FRP Pipe Helps Make Power Plant Fish-Friendly
FiberSystems in Dayton, Ohio, made a splash for composites recently when its GFRP pipe was chosen over conventional materials for a fish-friendly project at National Grid’s Port Jefferson Power Station on Long Island. Located on the southwestern shore of Port Jefferson Harbor in the Long Island Sound, the facility has two active natural gas and oil-fired steam-electric units that generate more than 360 megawatts of electricity. According to the environmental watchdog organization Grace Communications Foundation, the Port Jefferson Power Station takes in nearly 400 gallons of water each day – and simultaneously tens of thousands of fish each year. Port Jefferson Harbor is classified by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation as SA waters – the highest class of marine waters, indicating outstanding natural resources that should be preserved. As such, National Grid wanted to ensure that the varied species of marine fish, from bluefish to northern puffer and striped bass, could be safely returned to their natural habitat. [caption id="attachment_4336" align="alignleft" width="325"]
Though the discharge pipe is only 69inches long, it fills a vital role in returning Atlantic silverslides, winter flounder, scup and dozens of other fish species to the Long Island Sound. Photo Credit: FiberSystems[/caption] Last spring, National Grid installed special fish screens to “catch” the fish for return into the Port Jefferson Harbor. FiberSystems was selected to fabricate a relatively small, but important discharge pipe that would carry the fish and debris collected in the screen troughs back into the harbor. The specifications for this fish bypass tube called for a 69-inch long, 22-inch diameter corrosion-resistant pipe with ¼-inch thick walls. The tube needed to be water tight with a seamless interior, two ninety degree turns, a flange and a specially-beveled end. “It was right up our alley,” says Tim Morton, vice president of operations at FiberSystems, who calls his company a small “mom-and-pop shop” that thrives on challenging FRP projects. “We are a fabricator’s fabricator,” he says. According to Mathew Gaskin, lead engineer at National Grid, traditional materials such as metal were considered before choosing a GFRP solution. In a press release, he said, “We looked at several designs, including flanged or mitered sections that could be fastened into the shape we needed, but the FiberSystems’ FRP product offered a lightweight alternative that precisely conformed to our dimensions.” Gaskin added that National Grid could justify the higher cost of the FRP pipe because of its contoured design, non-corrodible interior and longer life cycle. To craft the pipe, FiberSystems made a foam mold using a CNC machine, then fabricated the pipe using hand lay-up in several stages. First, a 100-millimeter, four-ply corrosion liner was made with a layer of C-veil, one ply of Nexus veil and two layers of Owens Corning’s 1.5-ounce chopped strand mat, which was torn into shape by hand. The corrosion liner was then infused with CoREZYN® VEX229-041, a Bisphenol-A vinyl ester resin specifically formulated by Interplastic Corporation for this project and similar applications. Afterward, the liner was cured. Next, eight structural plies were put down using two additional layers of 1.5-ounce chopped strand mat and a layer of Owens Corning’s 24-ounce woven roving fabric, which were infused with VEX 229-041 and left to gel before adding the remaining plies – another two layers of chopped strand mat, a single layer of woven roving and a final two layers of chopped strand mat. The laminate was then fully cured. The whole process took two days. The pipe was laid up standing flange face down, which was difficult. “The biggest challenge that we found, because of the shape and the length, was to get this thing to stand up,” says Morton. “We had to build a jig or a framework to hold it up. So you had people working on the floor [and] you had people standing on a table to reach the top of it. It was definitely a group effort.” After the pipe was extracted from the mold and deburred, the end was contoured, flange holes were drilled and the exterior was painted with SPECTATRON® 300, a polyurethane enamel from PPG. Three FRP lifting lugs were then affixed to the pipe to help workers place the pipe, which weighs approximately 375 pounds, into place. Gaskin says the installed pipe “fit like a glove.” Morton believes it will have a lifespan of 30 years or more, adding that “fiberglass will outlast metal every time.”
Though the discharge pipe is only 69inches long, it fills a vital role in returning Atlantic silverslides, winter flounder, scup and dozens of other fish species to the Long Island Sound. Photo Credit: FiberSystems[/caption] Last spring, National Grid installed special fish screens to “catch” the fish for return into the Port Jefferson Harbor. FiberSystems was selected to fabricate a relatively small, but important discharge pipe that would carry the fish and debris collected in the screen troughs back into the harbor. The specifications for this fish bypass tube called for a 69-inch long, 22-inch diameter corrosion-resistant pipe with ¼-inch thick walls. The tube needed to be water tight with a seamless interior, two ninety degree turns, a flange and a specially-beveled end. “It was right up our alley,” says Tim Morton, vice president of operations at FiberSystems, who calls his company a small “mom-and-pop shop” that thrives on challenging FRP projects. “We are a fabricator’s fabricator,” he says. According to Mathew Gaskin, lead engineer at National Grid, traditional materials such as metal were considered before choosing a GFRP solution. In a press release, he said, “We looked at several designs, including flanged or mitered sections that could be fastened into the shape we needed, but the FiberSystems’ FRP product offered a lightweight alternative that precisely conformed to our dimensions.” Gaskin added that National Grid could justify the higher cost of the FRP pipe because of its contoured design, non-corrodible interior and longer life cycle. To craft the pipe, FiberSystems made a foam mold using a CNC machine, then fabricated the pipe using hand lay-up in several stages. First, a 100-millimeter, four-ply corrosion liner was made with a layer of C-veil, one ply of Nexus veil and two layers of Owens Corning’s 1.5-ounce chopped strand mat, which was torn into shape by hand. The corrosion liner was then infused with CoREZYN® VEX229-041, a Bisphenol-A vinyl ester resin specifically formulated by Interplastic Corporation for this project and similar applications. Afterward, the liner was cured. Next, eight structural plies were put down using two additional layers of 1.5-ounce chopped strand mat and a layer of Owens Corning’s 24-ounce woven roving fabric, which were infused with VEX 229-041 and left to gel before adding the remaining plies – another two layers of chopped strand mat, a single layer of woven roving and a final two layers of chopped strand mat. The laminate was then fully cured. The whole process took two days. The pipe was laid up standing flange face down, which was difficult. “The biggest challenge that we found, because of the shape and the length, was to get this thing to stand up,” says Morton. “We had to build a jig or a framework to hold it up. So you had people working on the floor [and] you had people standing on a table to reach the top of it. It was definitely a group effort.” After the pipe was extracted from the mold and deburred, the end was contoured, flange holes were drilled and the exterior was painted with SPECTATRON® 300, a polyurethane enamel from PPG. Three FRP lifting lugs were then affixed to the pipe to help workers place the pipe, which weighs approximately 375 pounds, into place. Gaskin says the installed pipe “fit like a glove.” Morton believes it will have a lifespan of 30 years or more, adding that “fiberglass will outlast metal every time.”
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