Customer
The CSTB is one of the LF Technologies historical clients, which uses our benches for many kinds of water sanitary tapwares and fittings.
The CSTB's mission is to guarantee the quality and safety of buildings and to support innovation in the field of construction. This mission is accomplished through its activities: research and expertise, evaluation, certification and dissemination of knowledge.
Tested product
Food and water pipes + fittings
A pipeline is made up of pipes used to transport a fluid from point A to point B.
Objective
Check that the product is in good condition and that there is no deterioration of the product (leakage, breakage, etc), check if the pipe can resist to pressure and thermal shocks, for its entire lifetime.
This test has to be made according to standard as : EN 12293 Plastics piping systems. Thermoplastics pipes and fittings for hot and cold water. Test method for the resistance of mounted assemblies to tempetarure cycling.
Problematic issues
- Ensure rapid thermal shock despite the large volume of pipes tested
- To overcome the energy saving problem due to the need to heat and cool the water after thermal shocks
Solution and result
The equipment is a loop that allows water to circulate in a pipe under a controlled dynamic pressure, at a controlled temperature, at a controlled flow rate that limits the temperature variation in the pipe under test.
The proposed equipment consists of three parts:
- The test area comprising the pipe to be tested, the lifting system and the air-cooling system.
- The hydraulic cabinet including tanks, exchangers and hot and cold-water pressurization circuits.
- The swiveling electrical cabinet including the electrical board and the control panel.
To achieve thermal shock, the system calculates the optimum time to switch the water valves to the hot or cold circuit, thus minimizing the mixing of hot and cold water, which results in a large energy saving.
The upstream pressure is generated by a centrifugal pump, in pressure control. The flow rate is regulated by a proportional control valve downstream. The flow rate is large enough to ensure a temperature loss of less than 5°C, and small enough to ensure a uniform pressure in the pipe (±0.5 bar).
