SABIC Innovative Plastics Expands Investment in Fluid Engineering Center to Develop High-Performance Materials for Water Systems
Nov 28, 2008
Growing concerns about health and safety risks and increasingly high costs of metal in fluid handling systems are prompting the use of plastic pipes, faucets, valves, boilers and other components. Plastics offer the potential to build cleaner, safer and more cost-effective water systems; however, each material must undergo extensive testing. To provide the most rigorous and sophisticated evaluation of its engineering thermoplastics, SABIC Innovative Plastics has invested in enhancements to its Fluid Engineering Center of Excellence in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands. The research center, which opened in 2005, now gives global customers access to a wider array of testing equipment, more extensive and longer-term tests, and expanded scientific resources to help them develop highly advanced, innovative fluid handling solutions.
The mission of the Fluid Center of Excellence is to identify, evaluate and help optimize resins and compounds for fluid handling. Replacing traditional copper, stainless steel, and brass with SABIC Innovative Plastics’ materials such as Noryl* resins and LNP* Lubricomp* compounds can help reduce costs, avoid the risk of lead exposure, enable part integration, and provide consistently high performance over a long lifespan.
Varied, Long-term Testing Crucial to Safety and Durability
Short-term tests, which are common for metal components, often will not provide an adequate or realistic assessment of a part’s performance over its operating life. Further, different types of plastics may respond very differently to a test, depending on the chemistry of the polymer and its reinforcement. Finally, a polymer may perform well under one set of conditions but poorly in another. Long-term testing is critical to help evaluate appropriate applications and conditions for each material, and the Centre of Excellence, with its deep understanding of how SABIC Innovative Plastics’ materials perform in this complicated environment, is an excellent resource to better help our customers.To provide this much needed customer support, the Fluid Engineering Center, which already possesses constant pressure creep rupture (LTHS) and fatigue testing (fluctuating pressure) capabilities, has added new equipment and testing procedures:
- Chlorine exposure test to measure the effect of chlorinated water – especially hot water – on plastics.
- Hot-cold shock test to evaluate the durability of connectors and seals in water pipes exposed to rapid and repeated temperature changes.
- Bending creep rupture test to study the long-term strength of bars exposed to hot water and a continuous load.
Another aspect of the center’s expanded capabilities is greater variety in applications to be tested. "We expanded our tests to include applications such as boilers, faucets, pipe connectors and threaded pipes to better understand how material behavior can translate to application performance. They also give us feedback about how to improve materials to best meet our customers’ needs. As a result, SABIC Innovative Plastics has developed advanced compounds that offer performance targeted at specific water handling scenarios," Heessels said.
High-Performance Resins and Compounds
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Noryl and Noryl GTX* resins are used widely in water meter components and pump impellers, due to their low water absorption and dimensional stability that provide better accuracy and performance.
LNP Lubricomp graphite-filled compounds are an excellent material candidate for water applications such as water meter pistons due to their abrasion and wear resistance, hydrolytic and dimensional stability, and low coefficient of friction.
Ultem* resin is an excellent material candidate for highly technical applications requiring high temperature, tight dimension and long term stability in combination with potable water approvals.
For additional information on SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Fluid Engineering Center of Excellence, please visit www.sabic-ip.com.
Contact:
SABIC Innovative Plastics
Helen Vandebovenkamp
Plasticslaan 1
4600 AC Bergen op Zoom
Netherlands
Tel: +31 164 292 097
Fax: +31 164 291 066
E-Mail: Helen.vandebovenkamp@sabic-ip.com
Internet: www.sabic-ip.com
More News and Articles
Apr 29, 2024
News
Minimising cultural impacts with trenchless
Through the benefits of trenchless technology, Yarra Valley Water is minimising impacts on the Upper Darebin Creek branch sewer project.
The project consists of building a 2.7km sewer pipe in Epping, …
Apr 26, 2024
News
Bothar’s cutting head innovation
The trenchless industry in Australia continues to grow and the need to provide customised solutions becomes vital for a leading subsurface contractor.
Recognising the need for advanced solutions to meet the growing …
Apr 24, 2024
News
Sustainable drainage solutions: German Start-up transforms urban water management.
Germany boasts a well-established infrastructure for managing rainwater and wastewater, yet many developing countries lack such systems. Addressing this gap, …
Apr 22, 2024
News
HDD tooling that gets the job done
Horizontal directional drilling is a dynamic process that constantly changes and adapts to suit a range of applications across utilities and infrastructure. Operators looking to get the most from their equipment …
Apr 19, 2024
News
WATCH: Overnight with SAERTEX-LINER H20 in São Paulo
Available through Pipe Core, high-quality liner SAERTEX-LINER H20 performed under pressure in São Paulo, Brazil.
Maintaining aging potable water pipe infrastructure is a constant challenge …
Apr 17, 2024
News
Immersive media provides wastewater experience in Denmark
An immersive media experience (IMX) may not be what most people want when they think about industrial wastewater, but that is exactly what visitors can expect when they visit a new installation …
Apr 15, 2024
News
Spotlight on gender diversity at Pipe Core
Since founding in 2008, Pipe Core’s team has grown across all areas of the business and is now in a position where there are more females than males across the organisation. Research published in Harvard …
Apr 12, 2024
News
New Wave of Startups Scale Innovation to Solve Global Water Challenges
Innovators from Around the World Join Xylem’s 2024 Accelerator Program to Deploy Breakthrough Innovations for Utilities and Industrial Users of Water
A new group of startups …
Apr 08, 2024
News
Integrated sustainable electricity and clean drinking water systems
Altitude Water and New Use Energy Solutions have partnered to create integrated, mobile solar-plus-water generation systems that produce sustainable electricity and clean drinking …
Apr 05, 2024
News
How to Evaluate Hydraulic Fracture Risk in HDD Design
The design of horizontal directional drill (HDD) installations often requires an evaluation of the potential for hydraulic fracture of the soil layers through which an HDD passes. Evaluating …
Apr 02, 2024
News
Historic Project Linking Rome and Vatican City Uses Advanced Technology and Local Knowledge to Keep Water Flowing
Relocation of Major Sewer Infrastructure Enables Construction of Pedestrian Link for 35 Million Visitors to the 2025 Jubilee
Water …
Mar 27, 2024
News
USU Study Looks at Water Main Break Rates in the U.S. and Canada
Report Highlights Correlation Between Material and Diameter
Utah State University (USU) has published new research on water main breaks in the United States and Canada, examining …