Suitability of PE Pipe Systems for Conveying Disinfected

Suitability of PE Pipe Systems for

Conveying Disinfected Drinking

Water Under Pressure

OzPipe Conference, Sydney, Australia

07 November 2019

Dr Jeroen Wassenaar

– About Qenos

Introduction

Mechanism of disinfectant induced degradation

Materials with enhanced disinfectant resistance

Conclusion

33

Qenos is a strategic pillar of the Australian manufacturing industry...

AUSTRALIAN MADE

Australasia’s sole manufacturer

and leading supplier of

polyethylene (PE) and

distributor of specialty polymers

PEOPLE

700 employees

350 contractors

REVENUE

Annual revenue of

A$700 – 900 million

OWNERSHIP

Qenos is owned by

China National

BlueStar Group

44

…adding value to Australian gas…

New South

Wales

Northern

Territory

Victoria

Tasmania

South

Australia

Western Australia

Queensland

Botany

Gippsland

Basin

Altona

Cooper

Basin

Qenos Botany

Ethane feedstock supplied by Santos via dedicated 1,375km pipeline from Moomba to Qenos Botany

Qenos Altona

Ethane feedstock supplied from Bass Strait via Longford and Long Island Point processing plants

The ingenious transformation by Qenos and its

customers turn ethane gas into high value products

55

…to supply the Australian polyethylene market.

33%Pipe

25%Film

11%Roto

Moulding

12%Blow Moulding

11%Dairy

7%Injection

About Qenos

– Introduction



Conclusion

77

HDPE Pipe is protected against disinfectants and has a track record of

long lifetimes under typical drinking water conditions

• Louis Pasteur: “We drink 90% of our illnesses”

• Continuous chlorination started in UK and USA the early 20th century

• HDPE pipe networks have been used to transport chlorinated water for nearly 60 years

– Long lifetime at T ≤ 20°C and residual chlorine ≤ 0.6 mg/L

– Premature brittle failures have been observed in warm regions globally

• Research identifies the following

key risk factors:

Source: PIPA POP018

88

Guidance from PIPA and PPI quantifies resistance to disinfectants and

defines operating window for conventional PE100 pipe

6.5 6.75 7 7.25 7.5 7.75 8 8.25 8.5 8.75 9

0.5 1.9 1.9 2.1 2.8 3.6 5.6 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.3

0.7 1.4 1.6 1.9 2.2 2.7 3.5 4.6 6.4 9.1 9.3 9.3

1.0 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.9 2.4 3.1 4.3 5.6 8.2 9.3

1.5 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.9 2.4 3.1 4.1 5.9 8.4

2.0 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.7 2.1 2.8 3.6 5.3 7.6

2.5 0.7 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.5 1.9 2.5 3.2 4.5 6.7

3.0 0.7 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.8 2.3 3.0 4.1 5.9

4.0 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.6 2.0 2.5 3.5 5.1

Residual

Cl mg/L

Average Water pH

Suitability of conventional PE100 at 21°C for PN16-rated DN25 pipe, operated at ≤600kPa

NOTE: For Chlorine and Hypochlorite disinfectants

6.5 6.75 7 7.25 7.5 7.75 8 8.25 8.5 8.75 9

0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.8 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0

0.7 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.5 2.1 2.9 3.0 3.0

1.0 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.4 1.8 2.6 3.0

1.5 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.9 2.7

2.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.7 2.4

2.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.5 2.1

3.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.9

4.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.1 1.6


Residual

Cl mg/L

Average Water pH


+9°C

PDI* Resistance to

Disinfectants

0-1 <50y

1-2 50-100y

>2 >100y

Source: PIPA POP018, PPI TN44/TN49, ASTM F2263

* Pipe disinfectant index

99Source: PIPA POP018

About Qenos

Introduction

– Mechanism of disinfectant induced degradation


Conclusion

1111

Hypochlorite (HOCl) effect on polymer

embrittlement

HOCl dissociates in water to short lived radicals

able to affect surface only

The dissociation fraction of stable Cl2 gas

increases fast at elevated temperature even at

neutral pH (3 orders magnitude over 10°C)

Resin/pipe is protected until active AO is depleted

Auto-oxidative degradation takes place

εb - material property indication via tensile test elongation at break

OOT - additive presence via oxidation onset temperature

CI - polymer degradation indication via carbonyl index (presence of C=O group)

