Ultra Tech: Efficient and Cost Effective Piping Solutions for Abrasive Materials

Industrial operations that work with abrasive materials, such as phosphate, will often suffer from worn-out piping. It’s true. The slurries that travel through piping systems will, rather quickly, wear away the steel pipe from the inside out.

Don’t just take Mining Global’s word for it, Bob Macey, the director of mining for Edgen Murray, global steel suppliers agree that a solution needs to be in place otherwise the cost of replacing that piping is going to outweigh pretty much everything else.

“We have a lot of expertise when it comes to abrasive materials, so we always recommend the most cost-effective product that could be used for wear,” he said.

Edgen Murray has recently taken on a large phosphate plant project in Saudi Arabia, in which the company will use Ultra Tech, a leader in global design, manufacturing and distribution of quality abrasion resistant piping systems and accessories.

The Saudi operation will include seven phosphate plants, with projections to suggest that it may be largest phosphate operation in the world.

So where does Ultra Tech come in?

Ultra Tech has been the leading manufacturer of induction hardened “Ultra 600”, a proprietary pipe that is developed through heat treating producing an abrasion resistant pipe that lasts “three to six times longer than mild steel”.

“When your operation includes processing abrasive slurry, you obviously want the best wear rate,” says Macey.

“The technical expertise needed to make induction hardened pipe has to be precise.

The Ultra Tech pipe has an inner surface hardness of a 600 Brinnel hardness number (BHN) and a ductile exterior of 250 BHN.