Exclusive technology for double wall pipes production

Diffusion in the market for double wall corrugated (DWC) pipes, as a valid alternative to the common concrete, has led ITIB Machinery International to invest for promoting and manufacturing this type of equipment. The corrugator, the heart of this extrusion line, actually represents the range of pipes that can be made to meet the present demands. It is able to produce pipes with an outer diameter starting from 70mm id up to 600mm id. <br />
<br />
The wide range allows to cover the production of pipes up to 50mm od, in case of standards according to the outer diameter or 600mm, in case of inner diameter. Within this range, our customers can produce telecom ducting, sewerage pipes, drainage pipes, among others.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the advantages of double wall corrugated (DWC) pipes made from plastics? Just to name a few most important advantages are:</span><br />
<br />
1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The pipes are lighter than conventional (steel or concrete) pipes. Easy to lay and easy to move around.<br />
2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cost of transportation of DWC plastic pipes is much cheaper than the conventional pipes.<br />
3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Longer life of the DWC pipes in comparison to conventional pipes. DWC pipes are anti corrosive and resistant to abrasion.<br />
4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Easy to handle DWC pipes. A pipe of 70mm id of 6 meters weighs under 7 kgs and a conventional pipe is shorter in length and weighs almost 10 times a DWC pipe. This requires additional manpower or heavy equipment to load and unload during transportation and delivery. Moreover DWC pipes are light in weight but extremely strong and sturdy.<br />
5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Less joints during laying of DWC in comparison to conventional pipes and therefore there are less chances of leakage. <br />
6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; most important feature is that DWC pipes are 100% recyclable at the end of its life.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">What are the features of an ITIB corrugator?</span><br />
1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The corrugator is complete of all the most updated technical solutions like: open shuttle construction, integral cooling, with chilled water flowing directly inside the moulds, vacuum forming system and is characterized by the interesting, uncommon and extremely useful possibility to open the moulds forming channel, sideways in case of any emergency stop or power failure. This solution allows an easy access to dies and cooling mandrel of the inner layer and consequently a quick removal of any plastic material and fast restart up of the line.<br />
2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Water cooling makes the line independent from ambient conditions and having the possibility to drop the water temperature, cooling is more efficient, especially in case of direct cooling, when the water is flowing directly inside the moulds.<br />
3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In case of power failure, a ups unit, supplied with the line, allows the main movements of the equipment.<br />
4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The cooling water hoses are connected to the carriers and not directly to the moulds: there is no need to disconnect and connect them again when changing sizes/diameters.<br />
5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The geometry of the pipe profiles has been studied to fulfil the standard en13476 and to get a very low pipe weight. The line that has been tested is decimated to an important turkish producer.<br />
6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The upper gears are on the carriers and not fixed to the moulds: this means that it is faster to change the moulds and/additional expensive sets of racks.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Joining of pipes:</span><br />
The customer will use injected couplings with double sealing rubber ring to join the pipes. The pipes that have been produced present a uniform and constant material wall thickness, guaranteeing a high quality socket and joint. The same pipes can be joint with any alternative solution such as over injection of the coupling, spin welding or welding with added plastic material which we elaborate in more details hereunder:<br />
Socketing types:-<br />
<br />

<ul>
<li>Socketing of the pipe on line using a socketing machine. This is the most preferred solution in europe due to the fact that the pipes have socket which is easy to join and perfectly round in shape.</li>
<li>Couplers – injected or roto-moulded (two gaskets). Separately fabricated or injection moulded or roto moulded couplers is a cheaper solution as far as manufacturing of a socket is concerned but being used to join two pipes there is an extra length and therefore costly as we use extra material to produce the same. </li>
<li>Spin welding of shorter injected or roto-moulded couplers (one gasket)</li>
<li>Injecting a coupler directly on the pipe. </li>
<li>This is a new technology becoming popular but an extremely expensive option.</li>
<li>In line socket during the corrugation process with one or two layers (patented). </li>
<li>In case of one layer, it is necessary to trim the inner one. Some basic disadvantage of this system is the ovality of the socket and creating problems during joining and laying of the pipes.</li>
<li>As far as the productivity of the line is concerned, outputs from 500 kg/h up to 700 kg/h, depending on the pipe size, can be reached.</li></ul><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Authored by Rajiv Sanghavi from ITIB Machinery</span><br />