Haydale's HCS has announced the commissioning of a composite pipe testing facility, that will be used to assess new graphene enhanced composites. The new facility for long term testing consists of 8 independently controlled tanks which can carry out short and long term pressure testing of composite pipes up to 500bar and at temperatures up to 80°C. The facility is versatile and can conduct short term burst pressure (STBP) tests, determine long term hydrostatic pressure (LTHP) rating as well as performing dynamic, fatigue and cyclic testing of composite pipes to a wide range of international standards including API 15S, ISO 14692 and ASTM D2992.
HCS is active in the design, development, testing and certification of reinforced thermoplastic and thermosetting composite pipes for the oil and gas industry. The new facility should enable HCS to accelerate the development and approval of new materials and designs that can be used in the construction of oil and gas pipelines. HCS is currently developing new graphene-enhanced polymer materials for use in pipeline construction and this facility will assist greatly in the testing, approval and certification of these novel materials.
The company relays that the successful commissioning of this facility is a major step towards delivering its new range of thermoplastic pipes. The generation of long term (10,000 hours) test data is vital in obtaining approval for the use of new materials in oil and gas pipeline systems and this facility enables to simultaneously test a range of materials and designs, thereby enabling to quickly optimize such products before performing full 10,000-hour hydrostatic test certification.
In November 2015, Haydale reported that it successfully raised around £6.0 million.
