Plastic pipe market to grow with rapid infrastructure development in Middle East

With rapid infrastructure development in the Middle East region, the markets are growing for pipe systems from water and sewage to cooling systems and industrial pipes. In addition, existing pipe systems are leaking valuable water resources and need to be upgraded. Applied Market Information organised a conference in June 2008 to bring the industry together in Dubai to debate the market trends and regional issues. Noavaran Baspar provides pipe testing services in Iran and has compared global and local standards. The issues are the climate in the Gulf region compared to Europe where most international standards have been set: UV exposure is 700kj/square cm/year; water temperature in the pipe can rise to 50 C; outside temperature ranges from -20 to +55 C; water tends to be higher in chlorine content. There is also a need to raise the standards of training for installation to ensure that pipes are handled and joined to the highest quality of workmanship. Professor Alawaji at King Saud University has examined polyethylene (PE) pipe performance at higher temperatures as they are a cost effective solution in arid regions. SABIC is a major supplier of bimodal PE for pressure pipes in the Middle East. This PE 100 material offers good resistance to stress crack growth and crack propagation, durability and a long lifetime in service. Like other suppliers, SABIC would like to see the development of local performance standards for plastics pipes - low quality products have been damaging the market image in the region. Total Petrochemicals has a new low sagging PE 100 material for thick walled pressure pipes. There are around 120 producers of large diameter pipes worldwide and the market is moving to Asia and the Middle East. Firat has used this material in the Bosporus potable water pipeline. There is a new PE-RT material from Dow with improved higher temperature performance. It can be used in more aggressive environments. LyondellBasell has polypropylene (PP) block copolymers for sewage and drainage pipes. It has been used for solid wall sewage pipes by Rehau and profile walled pipes by Frank, Gigapipe and Plomyplas among others. The pipes have high impact strength, high ring stiffness and good resistance to chemicals such as hydrogen sulphide. Carbon black is added to pipe compounds to improve UV-resistance and to give antistatic properties to gas pipes. It is supplied by companies such as Colombian. Proper dispersion is critical as cracks can form at pigment agglomerations. MENA is one of the driest regions of the world and water supply is a critical matter. For example, Kuwait uses 2200% more fresh water than is naturally available. In addition there are water quality problems in Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Yemen. Georg Fischer Piping has a global commitment to plastics pipes technology for water supply and conservation: it estimates water loss in the region due to leakage of old pipelines at 30-50%. Reducing leakage, reusing water and desalination plants will all improve the situation. It recommends PE100 fusion welded pipelines for water transport. Krah produces gravity pipes in PE or polypropylene (PP) with integrated socket and spigot joints for sewage mains from 300 mm to 4000 mm, made to DIN standards. The company obtains a weight saving of 65% by using a structured rather than a solid pipe wall. It also produces custom PE pressure pipes. Austrian companies such as Agru Kunststofftechnik have long-term field experience with production and use of polyethylene pipe. They have tested the pipe to find times and causes of failure in order to predict safe operating conditions. Modern stabilisers in the formulation can take lifetime to >100 years. ISO 9080 gives guidelines for lifetime prediction. Agru has also dug up a 20 year old pipeline and checked performance -it was still fully satisfactory by mechanical and chemical testing standards. There are around 720 companies in Iran producing PE pipes and fittings for water, gas and sewage according to ZamZam Plastic Industrial Co. PE is in competition with GRP and steel. Iran sets its own standards as well as using global norms. Uponor anticipates that crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) will hold more than 75% of the European market for radiant thermal conditioning pipes in 2010. The pipes are embedded in the building structure for heating or cooling, reducing the size of the system. One project is cooling pipes in the floor of Bangkok International airport. PVC pipes came into use in the 1970s. In the Middle East more than 85% of the PVC consumption is in the construction industry according to Misr Elhegaz. Expansion is forecast in sewage, drainage and telecommunication pipes in most countries, only Libya and Sudan are still sceptical about the environmental concerns about PVC, which have been addressed in many countries worldwide. Rohm and Haas has lead-free stabilisers for PVC as one example. TEPPFA is aiming to phase lead out of pipes and fittings by 2010 in Europe. Krauss Maffei Berstorff supplies specialist equipment to manufacture large diameter pipe. Smooth polyolefin (PO) pressure pipe is used at diameters up to 1600 mm, PVC up to 800 mm. Non-pressure corrugated pipe is generally produced up to 1600 mm (PO and PVC). Wound PO pipe can be made up to 4000 mm and steel reinforced up to 2250 mm. The main uses of the large low pressure pipes are in water, drainage and sewage pipelines. Cincinnati Extruders supplies single screw extruders and tooling for PE 100 and PP pipes. SKZ is a German research and testing organisation specialising in quality assurance and testing of PE plastic pipes - quality control has to start with material supply. Bodycote has a similar role in the UK and globally. The glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) pipe market is growing rapidly. In Libya they have been favourably rated compared to steel and are being used in oil and gas transport and infrastructure according to Dr Ramadan Almadani. Composites offer corrosion resistance, strength and lightweight giving the a competitive advantage over traditional materials. The glass reinforcement is readily manufactured in Libya from local raw material and there has been heavy investment in pipe production plant. Subor Boru supplies GRP pipe in Turkey for use in nuclear plant as well as water pipelines, working to standards from organisations such as the ASME. Backfill material quality is critical in pipelines, also regular section testing during installation, which can be difficult for hydrostatic testing due to the lack of local availability of water. Farassan has worked with FRP pipes in oilfield applications in Iran due to their low weight and corrosion resistance. Recent fire testing indicated very good performance of a new pipe: the material is self-insulating with internal water temperature staying at 44 C when the outside flame temperature was 975 C. The MENA region requires extensive pipe renewal and construction to safeguard water supplies and support burgeoning industry and community development. With effective quality control in materials, production, transport and installation, plastic pipes offer a cost-effective solution.