pipes are used for acid / alkali transfers and many process piping use HDPE.
Some of the great examples are laying of Pipe line for transfer of Phosphoric acids. India has phosphoric acid based fertilizer plants in the east and west coast. PE pipes are laid transfer of acid directly from the ship to the storage terminal inside the plant. First of its line was laid for Godavari Fertilizers Limited near Visakhapatnam. The size involved was 500mm PN 6.0, 2.5 km, followed by Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation Sikka (Gujarat) with a size of 450 mm PN 6.0, 6.5 kms and Paradeep Phosphates, with a size of 630mm 11Kms.
Similarly PE pipes are used in copper smelter plants for transporting acids delivery terminals. Sterlite industries, Tuticorin and Birla copper are classical examples of using PE pipes for transfer of acids.
PE pipes in submarine installations.
PE pipes for submersible application is a world wide phenomenon. It works out to be 1/5th the cost of installation with other materials. In India there are countless marine installations with PE pipe for treated effluent disposal, sea water intake and out fall systems in the east and west coast.
Some of the most popular installations in East and West coast are:
• MRPL Chennai
• MFL Chennai
• SPIC Tuticorin
• Chemfab Alkalies, Pondicherry
• Sterlite Industries Tuticorin
• Dr. Reddy Labs Srikakulam
• Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals , Srikakulam
• Brandix India Apparel City , Visakahpatnam.
• National Institute of Ocean Technology
• Mangalore Petrochemicals
• BASF Mangalore
• Grasim, Calicut
• MIDC Mahad
• MIDC Chiplun
• Atul , Valsad
• Welspun Terry Towels, Vapi
Distribution and transmission of Natural Gas.
PE pipes found application for distribution of Natural gas in Baroda City in late 70s. Similarly the entire North east states have implemented PE pipes for natural gas distribution from early 80s. Now PE pipes have become the material of choice for Natural Gas Distribution.
Communication Cables
In the start of year 2000 Indian communication industry needed several lakhs of running meters of PE pipes for laying the communication cables. HDPE pipes Industry gave a responsible solution.
CURRENT STATUS
HDPE pipes are an unique material of construction
Unique properties of the material make this a preferred choice for Piping.
Exciting DEVELOPMENTS:
1. Further Development of Spiral Cross Winding Extrusion Technology: M/s KRAH AG Germany leads the way in the innovation and development of spiral extrusion technology. With their newly developed criss-cross winding technique, they have successfully produced pipes of Ø 4000 mm for their customer in Australia.
2. Special HDPE Compound: This compound is a mix of HDPE, Glass Fibre and Special Bonding Agent Developed by KRAH AG Germany.
The MRS value of this Pipe is 20 as against the MRS value 10 for PE 100 Pipes.
This material is successfully used to produce pressure pipes to transport potable water in Belgium, Columbia, Turkey and many other countries across the world.
Pipes sizes ranging from 300mm – 4000mm dia pipes assure a service life of 100 years as against the 50 year life assured by PE 100 pipes.
3. Integrated Electrofusion Welding: Factory produced integrate Electrofusion arrangement in this pipes makes them unique in jointing system integrity.
UNIQUE FEATURES:
a. Krah Pipes are lighter than PE Pipes.
b. Pipes are ID based & hence better hydraulic equation.
c. Faster installation due to integrated Electrofusion facility.
d. Pipes are with inspection friendly inner layer.
e. Pipes are tailor made to make them most economical.
Innovative technology, development in raw materials, newer technology / process in manufacturing and realistic and supportive specifications coupled with disciplined installation techniques shall take HDPE Pipes to a much greater heights in this decade. |
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