True to the motto “Allez les bleus” the network provider in Fos-sur-Mer decided in favour of “blue”, i.e. the FRIATEC brand and its d 1200 FRIALEN XL conical ring coupler.
Numbering 16,000 residents, the Fos-sur-Mer community, about 50 km northwest of Mar-seille, can look proudly back on a history moulded by its industrial port. Thanks to its ideal location on the shore of the Mediterranean, this commune has evolved into a key trade hub, with many refineries and chemical firms settling here within the last few decades. Inland waterways like the Canal du Rhône à Fos provide the perfect links to the port.
This is also the starting point of the crude oil pipeline operated by the Société du pipeline sud-européen (SPSE) and supplying the Oberrhein mineral oil refinery (MiRO) in Karlsruhe.
Owing to this pipeline’s potential fire hazard, safety had to be assigned top priority. For this reason, the industrial estate is enclosed by a d 1200 firefighting pipeline of HDPE. The indus-trial region is continuing to grow, and new companies are locating there. The pipeline must therefore not only be meticulously monitored and serviced, but also permit modifications.
The new systems must be integrated quickly, but above all safely.
The FRIALEN XL conical ring coupler is the ideal solution for these criteria. Work on the network can be planned reliably because the duration of each operation can be calculat-ed accurately. Pipe tolerances and geometrical deviations adopt a secondary role in the installation. The conical ring coupler is made up of three sections, and so can be adapted optimally to the available pipework, which has undergone expansion after years of operation under 5 bar. No problem: The pipes are scraped once only, and the conical rings are then activat-ed to minimise the gap to the pipe.
