Certain industries desire—or require—an extra layer of safety and security for the harsh or even hazardous chemicals and compounds they handle. Although leaks are rare when piping is properly installed in recommended applications, the potential consequences of even an unlikely leak may warrant additional safeguards. In these cases, double containment piping is one such safeguard.
A durable, reliable material like Corzan® CPVC can be an excellent choice for double containment piping. In this blog, we discuss what dual containment piping is, situations where it may be used and the performance characteristics of dual-containment Corzan CPVC pipes.
What are Double Containment Pipes?
Also known as dual-containment or double-walled piping, double containment pipes are essentially a complete piping system inside another complete piping system. The inner pipe is held in place with centralizing brackets. The space between the two pipes often contains sensors to alert personnel if a leak occurs in the inner pipe. In the rare case of a leak, the outer pipe contains it, giving workers time to address the problem before any harmful or undesirable substances exit the contained piping and enter its surrounding area. This type of piping is particularly desirable for overhead and underground systems.
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Dual-containment piping differs from lined or reinforced piping, which is a single pipe with a special layer on the inside delivering specific properties, like corrosion resistance.
Where and Why to Use Double Containment Piping
Double containment systems are most often used in cases where the costs of a potential leak are particularly expensive or reach beyond monetary loss.
Data centers, for example, could lose everything if a pipe leaked in the server room. The most common solution in this industry is in-floor piping. But in cases where this isn’t possible, dual-containment piping can provide the additional safeguards needed to prevent a leak from turning into a disaster.
Other industrial operations using overhead piping choose double containment pipes to provide additional safety to workers and machinery. Although a single layer of correctly specified and installed piping provides excellent protection, leak containment and alerts can be an additional benefit when the chemicals in use are particularly damaging. Determining whether double containment piping is appropriate is often site-specific, but some industrial settings benefit from double containment piping include:
Because these industries use highly corrosive chemicals such as sulfuric acid and caustic soda, which can quickly cause damage if leaked, double containment piping provides extra protection from accidents.
Industries where piping is buried present another use case for double containment piping. In the chemical processing (CPI) and wastewater/water treatment industries, for example, buried pipes are common, and it is highly undesirable for the liquids flowing within the pipes to come in contact with groundwater. These industries are often subject to local, state and federal environmental guidelines as well. Double containment piping helps CPI and wastewater treatment facilities meet these standards by keeping the pipe contents and ground/groundwater separate even after a leak.
Corzan® CPVC for Double Containment Piping
Double containment piping systems made of a high-quality thermoplastic like Corzan CPVC deliver significant benefits compared to many metals and other plastics. These benefits include:
- Inherent corrosion resistance: Because of the additional chlorine atoms along its polymer chain, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) is inherently resistant to corrosion, pitting and scaling and has excellent resistance to many of the harshest chemicals.
- Suitability for underground installations: The material’s durability in harsh conditions, including impacts, allows it to perform reliably and without degradation when buried.
- Manufactured by certified partner manufacturers: Everything made from Corzan CPVC—from sheet and fittings to single-layer and double containment piping—is permitted to be made only by certified manufacturers to ensure the highest quality and performance. Corzan CPVC partner manufacturers IPEX and GF Piping Systems produce double containment piping made from Corzan CPVC.
Corzan CPVC can deliver the peace of mind of double containment along with these additional benefits, resulting in a long service life with minimal maintenance. See how Corzan CVPC provides reliable performance in the chemical processing and wastewater industries with these free resources:
Download eBook: Corzan® CPVC Use in the Chemical Processing Industry
Download eBook: Corzan® CPVC in the Wastewater Treatment Plants