In 2018, the plumbing industry accounted for $107 billion in revenue. With money like that on the line, there’s no excuse for cutting corners on your industrial piping system’s maintenance and upkeep.
One essential that you should never skimp on is a pipe wear pad.
Not sure what a pipe wear pad is or how it can save you money? Read on for the quick-and-dirty of pipe pads.
The Battle Against Corrosion
There is a constant battle against corrosion as a plant owner or operator. From the time you install an industrial piping system to the day the building falls down, preventing corrosion on the pipes will be an uphill battle.
Causes of Corrosion
The most common cause of corrosion to your pipes is friction. Friction, caused by unavoidable movement of the pipes against their support structures, can scratch the protective coating off your pipes. This leaves an area of exposed metal on each pipe.
The exposed metal typically occurs at support points, where the pipes are being held up, held down, or otherwise secured. It’s the most common place on a pipe to see two metal pieces rubbing together.
Condensation collects at this area where the metal pieces rub together and corrodes the pipes. This corrosion rapidly wears down your pipes and costs you money in repairs.
Cures for Corrosion
There is no cure for corrosion, but there are steps that can be taken to reduce friction, protect the coating on your pipes, and prevent pipe wear.
One option to help to would be to change out the type of support structure you have on all of your pipes. A different support could reduce the amount of metal that comes in contact with the pipes, and ultimately reduce corrosion.
Changing out a full-saddle for a half-saddle would reduce the amount of metal from the support that is touching the pipe by almost half.
Is changing out every support structure in your building feasible? Not always. You have to consider the building design, pipe size, cost of replacement, etc.
A cheaper and easier way to tackle the problem of corrosion is to install pipe wear pads.
Pipe Wear Pads
Pipe wear pads are sometimes called wear pads, pipe pad or fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) pads.
They are a form of pipe liner that is installed onto the outer diameter of the pipe.
This liner is fitted onto the pipe at points where vibrations from the pipes would cause them to rub against the support structure. This liner acts as a cushion.
It is installed in between the pipe and the support structure to isolate the pipe from the support. This reduces friction on the pipe, and saves the protective coating from getting worn off.
Installing pip wear pads is cheaper and easier than renovating the building.
Need Help Winning the Battle?
Corrosion of metals costs the United State’s economy almost $300 billion per year.
You need all the help you can get to tackle to problem of corrosion in your industrial piping system. Changing out your support system is not a reasonable answer to corrosion.
However, investing in pipe wear pads can extend the life of your system, reduce maintenance and repair costs, and save you the energy of redoing the entire pipe system.
Shop our pipe wear pads to find the right ones for your building.
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