What You Should Know When Buying Conduit Pipes for a Fuel Station
With adequate capital, starting up a fuel station is a good way to take advantage of the opportunity that the petrochemical industry offers. In this business, you will need conduit pipes for moving the fuel from the storage tanks to the pumps where your clients access it. Since you may not have a perfect contour when setting up the tanks and pumps at the station, you need to buy pipes with induction bends. Here are a few things you should look for when buying bent conduit pipes:
No wrinkles in the bends
Induction bends are made using heat and applying force to change the morphology of the metal pipe. Heating melts the metal and makes it easier to curve at different angles. This is not easy to do when the metal is cold and hard because it requires much force, which eventually could break the pipe. After heating and curving, the metal hardens and returns to the original rigid metallic structure. At times, the cooling may not happen uniformly, making the bend develop some wrinkles.
The wrinkles are unsuitable for conduit pipes carrying fuel because of tiny pools of fuel that accumulate in them. These pools lead to contamination when the conduits are used to move other types of fuel.
Uniform hardness at the bends
The bend should be uniform in terms of hardness. This will ensure that it can withstand the pressure of the liquid fuel passing through even at high speed, especially when you are refilling the storage tanks. A simple test to determine this is to tap the bent pipe gently around the bend. Look out for a rigid sound expected form a hardened material rather than a hollow space that indicates air space trapped within the material during the bending procedure. A hard, uniform bend reduces the risk of shattering and breaking when installing the conduit pipe.
Conformity to bending standards
Various states and local authorities have standards governing bending technology and the desired outcomes. Industrial pipe suppliers have to observe these standards. The information on the standards is available in government departments concerned with industrial piping installations. They cover basic information about bent pipes such as the angle of the arc and its strength. The standards are easy to use because they have a glossary of the terms used together with illustrations. This will help you ensure that the pipes you are buying will not hinder the flow of fuel.
For more information about induction benders, contact a company like Inductabend Pty Ltd.
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