The PT&P catalog for cold shoes, hot shoes and other pre-insulated pipe supports is near completion. Draft copies of the catalog were distributed to certain customers for review. PT&P is now using the feedback received as a basis for revising and improving our first draft. Finished copies of the PT&P Pre-Insulated Pipe Supports Catalog will be available in late 1998.

In need of some pre-insulated pipe supports? Request a quote today!

PT&P’s World Wide Web site will soon host another valuable technical resource for engineers around the world. A figure number conversion tool will allow engineers to enter alternative figure numbers (Grinnell and others) and find matching PT&P figure numbers.Engineers are encouraged to replace alternative figure numbers with corresponding PT&P figure numbers in their technical specifications.  Look for the PT&P Figure Conversion Tool online at our web site.

News from Quality Control
PT&P’s QC Manager, has lead several testing efforts including three at cryogenic temperatures. Two of these tested coils in springs, the other tested an anchor for cryogenic pipelines. Tests on aluminum travel stops proved successful and these are a new PT&P standard. Other new standard procedures cover bonding processes.

QC Manager Testing an Expansion Joint

The picture at left shows PT&P’s QC Manager as he is preparing to test the pressure capability of a 4″-150 lb. rated metal expansion joint unit. The unit is sealed and gauged as air is introduced through a fitting on the top blind flange. As a pump supplies air, the gauges indicate how much pressure the unit is experiencing.

Big Pipe Spools

Pipe Spools

This photo shows a few of the spools loaded on a truck going to the port of Houston. These were fabricated by SWECO for a major Houston E&C firm for their project in Trinidad.

Big Pig Launcher

Pig Launcher

Shown in this photograph is a pipeline pig launcher-receiver fabricated by the SWECO FAB Division of Piping Technology. Our client supplied this one to a British Petroleum project in Columbia. These special “pressure vessels” are a SWECO specialty.

Spring coils are so pervasive in design of pipe supports that our collective paradigm limits our ability to consider alternatives. The photograph below shows an example of a pipe support designed for the special environment of an off-shore platform which uses a stainless steel metal bellows instead of a spring coil.

Stainless Steel Bellows Used as Spring Coil

This customer was concerned about the corrosive environment and the salt water which will occasionally flow over the pipe support. The rolled plate on the left will be welded to a structural pipe on the platform. A riser clamp (not shown) will be attached on the right. The stainless steel bellows was designed with the proper spring rate and movement.

In need of a spring coil? Let us price one for you today!

The photo (below) shows PT&P’s Engineering Manager, Anthony Palisch, accepting a plaque while Randy Bailey (left) and Durga Agrawal (right) look on.

Accepting a Plaque

The plaque states “In an effort to demonstrate the unified pursuit of quality and cost reduction through a long term relationship, this agreement is established with Piping Technology and Products. The mutual goal… is to achieve a high standard of excellence in both product and service to our clients through innovative work processes and shared cooperative effort.” Piping Technology was the first vendor selected for this recognition.

“Like a Rock” Polyurethane Blocks
Chevrolet uses the phrase “Like a Rock” to advertise their pick-up trucks. PT&P recently produced some polyurethane blocks for a major E&C customer to their specification of 2,000 pound compressive strength as measured by ASTM D1621 tests. Our supplier produced a special chemical blend for a nominal density of 38 pounds/cubic foot and PT&P built special molds to satisfy this “Like a Rock” requirement for the Gulf Coast ethylene plant.

PT&P Technical Team Goes to Algeria
In March, PT&P sent a technical team to a LNG facility near Skikda, Algeria to provide assistance on pipe support replacement for the GL1K project. This large facility has several units that have operated for more than twenty years. Our team examined the units and recommended replacement of cryogenic and spring supports. Since travel in Algeria is subject to heavy restriction, our team had to fly from Tarbarka, Tunisia by helicopter to and from the job site. The trip lasted about two weeks.

During the summer of 1996, PT&P continues in its tradition of offering “real world” experience to high school and college students. Most of the students are working in the engineering and clerical departments at PT&P, and some are engaged in other activities. Both the students and PT&P have benefitted from the summer program.