Source: M Bredacs et al. 19th Plastics Pipe Conference Sep 2018, Las Vegas

Field experience and research provide more understanding of the

aging mechanism of PE in presence of water with disinfectants

1212

Remedies

Higher wall thickness

High stress-crack resistance

(HSCR)

Advanced resin stabilisation

(RD)

Source: Chung et al. (Jana Labs) Environmental Factors in Performance Forecasting of Plastic Piping Materials. ANTEC. 2003, p5

Oxidation of inner wall

Formation of micro-cracks

Crack Initiation

Crack propagation via

SCG mechanism

Crack Propagation

Disinfectant (oxidation) induced degradation can be mitigated through

advanced material selection and higher wall thickness

Rate of initiation determined by:

• Material (stabilisation)

• Temperature

• Oxidation (type & concentration of disinfectant)

• Stress (operating pressure & wall thickness)

Rate of propagation determined by:

• Material (resistance to slow crack growth)

• Temperature

• Stress (operating pressure & wall thickness)

1313

Increasing wall thickness reduces stress as one of the drivers for

“brittle” failure

• Suez found in their aging bench* that increasing the

thickness by 50% doubles the longevity of PE pipe

when operated at the same pressure

• Recognised by selected asset owners in design

standards where minimum PN20 is specified

*Conditions: 40°C, pH 7.2, 4 mg/L HClO

Source: Rabaud et al. (Suez), AWWA Distribution System Symposium, Sept 2010, Washington D.C.

About Qenos

Introduction


– Materials with enhanced disinfectant resistance

Conclusion

1515

Various test methods have been developed recently to measure HDPE

resistance to disinfectants

• Accelerated qualitative (<1000h)

– NOL-ring test, ClO2 (LNE, France)

– Autoclave, ClO2 (IRETI, Italy)

– Accelerated aging (PCCL, Austria)

– …

• Full-scale quantitative hydrostatic pipe

testing in presence of chlorine disinfectants

(>1y)

– ASTM F2263 (Jana, USA)

– Accelerated aging bench (Suez, France)

NOL-ring test setup

Source: E.J.W. van der Stock et al. 19th Plastics Pipe Conference Sep 2018, Las Vegas

1616

ASTM F2263 testing simulates high operating temperature and

disinfectant concentrations

Source: Jana Laboratories

1717

ASTM F2263 testing principle is similar to hydrostatic strength

evaluation but at constant chlorine concentration

Source: Jana Laboratories

1818

Categorisation Minimum calculated time, h

Category 1 (CC1) 8,100



ASTM F2263 testing allows to calculate Chlorine Classification that is

used to quantify resistance to disinfectants

• <DN20 pipes used for ASTM F2263 testing

• Full regression testing

– Min. 3 temperatures (e.g. 90, 100, 110°C)

– Min. 2 stress levels (e.g. 0.93 & 1.49 MPa)

– Chlorine (NaClO): 4.3 ppm

– pH 6.8 / ORP > 825 mV / flow rate 54 dm3/h

• PPI TN-43:2012 provides Chlorine Classification (CC)

to be used for calculating Pipe Disinfectant Index

(PDI)

<DN20, 2.48 MPa, 90°C

Pictures courtesy by ELEMENT

Source: ASTM F2263, PPI TN44/TN49

1919

The use of a PE100 with CC2 classification allows to significantly

extend the operating window for disinfected potable water piping

6.5 6.75 7 7.25 7.5 7.75 8 8.25 8.5 8.75 9

0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.8 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0

0.7 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.5 2.1 2.9 3.0 3.0

1.0 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.4 1.8 2.6 3.0

1.5 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.9 2.7

2.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.7 2.4

2.5 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.5 2.1

3.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.9

4.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.1 1.6


Residual

Cl mg/L

Average Water pH


PDI* Resistance to

Disinfectants

0-1 <50y

1-2 50-100y

>2 >100y

* Pipe disinfectant index

Use of PE100 with

CC2 & PN20-rating

6.5 6.75 7 7.25 7.5 7.75 8 8.25 8.5 8.75 9

0.5 3.7 3.8 4.2 5.5 7.1 11.2 18.3 18.3 18.3 18.3 18.3

0.7 2.7 3.1 3.7 4.4 5.3 6.9 9.1 12.6 17.9 18.3 18.3

1.0 2.2 2.4 2.7 3.1 3.8 4.8 6.2 8.4 11.2 16.3 18.3

1.5 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.6 2.9 3.7 4.8 6.2 8.0 11.7 16.6

