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Final Report: Manufacturing Methods for Sulfur Concrete Sewer Pipe
EPA Contract Number: 68D70029Title: Manufacturing Methods for Sulfur Concrete Sewer Pipe
Investigators: Lee, D. Y.
Small Business: Brimstone Pipe Company
EPA Contact:
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 1997 through March 1, 1998
Project Amount: $70,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (1996)
Research Category: SBIR - Pollution Prevention , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development
Description:
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):Reinforced concrete has been the principal product used in the manufacture of sewer pipe around the world for the past 75 years because it is an abundant raw material and pipe can be made from it easily and inexpensively. There are, however, two deficiencies of the product, which have greatly restricted its use in recent years. These disadvantages are (1) that it deteriorates in sewer environments from the acid produced by the raw sewerage; and (2) that its joints are not sufficiently watertight to seal out ground water nor to seal in the sewerage at today's more stringent standards. As a result, concrete sewer pipe production in the United States has decreased steadily and is now only a fraction of the tonnage produced just a decade ago. Cities are forced to specify much more expensive pipe products in order to comply with the more highly restrictive standards.
The purpose of this research was to develop the equipment, technology and material for manufacturing a low cost, acid resistant lining and watertight joint for concrete pipe. By directly overcoming the two disadvantages inherent to concrete pipe, Brimstone Pipe Company will enable concrete pipe producers to reenter the sanitary sewer pipe market with a new and superior pipe capitalizing on existing production facilities with just a small equipment investment and only slight modifications to production routines. Cities will benefit from low cost alternatives with equal or superior performance capabilities that will provide greater useful life for its sewer infrastructure.
Brimstone Pipe Company conducted the research at the Spangler Geotechnical Laboratory at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The inventions that were developed are currently in process for patents and have been licensed exclusively to Brimstone Pipe Company for worldwide distribution. Phase I research verified the unique physical properties of variations of sulfur concrete. Tests verified its resistance to acid and bacterial corrosion, to mechanical erosion and abrasion, its impermeability and its exceptionally high bonding to concrete. Phase II research was conducted to refine the materials and to develop the equipment and technology to line the pipe in a quick and cost effective manner; and, to thereby make it commercially viable for sanitary sewer pipe. A method was perfected for placement of a layer of molten sulfur concrete (Yellow Jacket?) inside concrete pipe quickly and inexpensively without cracking or disbonding as it cooled. This invention involves inserting a distribution device into the horizontal pipe while uniformly distributing the molten sulfur formulation onto the pipe interior at an even thickness with a smooth finished surface. Additionally, a method and specialized machinery were invented which produced mating surfaces for the bell and spigot joint comparable in quality to costly machined surfaces. The new bell and spigot extend outward from either end of the concrete pipe. Bell molds and spigot molds are placed at the corresponding ends of the concrete pipe just prior to commencement of the lining operation. The interior protective liner is laid up at the same time as the end molds are filled. The finished product is a lined concrete pipe with new bell and spigot ends. The existing concrete pipe is now fully impervious to corrosive acids and its new ends now make a watertight joint that meets the higher standards for integrity at only a fraction of the cost of plastic pipe, plastic-lined or epoxy-lined concrete pipe or spun fiberglass-resin pipe.
With new sewer infrastructure expenditures at about $1 billion per year, the need for lower cost, alternative sewer pipe products is immediate. Environmental standards demand pipe products that will perform reliably for 100 years and longer. Brimstone's Yellow Jacket? lining and joint inventions can satisfy this need by providing precast concrete pipe producing plants throughout the United States and the world with this low cost, superior quality alternative. Pilot projects are currently being solicited with the help of some key pipe manufacturers in order to bring these products to market as quickly as possible.
Supplemental Keywords:small business, SBIR, pollution prevention, urban infrastructure, engineering, chemistry, EPA. , Water, Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, Engineering, Chemistry, & Physics, Chemical Engineering, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Environmental Chemistry, Chemistry and Materials Science, Civil Engineering, clean technology, sulfur concrete, waste reduction, sulfur, green design, sustainable development, concrete, product design, waste minimization, environmentally conscious manufacturing, sewer pipe, alternative materials, concrete , innovative technology, green technology, pollution prevention, construction material
Progress and Final Reports:
1998 Progress Report
Original Abstract