Piping Technology and Products, Inc. thanks and salutes our summer interns. We look forward to continued participation and cooperation in the future. Thank You For Your Feedback!!!

Many customers took the time to answer our survey about our printed mailing program. We appreciate your feedback and we will continue to try to communicate information you find useful and enjoyable. The results of the 1996 survey are as follows:

93% said our technical bulletins are useful in their job.

87% said their job requires the use of our catalog.

75% of those who use the catalog said the three types of indexes make it easy to find the information needed.

88% said our newsletter covers topics of interest to them.

Only 2% would like to see different photographs on our calendar.

The Society of Piping Engineers and Designers, or SPED, has been closely tied with Piping Technology & Products, Inc. since SPED’s founding in 1980. PT&P was one of the companies that helped found SPED fifteen years ago. We are still an active supporter, and our own Terry McCormick serves on the SPED board of directors. Thanks to this position, Terry has developed many friends in the field of piping design, which helps PT&P continue to serve this ever-changing industry.

SPED was born as the result of a union between the University of Houston and the community of piping professionals from the Houston area. Because of this special partnership, SPED has a genuine interest in encouraging the development of technical knowledge and engineering education. And now that SPED boasts over 400 members, the industry still benefits from the annual SPED conference and regular training courses. In addition to the more formal events and purposes of SPED, committee members certainly still know how to enjoy themselves. The annual fall picnic was held at the Buckhorn Ranch & Lake in Houston this year, and all of SPED’s members are eagerly looking forward to next year’.

Piping Technology & Products, Inc. is very proud of our involvement in SPED’s foundation and support. We hope that our support of this society will contribute to the pool of knowledge and experience in our field. We would also like to commend Terry McCormick on his continuing work on the board of directors, and to thank him for his devotion to our industry.

Over the summer of 1995, Piping Technology & Products, Inc. again took advantage of the opportunity for outreach to area high school and college students in order to give them some real-life experience in the world of professional engineering. This year, PT&P sponsored 12 summer interns for work in the design, engineering and clerical departments of our offices. This internship program is a great opportunity for Piping Technology as well as for the students themselves. Several of the students returned from last summer, and it is certain that several of them will be back next year.

The summer interns came from local St. John’s high school and from universities all over the country. Among the represented colleges were the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Middlebury College and Rice University. As a matter of fact, PT&P employees got an exciting opportunity this season to watch summer intern Eric Ober help push the Rice football team to an unprecedented first-place ranking in the Southwest Conference.

Piping Technology & Products, Inc. is committed to furthering the education of today’s young leaders. PT&P realizes that, as we move into the future, the investments we make in the professional and academic development of students will most certainly flourish and provide us with a brighter tomorrow. Piping Technology & Products, Inc. thanks and salutes our summer interns. We look forward to continued participation and cooperation in years to come.

Many piping groups in E&C firms are reviewing their strategies for combating corrosion in piping components. The history of Piping Technology & Products, Inc. has been strongly influenced by industry efforts to combat corrosion, which has always been a major problem at Gulf Coast U.S.A. petrochemical plants. The bolted design we developed for variable springs was originally justified as a quality improvement for hot dipped galvanized finish. This approach allows the spring to be assembled and calibrated with no welding after galvanizing. Prior to this PT&P innovation, the heat from welding could damage both the finish of the welded component and the neoprene coating of the spring coil inside the can. The thousands of springs we have supplied with hot dipped galvanized finish and neoprene-coated coils have proven the validity of this approach as the most cost-effective way to prevent corrosion.

Hot dip galvanizing is a unique process which develops a metallurgical bond of zinc-iron alloy between the zinc coating and the steel product it protects. It provides a continuous layer barrier which physically isolates the steel from the environment. Painting, on the other hand, is a barrier coating which is subject to damage from contact (scratching). Hot dip galvanizing provides a much longer life than painting in corrosive environments partly because zinc forms protective oxide and carbonate films which reduce the rate of corrosion dramatically. Steel exposed to the same environment will corrode at a rate of about twenty-five times the rate of zinc. Zinc also resists accelerated local corrosion even when its outer film has been broken or scratched. The actual rate varies with the electrolyte at the surface.

We provide various types of finishes for corrosion. Contact us for the right finish for your application.