When choosing the material with which a pipe is manufactured for water conveyance, many factors influence such as cost, ease of installation, environmental impact, dimensions... and among them it is very important to consider the hydraulic capacity that can flow through the inside of the pipe and the load loss coefficient that occurs due to the friction of the fluid particles among themselves and against the walls of the pipe that transports them.
Among the multiple options to choose from, the Oriented PVC with which Molecor's TOM® pipes are manufactured is positioned as one of the best alternatives because a PVC-O Class 500 TOM® pipe can transport much more water for the same nominal diameter than pipes made of other traditional materials, between 15% and 40%, due to the reduction in the wall thickness caused by the molecular orientation. In the following image it can be seen that this difference in water flow capacity is so important that in many cases it will even be possible to reduce the specified diameter for the immediately smaller one. This fact contributes, of course, to reduce the investment in piping.
In addition, the internal surface is extremely smooth, which minimizes head losses and hinders the formation of deposits on the pipe walls. In some networks, losses may be continuous, along regular ducts, or accidental or localized, due to particular circumstances, such as a narrowing, a change of direction, the presence of a valve, etc.
But thanks to the low absolute roughness coefficient of PVC-O TOM® pipes, the unit load losses of the fluids flowing through them are much lower than those produced in other traditional materials with higher roughness. For this reason, the energy required to transport water is also lower. The optimization of energy consumption results in significant energy savings, especially in the pumping phase.
Thus, TOM® is able to transport a greater quantity of water at a lower energy cost than other pipes and significantly reduces the risk of breakdowns and leaks. It is the pipeline that offers the best efficiency between investment cost and available hydraulic capacity.
