Many equipment providers that supply process plant and machinery to the Utilities and Civil Engineering sectors need to respond quickly when parts fail or need to be refurbished. One such sector is the butt fusion welding (also called high-density polyethylene welding or HDPE welding) of polyethylene pipes, often referred to as hot plate welding. Butt fusion is a welding process that involves the heating up the two polyethylene or plastic pipe ends simultaneously by pressing them against a ptfe coated heater plate.
After the pipe ends have reached a sufficient molten/melt state temperature, the hot plates are removed from the molten material and the pipe ends brought together under controlled pressures to form a sealed fully resistant fusion joint.
For many years AFT Fluorotec Coatings Ltd have been providing the non-stick coating for these heater/surface plates, both new and old (re-coating). The range of plate sizes start at around 180mm diameter up to 1200mm diameter.
THE CHALLENGE
AFT Coatings were asked at short notice to refurbish a batch of hotplates needed for hire equipment that had recently been allocated for a large distribution network.
THE SOLUTION
On receipt of the hotplates, the old coating was thermally removed using our in-house controlled pyrolysis process, the plates were then cleaned by grit blasting and then re-coated using our approved AFC 2128 non-stick coating system. By using our Rapid Response Service we are able to ensure the customers butt fusion welding machines were back up and running in two days.
THE RESULT
Our customer was able refurbish their welding machines and fulfil their clients equipment hire requirements. The utility provider was able to continue laying down their new polyethylene pipework with no disruption to their tight schedule.
Other benefits:
- Efficient production – new non-stick coating has provided more efficient yields, easy clean surface and minimised downtime.
- Proven coating and application – AFC 2128 is a proven system for the hot plate/butt fusion production process.
- Quality Controlled Process – AFT Fluorotec operate a quality management system on the ISO 9001:2015 Standard.
