Piping Hot: The Advantages of Choosing Welded Pipe Joints for Your Industrial Hot Water System
Industrial hot water systems are vital pieces of equipment for a wide variety of industries, from bottling plants to paper manufacturers, and any industrial hot water system needs a robust, well-designed piping array to funnel the heated water to where it is needed. As you can imagine, pipes that routinely channel high quantities of boiling hot water are placed under an enormous amount of strain, and the joints that hold individual sections of piping together need to be capable of withstanding this brutal punishment.
You have two main options when it comes to properly joining industrial hot water pipes; welded joints and riveted joints. While riveted joints have been used successful for a long time, and have their own advantages, welded joints are the first choice for most hot water applications, and when you look at the advantages welded pipe joints have over riveted pipe joints it's easy to see why.
Faster and easier
Riveting two sections of pipe together is a laborious and time-consuming process, especially when dealing with high-diameter pipes with thicker walls. By contrast, a reputable welder can complete welds on the largest pipes in a matter of hours, minimising expensive downtime and reducing labour costs.
Less expensive
Welding pipe joints is also a less expensive option overall than riveting, and not just because of the reduced labour costs. Welding consumes a significantly smaller amount of material and requires less in the way of specialised equipment, so welding services tend to be more economical than riveting services even if you are given identical labour cost quotes.
Suitable for tight spaces
Riveting pipes can be particularly challenging if they are located in a compact space, such as a crawlspace under a floor or a hollow built into your walls. Since industrial hot water pipes can get dangerously hot, even with extensive external insulation, many hot water pipes are built into these enclosed spaces as a safety precaution. Welding requires much less space and room to manoeuvre, which often allows pipes to be welded in place.
Less likely to leak
When it comes down to it, riveting two sections of piping together involves drilling them full of holes where the rivets are to be fitted; hardly ideal for pipes carrying hot water. While well-riveted piping should remain leak-free for many years, eventually the holes around the rivets will start to wear and leaks will occur. Welding pipe joints leaves none of these potential gaps in your piping, and a welded pipe joint will usually last significantly longer before it needs to be repaired or replaced.
Easier to repair
If and when your pipe joints do start to fail, welded joints are much easier to repair than riveted joints. A pipe with a failing riveted joint often has to be removed and extensively repaired before it can return to use, and if the rivet holes are too worn down the pipe will have to be replaced entirely. Failing welds, on the other hand, can be reinforced much more easily, and usually do not have to be removed while the repairs take place.
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