POLYETHYLENE (PE) COATING

The best method of external coating for steel pipes that are to be buried under ground is
polyethylene coating. When compared with bitumen coating and epoxy coating, PE coating
has three main distinctive advantages:
- Mechanical and chemical properties are far better.
- Polyethylene coating can withstand higher temperatures than bitumen coating.
- Electrical insulation is much better.
Polyethylene coating is mostly applied to steel pipes that carry flammable and/or
combustible gases or liquids such as petroleum, natural gas and alike. These pipes are
mostly classified under API 5L standard.
Polyethylene coating is also very widely used in fire extinguishing lines, tap water and waste
water lines and for piling pipes used in sea water.

Polyethylene coating can either be done:

-On site, by wrapping cold applied corrosion protection PE tapes according to DIN 30672.
-At coating factory, by extruding melted polyethylene according to DIN 30670 (or EN 10288,
NFA 49710 or UNI 9099)
The first method of wrapping cold applied PE tapes is a lower quality method of polyethylene
coating and should only be used if there is no other solution. It should be used either to
protect the welded pipes joints or to protect a line pipe without interrupting its service, if it
is already in use.
Production Flow of PE coating:
Heat melted polyethylene coating can be applied either by hose extrusion or by hot
wrapping methods at Petek Boru facilities.

Hot wrapping is mostly used for large diameter pipes and is usually preferred for small
quantities. Petek Boru can do hose extrusion of PE coating for steel pipes with diameter
between to 3. For pipes with diameter ranges between 1 to 32, pipes are coated
with hot wrapping of polyethylene.
The steps of polyethylene coating done as per DIN 30670 & EN 10288 are as follows:
- Surface cleaning and roughening via grit blasting (SA 2 )
- Heating
- FBE (fusion bonded) Powder epoxy coating (first layer)

Powder adhesive coating (second layer)

Polyethylene coating (third layer)
Cooling by showering
Quality control (peeling test, thickness measurement, insulation test, etc.)
End preparation
Marking

Different colors of PE coating (black, yellow etc.) can be done as per customers request.
Steel fittings such as Tees, Elbows, and Reducers can also be coated at Petek Boru.
Handling and Assembly:
In order not to damage the PE coated steel pipes, they should either be carried:
- by hooking both ends of the pipes from the inside
- by wrapping the pipes from at least 2 points with belts from the outside
PE coated pipes should never be stacked too high on top of each other. The stock area
should be as dry and cool as possible.
After assembling the pipes together, welded pipe ends should be wrapped with cold
applied polyethylene tapes. During this application, technical directions given by the tape
producers should be strictly abided by.
A further step to prevent the line pipe from corrosion is cathodic protection.
For further information on cold applied tapes and cathodic protection, you can contact
Petek Boru.

PE Coating Thicknesses as per TS 5139, DIN 30670 and EN 10288:

Kaplama kalnl/ Coating Thickness mm

Boru Anma ap / Nominal

Diameter
DN

DN < 100

Normal
Kaplama / Normal
Coating

Kaln Kaplama / Reinforced

Coating

1.8

2.5

100DN < 250

2.0

2.5

250DN < 500

2.2

3.0

500DN < 800

2.5

3.5

800 DN

3.0

3.5

Hand Operated Pipe Wrapping Machines Pipeline tapes Wrapster

Our Pipeline Tapes Wrapster are constructed from Aluminium weighing approximately 5 kgs providing a rigid,
light weight, and durable hand wrapping machine for the tough conditions along the pipeline right of way.
These machines ensure correct tension and overlap of tape during application.
The tape spool and interleaving removal head is a separate unit and two of these units can be fitted to the frame at
any time;
The machines are robustly built to enable rolls of tape up to 180m long and 230mm wide to be used.;
Available sizes to accommodate pipe diameters 89-1600mm

SET UP INSTRUCTIONS
1. Fit wheels to corresponding holes on each side frame to suit the pipe diameter you are going to wrap.
2. Fit roll of tape into machine making sure the end of the tape leads from the top of the roll to the left hand side.
Replace side plate, spring and screwed knob.
3. Adjust the offset of the two side frames to achieve the specified overlap, this is done by loosening the 8mm &
12mm nuts on the back side of the machine and raising or lowering the leading end of the side frame, lock up both
nuts. This adjustment may need to be done a couple of times to get the correct overlap.
4. The removable side frame has three positions for the centre hub. This adjustment allows the tape to pull square of
the roll. A simple visual check is to look at the tape as it runs of the roll. The tape should be central and as close as
possible to parallel between the frames.
5. Check the overlap adjustment again once you are satisfied with setting. Lock up adjustments. They should not
need to be touched again until you change tape width or pipe size.

DENSO APPLICATION MACHINERY

A range of machines for the application of Denso Anti Corrosion Tapes and the application of
Highway Maintenance Products offering ease of application and improved productivity.

Denso Rolling Rig

The Denso Rolling Rig is designed for tape application to pipe

lengths ensuring constant tension and overlap. The rig enables the
convenience of on-site wrapping and avoids abrasion damage to
the coating in transit. The machine can wrap up to 1.9m in diameter
and 13m in length.
In Situ operation/Fast and convenient
Automatic interleaving removal
No transit damage to wrapped pipes
Pipe wrapping to suit site programme

Denso Hand Operated Pipe Wrapping Machines

These machines ensure correct tension and overlap of tape during

application.
The Bitumen Tape Machines are for the application of Densopol
and Densoclad Tapes. The tape spool and interleaving removal
head is a separate unit and two of these units can be fitted to the
frame at any time. The machines are robustly built to enable rolls of
tape up to 30m long and 230mm wide to be used.
The Petrolatum Tape Machines are for the application of Denso
and Densyl Tapes. They can be used for a single wrap or with a
simultaneous application of outerwrap tape.

