Making a stand

Plastic pipe stands ensure pipeline workers prioritise safety, suggests Ken Pilidis, Proline Pipe Equipment, Canada.

The Proline Pipe Equipment yellow plastic stackable pipe stands, or pipe cones, have been a huge success since their inception by Proline over 25 years ago. The 2 - 8 in. plastic pipe stands handle pipe of various wall thicknesses from 2 - 8 in., the 8 - 12 in. will handle pipe from 8 - to 12 in., and so on. Proline has also designed a star-shaped pipe stand that will accommodate a 12 - 24 in. pipe. Proline’s stand capacity increases as the pipe diameter gets bigger, to match increase in the increased weight. However, just because you’ve invented something to speed up right-of-way placement of the pipe for welding, coating, repair, storage etc., doesn’t mean that you should stop innovating. With that in mind, Proline came out with another version of the popular stackable plastic pipe stands. With our yellow pipe stands being a big hit, we decided to go further with a version for hotter ambient temperatures.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. While travelling around the country visiting customers, our salesmen saw other plastic pipe stands in the field that looked like they’d seen better days. They were coloured stands; some were black, some were orange, and they seemed to sag under the heat of the sun and weight of the pipe. This can be a concern, especially if someone is lying under the pipe welding. With this

Figure 1. 36 in. pipe being supported on the 12 - 36 in. Proline High Temperature (HT) pipe stand.

Figure 2. 11 HT 12 - 36 in. plastic pipe stands hold up 36 in. pipe in Australia. 20 stands can fit on a pallet in a container.

Figure 3. Pallets of the new 12 - 36 in. HT stands ready for export to Arizona, USA. predicament in mind, we wondered if Proline could make something better. What we came up with was a new high temperature (HT) stand. More resin was added so the stands were thicker and would have greater strength in hot conditions. However, the weight increase was negligible. It was decided that if these stands were going to be made to withstand hotter climates, then Proline would do something about the colour too. We decided to make them white, since that colour does not attract the heat as much as other stands or pipe cones; they were a huge success in the tropics and countries that sustain heat all year.

In 2019, seeing bigger inch pipelines being built, and contractors asking for something bigger than 24 in., Proline decided to upgrade the size of one stand. With 24 in. the largest plastic pipe stand Proline had, it was decided to investigate moving to a larger size. One stipulation was that we wanted the new size to be the same price as the 24 in. stand, and just as safe. After some designing and a few samples made to test, we moved forward.

Why and how we made these stands We wanted a new plastic pipe stand to have the same versatility of the regular stands, and something that wouldn’t sag as easily in high heat environments under ideal conditions.

That new stand is the 12 - 36 in. This pipe stand can hold 12 - 36 in. pipe of various wall thicknesses. When designing this stand, Proline engineers gave it a ‘star’ shape which contributes to its strength. These stands were tested on a third-party press until they failed due to extreme pressure; increments of 5000 lb (2268 kg) were applied at different intervals.

When the weight reached 65 000 lb (29 480 kg) the stand was inspected, and there was no change. So, we subjected the pipe stand to more pressure and brought the weight up to 70 000 lb. Still no change. At 75 000 lb there was a slight wave, but the stand endured, so we went to 80 000 lb and a few more waves appeared. We added 10 000 lb more, and at 90 000 lb the stand lost its shape. The weight was removed and after 5 minutes of discussing what we had just witnessed, we noticed that with the weight removed, the stand returned to its original shape. That was unexpected, so it was decided to try adding the weight again on the damaged stand to see when it would fail. At 50 000 lb (22 680 kg) we couldn’t believe that it was holding the weight after being crushed; this was the stand that had been crushed not 10 minutes earlier. We made it up to 65 000 lb (29 480 kg) on the damaged stand, before the waves returned.

We didn’t test just one stand, but multiple stands and the results were the same. The results of the tests were taken and the stand was rated with a 5:1 safe working load capacity. After the tests, we rated each 12 - 36 in. pipe stand a safe working capacity of 13 000 lb (5897 kg).

One 40 ft joint (12 m) of 36 in. pipe with a standard wall thickness (0.375 in.) weighs 142.68 lb/ft x 40 ft = 5707.2 lb. (2589 kg). Schedule 40 pipe (0.750 in. wall) will weigh 282.35 lb/ft x 40 = 11 294 lb (5123 kg). This is still in the safety range of one stand, and usually two stands hold up one pipe joint.

These stands can be set in the bed of a truck as they are stackable. While driving the right-of-way, one worker hands the pipe stand to a worker walking along side, and he places it on the ground. From each stand dropped off, the labourers are saving about 5 - 7 min. vs building each skid. Dropping off fumigated and heat-treated wood and requiring someone to build skids, is no longer required for pipe in the range of these pipe stands. Storage of the stands are also made easy as they are stackable and can nest on top of each other. For example, the 2 – 8 in. stands can store 100 pipe stands on one 42 x 42 in. (107 x 107 cm) pallet and be ready for the next job. Applications and success stories With the added resin and the white color, these stands are just what was needed for the southern US, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, or anywhere where ambient temperatures could exceed 37°C or 98°F. In Canada, where these stands are made, we are starting to see 42˚C (108˚F) summer temperatures; last year, British Columbia saw 49.5˚C (121˚F). We have been asked, what happens if the temperature exceeds 45˚C (113˚F)? If you have two pipe stands holding up a pipe in 45˚C+ temperatures, what do you do? The answer is simple; just add a third pipe stand. One on each end and one in the middle. This is especially recommended if you have black coating, and the pipe has been lying out in the sun for a few days. Add another stand for insurance; if you can’t hold your hand on the pipe for 5 seconds, you should add an extra pipe stand and monitor the situation.

In 2017, 400 of the 8 - 12 in. HT White stands were shipped to Australia on a trial basis to fill a 40 ft container that was only three quarters full, and used on various pipeline projects across the continent. The feedback that we received was phenomenal; the company that supplied our stands received emails from end users asking why these weren’t promoted before. Since they were first introduced down under, several 40 ft sea containers have been filled to the rafters with all three sizes (2- 8 in., 8 - 12 in. and the new 12 - 36 in.) and shipped to keep up with demand. As a pipeline company in Australia just bought all the stock from our distributor, he has asked for another 40 ft container to be filled for the next voyage there. These stands, like their yellow brethren, are made from UV-stabilised high density polyethylene (HDPE) with an average life span of 6.5 yr, after which, can be recycled at the end of their lifecycle. Safety is our highest priority at Proline Pipe Equipment and our plastic pipe stands reflect this commitment. Is this something that could help you on your next pipeline job?

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