I often wonder why the North American drainage market hasn’t used more 3″ – 8″ corrugated smoothwall pipe in coils when the tile is being plowed into the ground. In Europe this product has been the dominent corrugated pipe manufactured for decades, and the manufacturing speeds have progressed significantly with the volume.
Since it hasn’t been introduced you could suppose that the drainage tile customers don’t value some of the benefits that would be gained by using a drainage pipe with a smooth inside such as:
- higher flow capacity given the better Mannnings N flow coeffeicient for a smooth wall pipe
Sample of coilable smoothwall corrugated pipe
- longer runs without increasing the diameter
- possibility to use a lower slope
- better internal cleansing / flushing
- reduced fuel consumption given the possible downsizing of mains.
- Higher equipment usage with the possible extension of runs.
When looking at the above list there seem to be too many benefits to the end user for this product not to enter the market. So one can conclude the barrier to entry must be a technology barrier, with the drainage tile manufacturers not having the appropriate technology to make the product in North America.
In my next posting I’ll talk about some of the requirements that the technology to make coilable corrugated pipe must have to be higly efficient and compete with the low cost 4″ corrugated pipe.
If you have questions about how to make corrugated doublewall pipe in coils you can check out my corrugated pipe technology page and then send us a question, we’ll be happy to get you more information.
Adescor Inc.of Exeter Ontario have recently launched a new machine to automate the cutting of larger diameter pipe in the 24″ – 60″ size range into manageable pieces. The best use of the machine is to take the pieces directly onto a conveyor belt and feed them into the grinder direct, but the machine is also setup to put the pieces into a gaylord box. For a QUOTE on the corrugated pipe scrap reduction system contact us.
Corrugated pipe scrap reduction machine
As corrugated pipe production has gotten larger and larger in diameter it has become a nuisance in the plant to deal with the scrap that can be produced during start up. In pipe diameters ranging from 24″ – 60″ it becomes more and more expensive to buy a huge grinder to deal with large pipe pieces. Why not chunk it down into smaller rectangles and use a lower horsepower grinder?
The traditional way to handle the corrugated pipe is to bisect into quarters, or sometimes eighths in shorter pieces of 4′ – 5′ in length. Most of this work is done on a sawzall. I’ve been to a few start-ups that we considered quite efficient, but even in these situations the staff can have 30 – 40 feet of pipe to cut up and put in the grinder. When your dealing with 60″ pipe this can be an ominous task, and a few pounds as well. The last thing you want is for the pipe to go in the yard to be cut later, get dirty and contaminate your regrind stream when it eventually does get cut and ground.
As you start to run your plant with shorter production runs – a typical strategy to reduce inventory and increase flexibility to make products the customer wants – then your start-up scrap becomes a more frequent occurrence.
The machine from Adescor isn’t a shredder, or fancy device to reduce the pipe into small granular pieces. Its a good old fashioned simple shear that chunks the pipe into approximately 6″ by 18″ pieces, and does this automatically on pipe lengths of about 5′. A typical length the guys will cut during start up to check the inside of the pipe before they run it through the downstream equipment.
The machine works well, and is already proving very popular with the guys in the plant. For the owners, you get the scrap cut up much quicker, back into regrind and into the extruder with less contamination. For more information on the Adescor corrugated pipe scrap reduction system please get in touch with us at Profilepipe Machinery or send us an inquiry from this site.
TK
I just came back from my 7thK show, My fourth as an exhibitor, the prior three I had the pleasure to be a prospective buyer. My Father and Uncle did the trip for 15 years before me and bought some of the first Reifenhauser corrugators to come into North America just after ADS had started in the US.
So ,what have I noticed after the past 21 years going to the K?
If you are looking to buy a machine that makes corrugated pipe, the mechanical technology hasn’t changed much. You have vertically oriented corrugators, and horizontal table top styles. These two designs can be dated back to Fraenkishe making the design in the table top horizontal configuration and then Reifenhauser, making the first vettically oriented machine.
Each has particular benefits in certain customer situations. You can also make this comparison about air cooled Vs. water cooled, both work, and work well if the proper climate exists, or the investment to make the proper climate is made by the customer.
This is also the challenge about how long a corrugator you buy? Should you buy a machine that is set up for 5 years down the road in output? A much bigger investment, or should you start with a lower capacity machine with the ability to extend in the future? Why not ask this to the guys who are trying to sell you their great technology? What is the upgrade potential? Let them help you make the money to buy the fastest technology.
So, come back in a couple weeks, I’ll have a few more points on what you need to be looking for if you’re ready to buy a corrugator. As a point to all, you should be doing a credit check on all the corrugator suppliers before you give them any of your money! Rumours are rampant in the industry about one of the majors running out of cash.