Bitumen Tape Machines:

Automatic interleaving removal
Available in three sizes to accommodate pipe diameters 501600mm
Petrolatum Tape Machines:
Available in three sizes to accommodate pipe diameters 25600mm

Densoman 75100 & 150 Tape Applicators

The Densoman is a compact hand operated machine

for the wrapping of pipe lengths with Densoclad and
Densopol bitumen tapes as well as Denso Marine
Piling Tape and Denso Hotline Petrolatum
Tapes/Steelcoat 200
The machine relies on the tension on the tape to hold it
in position during operation.
Automatic interleaving removal
Range of machines available to wrap pipe diameters

50-600mm
Suitable for wrapping tie bars

Rayclad 80-2LPE Coating for Pipelines

MOT 80C (176F)

Backing Binder: PE
Total Thickness: 1.9

Covalence Rayclad 80 hot-applied product coatings are designed to provide a continuous, holidayfree, permanent barrier, which affords long-term protection for high-temperature pipelines operating
both on - and offshore upto 80 C (176 F).

When wrapped around a properly blast-cleaned and preheated pipe,the adhesive

melts.Simultaneously, the thermal recovery of the backing forces the molten adhesive to flow,fill and
completely coat the pipe surface, thereby forming a tight and uniform bond.

Two-Layer Extruded Polyethylene Coating

(2LPE)
Definition - What does Two-Layer Extruded Polyethylene Coating
(2LPE) mean?
Two-layer extruded polyethylene coating (2LPE) refers pipeline protection consisting of two layers.
The two-layer structure utilizes mastic-based adhesives and polyethylene copolymers. This offers
top-notch protection against corrosion, especially at elevated temperatures.
Mastic-based bonding agents are comparatively inexpensive and offer impressive cathodic
disbondment (CD) resistance. Also, these have low peel and shear strength and are limited to
applications at low temperatures. On the other hand, two-layer extruded polyethylene coating
bonded using copolymers provide excellent shear resistance and adhesion, but typically poor CD
resistance.

Corrosionpedia explains Two-Layer Extruded Polyethylene Coating

(2LPE)
At present, pipelines in the water transportation, gas and oil industries globally are typically protected
by coatings along with cathodic protection. One of the most common coating products is the twolayer extruded polyethylene coating that provides exceptional corrosion defense to pipelines.
Two-layer coating systems commonly involve two types of adhesives. The properties of the
adhesives will dictate which type best suits the needs of certain industries. Each material has its own
set of advantages and disadvantages:
Mastic adhesive advantages:
Low production cost
Amorphous and pressure sensitive
Forgiving to temperature application and surface preparation
Acceptable CD resistance
Great water repellent
Easy application
Mastic adhesive disadvantages:
Low peel and shear resistance
Lesser operating temperature
Low soil stress resistance
Copolymer adhesive advantages:
High peel and shear values
Elevated operating temperatures
Better resistance to compression
Excellent soil stress resistance

Copolymer adhesive disadvantages:

More difficult to apply
Critical pre-heat surface
Inferior wetting characteristics
Necessitates perfectly cleaned and prepared surface
More costly
Poor CD resistance in absence of epoxy primer
Studies and experimentation are being performed to develop a hybrid adhesive that will possess the
good qualities of both adhesives mentioned above. This will make the pipeline protection industry
more competent in providing the necessary defense against pipe degradation.

Definition - What does Three-Layer Extruded Polyethylene Coating

(3LPE) mean?
A three-layer extruded polyethylene coating (3LPE) is composed of extruded, three-layer, anticorrosive steel pipe coatings. The three layers in this type of coating consist of:

Bonding agent or copolymer layer

Epoxy layer

Polypropylene or polyethylene layer

Corrosionpedia explains Three-Layer Extruded Polyethylene Coating

(3LPE)
A three-layer extruded polyethylene coating is used for various types of pipelines including sewer
systems, water pipelines, gas pipelines and other channels that are dangerous to water.
Polyethylene coatings have been in use to protect buried pipelines from corroding since the 1950s.
This type of coating provides higher resistance to insulation than bitumen coatings.
A three-layer extruded polyethylene coating can be applied through sight extrusion and sleeve
extrusion. These two methods of applying polyethylene coating were introduced in the 1960s,
replacing the sintering technique. It was in the 1980s when 3LPE became very prevalent in the
industry.
One advantage of this coating material is that it is ultra-adhesive, even at room temperature. Also, it
can be easily cut back as necessary by having the pipelines heated. Furthermore, this material has a

very strong chemical resistance that makes it applicable even in the most aggressive environments,
including all forms of soil.
The chemical resistance of this coating prevents its corrosion. However, it should be noted that just
like many materials, it is also prone to some types of corrosion. Due to this, as early as 1974, testing
has been required to determine the aging or corrosion resistance of 3LPE. This is conducted by
measuring the temperature with the use of a thermometer at 140F (60C). The measure of aging is
the melt index, which is set at an initial value of 25%. Over the years, more advanced testing
methods have been developed to determine the 3LPE's aging and resistance to corrosion.