Perspectives of Plastic Pipes use in Shipbuilding and Marine Industry

Abstract

The use of plastic pipelines allows to increase the efficiency of pipeline systems of a ship due to their extraordinary corrosion resistance, a decrease of maintenance frequency, a reduction of total operational costs, and opens a new direction in the use of plastics. The weight of plastic pipelines is considerably less than that of metal ones, which allows to decrease the weight of the vessel by several tons and to increase, due to this, its maneuverability, as well as to decrease fuel consumption, ensure easier passing of all the necessary weight regulations, and optimize vessel operation. The process of installation work performance provides for a possibility of a pre-assembly of structures, the execution of welded, glued, mechanical joints with the help of a minimum set of tools in a confined space, and decreases by 50% the time of pipeline laying on the ship. Moreover, plastic pipe manufacturing creates five times less carbon dioxide emissions, which makes it a significant environmentally-friendly alternative to metal pipes. Therefore, in the cases where it is technically possible, plastic pipelines can be used as a direct substitution of metal pipelines.