Plastic pipes – CARBOPIPE system

Lower costs of construction and operation of pipelines as well as versatility and the option of changing a pipeline’s function.

The CARBOPIPE system is a complete, innovative solution for pipes, fittings, fixtures and accessories, which for years has been successfully used in the construction of pressure pipelines at mining locations. Being the sole licensee of Spyra Primo Poland Sp. z o.o. with regard to the CARBOPIPE system, CARBOSPEC M. Jaśniok Spółka Jawna is the producer of all inventions in the range of products under this system.

Places of application:

• Mining sites: locations extracting primary and common products, in particular hard coal, with underground rooms and headings (including shafts) of methane explosion hazard class A, B or C and dust coal explosion hazard class A or B.
• Mining sites extracting primary and common products, excluding hard coal, crude oil and natural gas, with underground rooms and headings (including shafts) without any methane explosion hazard class or dust coal explosion hazard class.
• Surface mines, including mechanical coal processing plant.

Application type:

Installation of pressure pipelines, especially in:

• fire water systems
• drainage systems
• systems for transport of non-flammable liquids, water suspensions and solid suspensions (including slushing and hydraulic handling)
• process systems
• compressed air, inert gas, demethanization and air conditioning systems

Advantages:

The new technologies used in the construction of plastic pipelines allow for the design of transmission networks with a much longer service life than steel solutions. The CARBOPIPE system is designed for underground mines, in methane-bearing and methane-free fields at underground headings of methane explosion hazard class A, B or C and dust coal explosion hazard class A and B, including mine shafts. The high strength and a lack of sensitivity to corrosion make CARBOPIPE suitable for work in the most difficult underground mining conditions. With the interchangeability of functions of the transmitted medium, the pipeline can be used for the transport of liquids, compressed air, inert gases as well as methane. Under mining conditions, water pipelines are very often needed to transmit compressed air or other gases. CARBOPIPE is the only system that provides this function. The innovative flange connection solution ensures the continuity of media transmission in a uniform material structure while maintaining full compatibility with the existing network of steel pipelines.

The service life of the plastic pipeline is estimated at approx. 20–30 years while maintaining the technical parameters of the transmitted medium, and in particular constant performance throughout its service life. Such a long service life in the aspect of pipe allocation from liquidated mining excavations to newly created areas is essential from the point of view of their various uses. After years of operation of a pipeline network, the interchangeability of the functions of the transported medium from the point of view of the current desired application guarantees safety and is in accordance with the applicable laws.

Resistance to external impact is set by the PN-EN 744 and ISO 3127 standards, introducing the true impact rate (TIR), where the maximum value is 10% (TIR ≤ 10%) depending on the number of impacts and damage. According to Annex A of this standard, it can be concluded that the accuracy of the test method is statistically low. This is illustrated by the following example:

– if nine samples tested for 100 impacts are destroyed, this gives a TIR between 5.5% and 13.8% (with 90% confidence).

The standards cited above relate to thermoplastic pipe systems intended for installation or being placed underground. In such conditions, the occurrence of failures caused by an impact during operation is unlikely.

In the case of pipes used in headings of underground mining plants (e.g. suspended ones) there is a very high probability of external impacts. In addition, at the moment of impact a pipeline may be under hydrostatic pressure. These two cases can cause damage to the pipe during its operation.

Therefore, for safety reasons, the TIR value should be set at 0%. In laboratory practice, this means several times the increase in impact resistance and, consequently, extended service life.

From the point of view of costs, expenditure on the purchase of pipeline, transport and assembly down in the mine, it is crucial to compare the service life of a steel pipeline and a plastic pipeline. In addition, the important cost-related and organisational aspect is the efficiency of pipeline construction due to the significantly lower weight of plastic pipes.