COVER STORY
HEEDING GOVERNMENT'S CALL TO INDUSTRIALISE AND LOCALISE Hall Longmore has led the market as a welded steel pipe manufacturer since 1924, evolving through sustained research and development (R&D). Working with technology partners, the launch of their proudly South African fusion-bonded polyethylene (FBPE) coating system, Xtalene 3935, is the latest breakthrough.
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oating systems are an essential component in protecting steel pipelines from corrosion – a field where Hall Longmore is a technology and application leader. In the past and as part of a technical agreement, the company previously imported medium-density polyethylene powder from Australia for their FBPE coating requirements, applied using fluidised bed technology. However, the instability of the AUD/ZAR exchange rate, plus supply chain
Hall Longmore launches SA-developed FBPE coating system issues shipping out of Australia, was a strong motivation for a fresh approach. “Given our track record for innovation, we therefore decided that the logical next step was to develop a comparable composite material from locally produced polymers, in the process perfecting our own corrosion protection product,” says Kenny van Rooyen, managing director, Hall Longmore. “This supports our long-term commitment to growth and continuous improvement, and is in line with government’s call for local manufacture and reindustrialisation,” Van Rooyen continues.
R&D teamwork The CSIR was approached to assist Hall Longmore’s technical experts. In turn, Sasol came on board as raw material supplier, together with Xuba from a blending and manufacturing perspective.
The uniquely formulated polymer composite material was developed at the DSI-CSIR Nanomaterials Industrial Development Facility following preliminary research to determine the optimal R&D methodology. Hall Longmore and the CSIR also codesigned, installed and commissioned a labscale fluidised bed for rapid coating trials. Following successful lab-scale validations, the pilot-scale optimisation process for the developed material was completed and the programme began in earnest. “After a three-year journey, we’re now happy to announce the launch of Xtalene 3935, a proudly South African FBPE coating manufactured in South Africa, sourced from South African raw materials and blended locally,” says Van Rooyen, adding that the product is designed for coating steel pipes in buried as well as above-ground applications.
Test findings During the testing phase, characteristic improvements were identified by the R&D team compared to the imported powder previously specified by Hall Longmore. These included lower water absorption properties, improved penetration resistance, enhanced bond strength at yield at over 30 MPA – where the standard requires 15 MPA – and improved
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IMIESA November/December 2021
