Secondary containment system
OwnerNicholas E. Butts, George J. Donovan +1inventors
InventorsNicholas E. Butts, George J. Donovan, Daniel P. Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A secondary containment piping system is composed of a plurality of modules of concentric pipe. The inner pipe carries fluid being transported, and the outer pipe provides secondary containment of fluid leaking from the inner pipe. The module consists of a length of inner pipe centred in a length of outer pipe by a series of spiders or ribs, fastened to one or both of the pipes. The ends of both inner and outer pipes are coplanar and perpendicular to the axis of the module. Successive modules are joined by simultaneously welding the inner and outer pipes of one module to the corresponding pipes of an adjacent module, the preferred material for the pipes is HDPE and the welding is accomplished using electric fusion welding techniques.
Claims12
A thermoplastic secondary containment piping system comprising:
- a plurality of modules adapted to be joined together end-to-end, each module comprising an inner carrier pipe of a thermoplastic material, an outer containment pipe of said thermoplastic material, each of said pipes having a pair of ends, means for holding said carrier pipe concentrically in said containment pipe, said holding means having openings therein for passage of leaking fluid and leak detection means therethrough, the ends of said carrier and containment pipes of said module being perpendicular to a lengthwise axis of said pipes, and each end of said module having the ends of the carrier pipe and the containment pipe coplanar with each other;
- a tubular insert comprising said thermoplastic material and having an inner diameter slightly larger than an outer diameter of said carrier pipe, and an outer diameter slightly smaller than an inner diameter of said containment pipe, said insert being engageable with said modules by insertion between said carrier and containment pipes;
- and
- a pair of inner and outer welding members each comprising a flexible rod of said thermoplastic material having an electrical winding embedded in a surface of said rod, said winding when energized by an electric current providing thermal energy effective to melt and fuse the thermoplastic of said rod, said insert and adjacent portions of said modules, said welding members being positionable to simultaneously contact said insert, a pair of adjacent ends of said carrier pipes, and a pair of adjacent ends of said containment pipes of adjacent modules, whereby like pipe sections may be joined by simultaneously welding the carrier pipe and containment pipe of one module to said insert and to the corresponding pipes of said adjacent module, said tubular insert becoming an integral part of the weld and joining all four pipe ends together at the same time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.