Materials News

China aiming for a regulated pipe market
With the upcoming implementation of a new national standard for PE-RT pipes for hot and cold water systems in China, Dow Chemical, which supplies Dowlex PE-RT resins made from its patented Insite technology, is working with Swiss George Fischer Piping to conduct seminars in the country to educate the industry.

PE-RT has the ability to provide high strength at elevated temperatures, improved hydrostatic strength and good impact resistance with no crosslinking required during the manufacturing process, thus making it a new type of green plastic for applications in hot and cold water and under-floor heating systems.

The implementation of this new national standard is an important segmentation process for PE-RT piping products in China. The classification of Type I and Type II PE-RT results in a more regulated domestic market for PE-RT piping products. Also, this new standard will carve out a high performance segment from the existing pipe market, thus creating a new opportunities for pipe manufacturers.

In the coming months, GF and Dow will be organising a series of technical seminars to promote this new national standard to design institutes, inspection and testing bodies, industrial agencies and end users in six major cities within the country. The seminar will focus on introducing the whole process of this new standard set-up, key technical summary and critical checking point to classify PE-RT Types I and II pipes.