2.0 1.5 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.6 3.3 4.2 5.5 7.1 10.4 15.0

2.5 1.5 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.9 3.7 4.9 6.4 9.0 13.2

3.0 1.5 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.7 3.5 4.6 5.9 8.0 11.7

4.0 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.4 3.1 4.0 4.9 6.9 10.1

Suitability of PE100 with CC2 rating at 30°C for PN20-rated DN25 pipe, operated at ≤600kPa

Residual

Cl mg/L

Average Water pH

NOTE: For Chlorine and Hypochlorite disinfectantsSource: PIPA POP018, PPI TN44/TN49, ASTM F2263

2020

PE100 RCD (Resistant to Crack & Disinfectants) has been developed to

provide highest protection against brittle failure

• Hostalen CRP 100 RCD black developed by

LyondellBasell and available through Qenos in

Australia & New Zealand

• ASTM F2263 testing indicates preliminary CC2

classification

– Suitable for potable water at higher

temperatures and disinfectant concentrations

• Classified as PE100 HSCR, meeting PIPA

POP016 requirements

– Suitable for trenchless pipe installation

Source: LyondellBasell

500

5,000

5,000

0 2,000 4,000 6,000

PE100 StandardRequirement

PE100 HSCRPOP016 Requirement

Hostalen CRP100RCD Black

Time to failure (hrs)

Stress Crack Resistance PerformanceNotched Pipe Test (ISO 13479)

>

Source: Element report P-19/70-v1

Source: KIWA report LC 14782

Hostalen is a trademark owned and or/used by the LyondellBasell family of companies.

Trademarks and copyright of LyondellBasell are acknowledged.

2121

CRP 100 RCD pipe samples have been tested to failure in ASTM F2263,

allowing for design life extrapolation

Source: Element report P-19/70-v1

Pipe samples at 90°C are still on test but is not

expected to change outcome significantly



2222

Extrapolation per ASTM F2263 indicates ability of CRP 100 RCD to meet

POP013 rerating even at 4.3ppm hypochlorite

Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure in m head adapted from PIPA POP013

Temp (°C) Min Life (yr)

Extrapolated time to

failure @ 4.3 ppm

Chlorine (yr)*

Design

Factor

PN 4 PN 6.3 PN 8 PN 10 PN 12.5 PN 16 PN 20 PN 25

SDR41 SDR26 SDR21 SDR17 SDR13.6 SDR11 SDR9 SDR7.4

20 100 >100 1.0 40 64 80 100 127 160 200 250

25 100 >100 1.1 36 58 73 91 115 145 182 227

30 100 >100 1.1 36 58 73 91 115 145 182 227

35 50 >100 1.2 33 53 67 83 106 133 167 208

40 50 >100 1.2 33 53 67 83 106 133 167 208

45 35 100 1.3 31 49 62 77 99 123 154 192

50 22 53 1.4 29 46 57 71 91 114 143 179

55 15 27 1.4 29 46 57 71 91 114 143 179

60 7 14 1.5 27 43 53 67 85 107 133 167

80 1 2 2.0 20 32 40 50 63 80 100 125

* Extrapolated time to failure for Hostalen CRP 100 RCD Black according to preliminary ASTM F2263 extrapolation using 3-parameter LTHS model at 4.3 ppm

hypochlorite, pH 6.8, flow of 54 dm3/h

Source: Element report P-19/70-v1, PIPA POP013



About Qenos

Introduction



– Conclusion

2424

Conclusions

• HDPE piping materials and systems have been designed to transport disinfected water

and >50y track record supports use for water ≤ 20°C and residual chlorine ≤ 0.6 mg/L,

covering the vast majority of installations globally

• The combination of high temperature and high chlorine concentrations may result in

accelerated aging of the material, potentially leading to premature brittle failure

• Hostalen CRP 100 RCD Black is able to extend the operating window for HDPE piping to

include higher temperatures and residual chlorine concentrations

– Preliminary classified CC2 per ASTM F2263 and PPI TN-43:2012

– Able to meet PIPA POP013 rerating at 4.3 ppm Cl / pH 6.8 / 54 dm3/h



Documents

Suitability of PE Pipe Systems for Conveying Disinfected