Daniel,

The primary considerations for selecting material of construction for conveying pipelines handling PE pellets are: 1) Preventing contamination of PE pellets, 2) Ease of installation, 3) Safety, and 4) Cost. For most PE applications, aluminum is used because it offers the best choice. It satisfies all of these criteria.

For some applications, where minimizing pipe wear is also a major consideration, stainless steel is selected.

Carbon steel is not used because it is likely to rust, causing product contamination.

To prevent streamer generation, whether it is aluminum or stainless steel, the internal surface of the pipelines should be roughened by using a suitable method such as shot-blasting.

Regards,

Amrit Agarwal

Consulting Engineer

Pneumatic Conveying Consulting

Email: polypcc@aol.com

Ph and Fax: 304 346 5125 ■

WHAT IS ALUMINUM? Except an insult to the Periodic Table. ■

While we are about it, can we encourage contributors to spell METRE?

Michael Reid. ■