Case Study
Duratherm’s performance offers the perfect solution
American Pipe & Plastics is a leading manufacturer of extruded PVC pipe. Based in Kirkwood NY, the company was established in 1977 to service the plumbing, water and sewer industries as well as telecommunications, power utility and fiber optic conduit markets.
While tooling up one of their extrusion lines recently to run their AmlinerII Sewer rehabilitation liner, American Pipe found the heat transfer fluid’s temperature control system was severely fouled with sludge and carbon after years of 24/7 production. The company turned to the extruder manufacturer for assistance, and the OEM recommended they contact Duratherm Extended Life Fluids.
After extensive consultation, fluid sampling and analysis, it was determined DuraClean Ultra would be the best option for returning the line to like-new condition. DuraClean Ultra is engineered to strip fouled systems of carbon and sludge deposits in a matter of hours, so it was ideally suited for American Pipe’s busy, non-stop production schedule.
“With the severity of the system’s sludge deposits we were hesitant that a cleaning product could replace days of manual cleaning and disassembly,” said Mark Fransiscovich, American Pipe’s maintenance technician.
“After six hours we were thoroughly impressed. The system was spotless, and all of the hard build-up was completely removed to a degree that we thought was only attainable by sending units out to be tank cleaned.”
With the success of this project, American Pipe turned to Duratherm to solve another difficult situation.
American Pipe was setting up a line to run their AMFO Multi Fiber Optic Conduit system, utilizing their patented “snap clip” system. This specialized process called for extremely tight tolerance, which could only be achieved by maintaining tight temperature control across the extruder’s multiple zones.
Working with various OEs, American Pipe considered water cooling jackets, air cooling fans and traditional heat transfer fluids. They knew heat transfer fluids would provide the steady, even temperature control required for the process, but past experience with heat transfer fluids fouling and breaking down left them hesitant.
This time Duratherm recommended its flagship fluid, Duratherm 600. It would not only provide the precise temperature control required by American Pipe, but also minimized downtime and the risk of fouling they had experienced with other fluids. Duratherm 600’s advanced formulation ensures long-term, trouble-free operation, particularly in open-to-atmosphere systems such as those found in extrusion through the use of an exclusive and extensive additive package.
Fransiscovich was impressed.
“We have completely redesigned our PM procedure to incorporate Duratherm fluids exclusively in all our extrusion lines. As a result we have seen a much lower percentage of issues and downtime associated with our thermal transfer units and a significantly longer runtime between shutdowns, a definite financial savings.”
About American Pipe & Plastics
American Pipe & Plastics, Inc. is a privately-owned business. It was incorporated in the state of New York in 1977. The company was formed for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe and related products.