The Pipe Support Blog

48" Diameter x 96" S/S Vertical Carbon Steel Filter Vessels

Sweco Fab, the ASME fabrication shop of Piping Technology & Products, Inc., specially designed and manufactured three steel, rubber-lined vessels for a MTBE manufacturer located in Deer Park, TX.

The carbon steel filter vessels were designed with rubber linings in order to help prevent or delay corrosion within. The vessels are 48" diameter x 96" s/s vertical and built to ASME. All vessels underwent hydrostatic testing in order to detect leaks.

60,000 Lb. Load Type "B" Variable Spring Hangers

PT&P specially designed two Type "B" variable spring hangers (2-250-B) for an oil company in Ryazan, Russia. These variable spring hangers were custom designed to support a load of 60,000 lbs. with a spring rate of 3,648 lbs./in. respectively. Due to loading requirements, these variable spring hangers were also designed to accommodate a travel of 1", upward movement.

Are variable spring hangers a necessity for your next project? Get pricing now!

Take advantage of our currently open shop space!
PT&P and its wholly owned subsidiaries US Bellows and Sweco Fab are manufacturers of a variety of high quality engineered products. We're open, 24/7, to meet all your quick-turn/ emergency needs! PT&P and its wholly owned subsidiaries US Bellows and Sweco Fab are manufacturers of a variety of high quality engineered products.

PT&P has a system of stock inventory that allows us to quickly assemble and ship products such as:

*Engineered Spring Supports
*Expansion Joints
*Support Assembly Components
*Fabricated Pipe Shoes and Anchors
*Flow Products
*Slide Plates and more!

PT&P Verifies New Designs for LNG Phenolic Base Support with Load Testing

Load Testing a Spring Support

Piping Technology & Products, Inc. performs thorough product testing to verify new designs to a LNG Laminated Phenolic base support for an E&C company located in Houston, Texas. In order to determine the failure loads for a 30" diameter, pre-insulated shoes and a 6" diameter Laminated Phenolic base support respectively, PT&P performed lateral-load and axial load tests. The load tests performed ensure the pre-insulated pipe shoes can safely sustain the specified design load. The insulated shoes tested for the E&C company will be in service in 2001 at Atlantic LNG, where they will be used to support the liquid nitrogen gas (LNG) lines.

Big Ton Springs Installation Guide
1. Measure the existing installed load setting height to make sure that the big ton spring will fit tightly into the space provided. Shim from below as needed to ensure proper fit.
2. Place the big ton spring in the designated location, making sure that all required slide plates, shims, or auxiliary steel are in their proper positions.
3. Travel stop bolts can be released after all testing has been done. The travel stops are painted red and located on each end of the big ton spring. Follow the steps below to release the travel bolt stops. Please refer to the drawings to the left.
(a) Turn the nut on travel stop bolt No. 1 one-half turn; repeat on bolts 2 through 4.
(b) Repeat in this sequential order until the load is released. The load has now been transferred to whatever the big ton spring is supporting.
4. CAUTION: Be sure that the nuts on the travel stop bolts are backed off enough to accommodate the appropriate travel (Example: 1 inch of travel - the nuts should be backed off by 2 inches from the bottom of the travel stop plate.)
5. At this time the Lifting Eye Bolts may be removed.

Tension Systems
In some cases, a straight line system of axial bellows anchors and guides is not practical or desired; or there is no reasonable way/ place to anchor the bellows thrust loads. In such cases self restrained bellows assemblies may be used, such as the double hinge restrained bellows shown below. Thermal expansion (or contraction) in the long pipe is absorbed by an offset deflection of the double hinge assembly. Bellows thrust load is carried by hinge bars, gimbals, tie rods or other such devices; hence normal tension is maintained in the pipe system and main anchors and full lateral restraint guides are unnecessary.

Big-Ton D and Big-Ton T Upthrust Constants

PT&P custom designed and built four Big Ton D Upthrust Constants(figure 1) and two pairs of Big Ton T Upthrust Constants (figure 2) for a global engineering & construction company.

