Fabrication and Evaluation of PE-Based Composite Gas Pipe [PE]

Author(s) : Yuji Higuchi, Rei Hyuga, Kazushi Yamada, Hiroyuki Nishimura

Recently, thermoplastic-based composite pipes have been developed in order to satisfy the higher requirements for gas and water distribution. Although the stress rupture test is now the major test method used to evaluate the long-term performance of these pipes, developing a new, convenient test method making it...

Author(s) : Jun Abe, Takahiro Kasatani, Yuji Higuchi

Osaka Gas has carried out the production, supply, and sale of gas since 1905 and has distributed gas to 7,200,000 customers. The piping used for distribution was originally steel and cast iron pipes, but we have been adopting the use of polyethylene piping for low pressure distribution since 1980, and have to date...

Author(s) : Kazuhisa Igawa, Yuji Higuchi, Daisuke Tanemura, Kazushi Yamada, Hiroyuki Nishimura, Sakiko Fukunishi, Kazufumi Kohno, Hidekazu Honma, Hidekazu Sugimori

Recently, as awareness about energy-saving is increasing, high-efficiency energy systems have been developed and introduced. In addition, public and private sectors have simultaneously been implementing various efforts aiming to improve their prevalence rates. These initiatives are represented by the Cogeneration Gas...

Author(s) : Yuji Higuchi, Tomohiro Tanishita, Kazushi Yamada, Hiroyuki Nishimura

Recently, PE resin-back composite pipes have been developed in order to satisfy the higher requirements for gas and water distribution. Although the stress rupture test is now the major test method used to evaluate the long-term performance of these pipes, developing a new, convenient test method making it possible to...

Author(s) : Kazuhisa Igawa, Yuji Higuchi, Akio Kamatani, Kazushi Yamada, Hiroyuki Nishimura

The polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) cogeneration system has been commercialized in Japan. The number of commercialized PEFC residential cogeneration systems have reached 100, 000 in total at the end of last year. The waste heat can be used for hot water supply and central heating. Hot water distribution pipes...

Author(s) : Yuji Higuchi, Kazuhiro Nishimoto, Takeshi Mise, Eiji Takenaka, Markus Hartmann

This study explores the Japanese market for polyamide 12 (PA12) pipes in terms of new product market success. To gain the market penetration, there are various entry barriers for the new product in the new market field which has big distance between current marketing areas and target country. In spite of becoming...

Author(s) : Yuji Higuchi, Masaaki Ishikawa, Toshiaki Furuno, Eiji Okamura, Masahiro Mutoh, Hiroyuki Nishimura, Asami Nakai, Hiroyuki Hamada

Pipe materials that are resistant to damage by thirty-party works were investigated with attention to materials already used for other purposes. Pipes for underwater cables, water service and agricultural use, both multiple-layer and single-layer types, were selected for the test. Protective materials were also...

Author(s) : Asami Nakai, Yoshitaka Tanaka, Akio Ohtani, Shigeyoshi Matsubara, Louis Laberge Lebel, Hiroyuki Hamada

Pultrusion process is one of the composite production methods that have been used for mass production of uniform profiles. However, there are two problems that are commonly found in pultrusion products; one of which is its anisotropic mechanical properties. This anisotropicity stems from the alignment...

Author(s) : Akiyama, Higuchi, Nose, Toyoda, Kitano, Kuriyama

Since the year 2001, the Japan Gas Association has started the development of new renewal methods capable of cost reduction for modification work by inserting a new double-layered corrugated plastic pipe into the old gas pipe to encourage the modification of aged house pipes and upgrade the level of safety. The...

Author(s) : Nishimura, Inoue, Inoue, Tani, Higuchi

Electrofusion (EF) joints have been widely used as easy-to-fuse and high-quality joints for joining polyethylene (PE) pipes. When we introduced EF joints 150 mm or more in diameter, an electrofusion simulation program was concurrently developed to reduce time for design and experimental works. It was verified that the...

Author(s) : Higuchi, Nishimura, Tamamura, Harada

To estimate the long-term performance of polyethylene pipe, molecular structure of polyethylene resin were analyzed and the long-term performance test were done. By linking the molecular structure of the resin to the results of long-term performance tests such as tensile creep tests and tensile fatigue tests, it...

Author(s) : Nishimura, Suyama, Inoue, Higuchi

This paper describes an evaluatio~i metl~od for elearofusion joint strer~gtl~ and a basic co~~cept for determination of suitable fusion jointing col~ditio~~s. Firstly, the concept for estimating electrofusion joint strength is indicated. As an experimental result, it was found that the optimum fusion range lay...