The Pipe Support Blog

Custom Pipe Support Assemblies For An Oil Refinery In Mexico

Piping Technology and Products designed and built 24 custom pipe support assemblies to meet the unusual needs of an oil refinery in Mexico. The pipe hanger assemblies each consisted of a 200 E-type constant spring support and a cradle assembly. The constants are designed for loads of 9856 lb. to 13,288 lb., and for total travels ranging from 3.5" to 5.5". Operational conditions dictated that the constant springs have settings for emergency and start-up, in additional to the standard settings of cold for shipping, and hot for normal operations.

The cradle assemblies attached to the constants are to support pipes with operational temperatures of 1070°F to 1100°F. Thus while the constants could be made of A-36 steel, the assemblies could not. The pipe saddle itself was made by splitting a section of A387-11 chrome alloy pipe. The other support components were all made of 304 stainless steel. This includes a 1-3/4" Eye Rod, two 27" I.D. U-bolts, and two 33" lengths of 3" diameter SCH. 80 pipe.

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68" In Height Vertical Upthrust Constants

Piping Technology & Products, Inc. designed and built two, 68" in height 100 U-Type constants for a power plant in Mexico. The vertical upthrust constants were designed to support 48,500 lb. each with a total upward travel of 3". In order to prevent buckling of the constant housing, each constant was designed with five C7 x 14 3/4 lb. channels and a base plate of 26 3/8" x 33 1/4". These unique 100 U-Type upthrust constants were custom designed by PT&P to accommodate limited horizontal space requirement. The constants will be placed opposite to each other on a beam capable of supporting 99,000 lb. load of the pipe, plus the weight of the constants.

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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.