These upthrust constants are installed at a Petrochemical Plant in Siberia. Due to space limitation, the Big Ton D Upthrust Constants and Big Ton T Upthrust Constants were designed for a total travel of 5" and 4" respectively. The Big Ton D Upthrust Constants were also designed for a load of 50,022 Ibs with a height of 26 inches. The Big Ton T Upthrust Constants with a height of 16.5" were designed for 75,000 Ibs, and 67,464 Ibs respectively.

Does your project require constant springs? Request pricing today!

Emergency Field Service Request on Constant

Piping Technology & Products, Inc. and its 24x7 Quick Turn/Emergency Service were put to the test on a Friday evening when they received an emergency call from a company located in Jamaica. The Jamaican company was concerned with existing pipe supports at their location and made a request for a PT&P field services representative to visit and inspect.

An experienced PT&P field services manager arrived at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday to survey and fulfill the request.

The reported problem was a pair of rusted and decayed spring hangers dating back to 1969. After inspection, PT&P’s field services manager concluded that the aged spring hangers could no longer support the piping system due to changes in the design of the system, whereas, failure resulted in additional forces being exerted onto the steam turbine.

Following identification of the measurements, load capabilities, and movements of the spring hangers, it was apparent that the system design did not compensate for the weight of two globe valves that were added to the system at a later date. Thus, PT&P’s field services manager had to take into consideration the weight of these two globe valves when sizing the replacement parts.

PT&P supplied and delivered two Type G variable spring assemblies to Jamaica on the following Monday. Type G assemblies can accommodate unusually heavy loads, and is especially adaptable for avoiding interference in spaces where headroom is limited. In this case, the spring assembly was supporting loads in excess of 2000 lbs. and movement was limited due to its location in the powerhouse.

16’ Dia. x 20’ Carbon Steel Storage Tank

Dual cranes are required to lift the pictured 16’ x 20’ Carbon Steel Storage Tank to a flatbed eighteen-wheeler for transportation to the paint yard.Upon completion of painting and lining it will be shipped to a major producer of caustic soda in Corpus Christi, South Texas Area.

This is one of many (similar type) tanks and pressure vessels supplied for a recent plant expansion.

Learn more about tanks and vessels from our webinar archives.

Color-Coded Insulating Components

The pictures above show pipe supports designed for a system with very cold operating temperatures. The insulating components are polyurethane, which are inside the galvanized steel exterior of the support. At the top left of the picture are the color-coded polyurethane components of a “cold shoe” for a 60” pipe, the top (green) is 14 lb/ft3 density and the bottom (orange) is 20 lb/ft3 density. The higher density material has greater compressive strength but it is a better conductor of heat. The other pictures show finished shoes which have white coating over the polyurethane. Hot shoes, designed for high operating temperatures, are similar but usually have different insulating materials.

Want to learn more about pre-insulated supports? View a recording of a past live pre-insulated webinar.

Bonding Strength Testing for Low Temperature Application Adhesive

In the picture above, a test of the bonding strength of an adhesive designed for low temperature applications is being conducted. Polyurethane strips have been bonded to metal strips which are pulled apart in a load cell which measures the force applied.

Polyurethane is often specified for components of insulated pipe shoes and supports for cold temperature applications. Polyurethane provides both insulation and load carrying capacity for pipes when it is bonded to a metal pipe shoe or support. Piping Technology & Products, Inc. fabricates all types of insulated pipe supports. The type of insulation specified depends on the temperature profile the pipe will experience and the loads and movement at the point of application.

PT&P provides testing services and pipe support maintenance in the field. Let us help you today!

86" Diameter Pipe Clamps

Specially formed and gusseted 86” diameter clamps are being strapped to their pallets for their journey to Western Canada.

PT&P designed and built these specialty clamps of 3” x 16” bar stock for a major producer of oil and gas in Alberta for an application in their process sector.

Would you like to learn more about pipe clamps? Check out a recording of a live pipe clamps webinar.