Around the world, research and development (R&D) initiatives present new possibilities for PVC pipes. South African manufacturer Sizabantu Piping Systems expands on the R&D evolution and its own contribution to growing the regional PVC market for water and wastewater, working together with Spanish technology
partner Molecor. By Mike Smart*

PVC pressure pipes were first used about 85 years ago and some 60 years ago, the first PVC sewer pipes were introduced into South Africa; they were not well received. Today, more than 95% of domestic sewer reticulation systems use PVC pipes – so things change.

The improvement in PVC’s strength, driven by improved technology, is substantial: increasing from 10 MPa to 36 MPa as the material has metamorphosed through PVC-U (unplasticised), PVC-M (modified) and PVC-O (oriented). The 260% increase in the strength of PVC-O (Oriented Unplasticised Poly Vinyl Chloride: SANS 16422) pressure pipes provides a significant advantage to design engineers, their clients, and the people.

PVC-O was developed about 40 years ago. Molecular orientation results in the improvement of physical and mechanical properties of the material. Since inception, there have been five improvements in PVC-O material from Classification 315 to 500. The classification number is 10 times the MRS (minimum required strength) of the material that is obtained from its creep rupture curve at 50 years (438 000 hours), in accordance with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) protocol.

A 100-year-plus advantage

Classification 500 PVC-O material must have an MRS of not less than 50 MPa, which, with a design coefficient (C) of 1.4, gives an allowable design stress (σ) of 36 MPa (σ = MRS/C). This is a substantial improvement to twice the allowable design stress (σ) of PVC-M, made possible by improved in-line production technology, which Sizabantu Piping Systems’ technology partner, Molecor, uses to produce its TOM® 500 PVC-O pipes. TOM is Molecor’s registered brand name for its PVC-O pipes (from the Spanish Tubería Orientado Moleculita).

In Graph 1, the top blue curve is for TOM 500 PVC-O and exceeds the required 50 MPa at 50 years – it is 55 MPa. At 100 years (876 000 hours), the MRS is still 53 MPa, proving its service life exceeds 100 years, which is the service life now demanded by clients and consultants. This service life is more than twice the ISO protocol requirement.

R&D advances

Innovation is one of Molecor’s core values and, through appropriate technology, TOM 500 branded PVC-O pipes have increased the range of PVC-O pipes from the previous limit of 315 mm diameter class 16 to 630 mm class 25, with the M-OR-P3136 system in 2010; to 800 mm class 20, with the M-OR-P3180 system in 2013; to 1 000 mm class 16 in 2020; and to 1 200 mm class 16 in 2021, with the M-OR-P5012 system.

This track record of innovation, since their commencement in 2013, proves technological improvement is in their DNA. By April 2021, PVC-O pipes up to 630 mm in diameter will be produced locally by Sizabantu Piping Systems.

Sizabantu Piping Systems’ PVC-O ecoFITTOM® fittings, another innovative first from Molecor, are available up to a 400 mm OD x 90-degree bend. Socketed steel fittings, with a 150 µm sintered epoxy coating, are also available up to 630 mm OD and with flanged ends for larger diameters.

These are exciting developments for the thermoplastic pipe industry, enabling it to compete in the large-diameter, high-pressure pipe market, which was previously beyond its capability. It enables Sizabantu Piping Systems to be equipped and ready to assist with service delivery challenges in South Africa.

NDP shortfalls and opportunities

The National Development Plan (21 May 2007) refers to a “lost generation of infrastructure” and notes that 30% of GDP was spent on gross fixed capital formation (infrastructure) in 1990; by 2007, this had decreased to 19% of GDP. It is currently about 6% of GDP. The pipe market shrank by 15% in 2014 and has not yet recovered. If the recommendations contained in the plan are acted upon and infrastructure – the government’s planned driver of the recovery of the our economy – receives the priority and funds promised, the industry will recover.

The Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (No. 5 of 2000) resulted in a positive development for the thermoplastic piping industry, with a directive from National Treasury, effective 16 September 2019, that local production and content be given preference for pipeline projects – a step forward. Graph 2 shows the catastrophic effect the reduction in infrastructure spend has had on the construction industry and the ‘knock-on’ effect on suppliers to the industry.

The logical choice

PVC-O pipes are lightweight and do not require extensive plant to handle and lay, nor highly skilled, expensive coded welders to join them, thereby giving labour-intensive emerging contractors equal opportunity to be competitive in pipeline construction projects. Furthermore, they do not incur high capital and maintenance costs, or the cathodic protection that any pipe material containing ferrous irons requires. Other advantages include the list common to thermoplastic pipes, including zero corrosion, high impact strength (extremely high for PVC-O), negligible deterioration in the hydraulic friction factor,
low celerity (extremely low for PVC-O), and embedded energy.

PVC technology has improved substantially in the last 85 years and, just as automobiles and computers have advanced exponentially in this time, so has PVC – and it’s continuing to improve. These R&D breakthroughs have given the pipeline industry proven materials to use for large-diameter, high-pressure, bulk supply pipelines that steel and ductile iron historically dominated. This will serve as the catalyst for an increasing shift to PVC. 

*Mike Smart, Pr Eng, MSAICE, is a consultant at Sizabantu Piping Systems.

Local and international coverage

Sizabantu Piping Systems has a network of branches in South Africa that provides national coverage, together with an Exports Department that services SADC and other African countries. This commitment to service is supported by a local manufacturing facility in the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone and the superior expertise of technical partner Molecor – the world leader in PVC-O pipe technology.