battenfeld-cincinnati (Bad Oeynhausen/Vienna), the recognized market and technology leader in large-diameter pipe extrusion, has won a contract with a leading supplier of large-diameter pipes: Pipelife Norge AS, Surnadal, Norway recently placed an order for one of the world’s biggest large-diameter pipe extrusion lines, to produce fully walled polyolefin pipes with diameters of up to 2,500 mm at their plant in Stathelle.

 

Pipelife Norge specializes in manufacturing pipes of enormous lengths and is the only company worldwide to produce pipe segments with a length of up to 600 m for offshore applications. For this purpose, the pipes are extruded directly into the sea, then bundled and towed to the desired place of installation. The advantages of laying pipe segments in such lengths are low transport and installation costs, a reduced risk of damage to the pipes in transit, and simple, quick laying with only very few welded joints.

 

With the line now on order from battenfeld-cincinnati, Pipelife Norge is extending its product portfolio to pipes of up to 2,500 mm in diameter. To this end, the line is equipped with a 120 mm single-screw extruder from the new 40D solEX series. The extruder is capable of plasticizing up to 2,200 kg of resin per hour with optimal melt homogeneity. In proven battenfeld-cincinnati design, this compact processing machine comes with an anti-wear coated barrel-and-screw combination, is equipped with a maintenance-free AC drive and is easily set and monitored via an integrated control system in the extruder. The two-step helix 2500 VSI pipe die model selected, featuring a lattice basket combined with a spiral mandrel, has already been proven many times in polyolefin processing and is characterized, among other things, by an optimal wall thickness distribution without corrugated inner surfaces.

 

Pipelife Norge has chosen several die change sets capable of producing pipes with a wide range of diameters from 1,200 to 2,500 mm and with wall thicknesses ranging from 48 to 96 mm. Also custom-made for the Norwegian application is the haul-off system, which battenfeld-cincinnati will deliver together with the extruder and main extrusion die at the end of this year, after an extremely short production lead time, in view of this order’s enormous dimensions and complexity. The caterpillar haul-off, also a customized product made to measure, is equipped with 14 caterpillars, each with its own drive, and laid out for pipes with diameters ranging from 1,200 to 2,500 mm. According to the customer’s specifications, the caterpillar haul-off comes with special safety gates, which allow access for servicing and adjustments of settings during production. Finally, the caterpillar haul-off also has its own BMCtouch control system which allows each caterpillar to be set individually.

 

Pipelife International GmbH, established in 1989 as a joint venture of the building materials manufacturer Wienerberger AG and the primary materials producer Solvay Österreich AG, both based in Vienna, employs 2,350 people today in 27 countries, in 26 of which it operates production facilities. For the last fiscal year, Pipelife International, also headquartered in Vienna, has reported 716 million EUR in sales. Pipelife produces plastic pipe systems including all fittings for transporting fresh water, waste water and gas, as well as for the protection of electric cables.