Weight of steel pipe in insulation foam

A pipe in polyurethane foam (PUF) insulation is an integral component of heating networks, which are mounted using a relatively new technology for our country. The supply of hot water in almost all Russian regions is carried out centrally, and most of the houses use central heating. However, the matter is not limited to water heating; it is necessary for the consumer to deliver it with minimal heat loss. This is where the pipes in PPU insulation will help out.

The weight of the pipes is an important parameter on which the costs of transportation and installation of the pipeline depend.

Benefits of Insulated Products

Traditionally, ordinary glass wool was used to insulate the tracks. It was fixed on the main section by annealed wire and was covered with a sheet of galvanized steel. But numerous thefts of products with non-ferrous metals forced builders to abandon galvanization. Coating the surface of highways with a simple cement mortar began to be practiced. However, this led to an increase in heat loss.

To deal with this phenomenon, starting from the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, pipes in polyurethane foam have been used. In parallel, the production of another product was launched - shell PPU. With its help, it is possible to insulate already existing heating mains. Against the background of its predecessors, pipe products with polyurethane foam thermal insulation, the following advantages are inherent:

• extremely easy installation;
• equally low heat loss at any humidity. If glass wool gets wet in the rain due to a violation of the outer shell, its heat-insulating qualities deteriorate sharply;
• the possibility of underground pipeline laying in polyurethane foam insulation with a polyethylene sheath without a protective box and without carrying out other work on its insulation
• vandalism in relation to thermal insulation and its theft have become almost impossible;
• significant slowdown of metal corrosion. This is due to the impermeability of the shell for water.

Good to know! The main advantage of these products is significant heat savings - the level of heat loss is only 2-3 percent. Moreover, with traditional isolation methods, this figure reaches 20-25 percent.

Installation of PPU pipes is not difficult and can be done by a small team of installers

Features of manufacturing technology and laying

PPU pipes are produced on factory equipment. The main steel pipe and the sheath polyethylene or galvanized become a single design due to polyurethane foam. Its rigidity, in addition to the presence of strong bonds between the components of the structure, is ensured by the following technological features:

• at the preliminary stage, shot blasting or shot blasting is performed on the surface of the steel pipe;
• the surface of the polyethylene sheath pipe is subjected to a corona treatment process.

A pipeline is made of PPU products in two ways: with a polyethylene sheath - underground, and in a galvanized sheath - above the soil surface. But regardless of the method, in order to give the system strength, the creation of a fixed support is required.

Weight matters

When laying is carried out by the above-ground method, the weight of the steel pipe in the PU foam insulation is a critical parameter for calculating the degree of reliability of the created structure. This concerns, first of all, the distance between the supporting elements of the reinforced concrete frame. After all, when they are significantly removed from each other, under their own weight, the pipe can sag, which will significantly reduce the useful clearance in the pipeline.

Of course, the weight characteristics of such products must comply with GOST 30732 dated 2006. However, despite this requirement, some domestic enterprises produce similar products with indicators that differ from those specified in this regulatory document. Therefore, in order not to encounter certain difficulties during the installation of the system, before you buy, you must require a certificate of compliance with GOST requirements.

Galvanized pipes differ in weight from products in polyethylene

You can find out how much PPU pipes with a galvanized shell and a polyethylene shell weigh by looking at the data from the table below. The unit of measurement is millimeters.

Table 1

Requirements for PPU insulation shell

The connection of pipes with polyurethane foam insulation according to the standard is carried out only by welding.

Important! The seam should be completely boiled.

GOST 30732-2006 also refers to the appearance of a protective sheath made of polyethylene and its strength. Consider these points in more detail.

1. Surface quality. The surface should be smooth. The presence of undulation and slight longitudinal stripes is possible. However, the wall thickness from this should not leave the allowable range of maximum deviations. Roughness should be present on the inner surface of the pipes. The presence of shells, cracks, bubbles and foreign inclusions on the end, inner and outer surfaces of products is not allowed. The color of pipe products with PPU insulation is black.
2. The value of elongation at break is not less than 350%.
3. After warming up to + 110 ° C, the length of the pipe-shells should not change by more than 3%.
4. The surface must remain stable at a temperature of the working medium + 80 ° C and a constant internal pressure of at least 1000 hours, provided that the initial stress in the pipe wall is 3.2 MPa.

In conclusion, a few words about where the use of pipes in PPU is very important. Digging up a highway passing through a large settlement is sometimes problematic. Then many enterprises lay pipelines by horizontal drilling. But, having dragged the pipe through a horizontal puncture, it will also be necessary to insulate it. And here again pipes to PPU isolation will come to the rescue.