Fluid Management
High pressure spools lined with polyurethane
Beginning with the STP of Compañía Minera Disputada, in the early 1990s, to the slurry pipeline built next to expansion of Compañía Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi. The technology used in the transportation of wet minerals has evolved in many aspects.
One of them was the generation of new formulations of polyurethanes and the improvement of the installation processes, which resulted in the longer duration of the coatings, thus reducing the maintenance costs of the mining plants. Acotec s.a. It had been an active part of this story. 14 years ago the STP operation of Disputada de Las Condes begins, installing the first polyurethane coated pipes in Chile. These pipes were up to 24 inches in diameter and pressures up to 3,600 psi, these were coated by Irathane in the USA and delivered in Chile by its representative Acotec S.A. Since that time Acotec S.A. began working on the transfer of technology from USA to manufacture coatings in Chile. In the year 1993 Acotec S.A. installed the coatings of the Iscaycruz concentric duct in Peru followed by Alumbrera in 1994, later came Escondida, Collahuasi, Pelambres, etc. While the use of polyurethane coating was being developed at Acotec S.A, it detected a weakness in the Chilean market to manufacture high-pressure steel spools that met the requirements of manufacturing standards. In 1997, decision to start manufacturing of steel parts was taken, hence initiating a new learning path different from that of the polyurethane installation. Today, we can say with pride that we are the only factory that keeps control of the production of technologies, the manufacture of high pressure steel spools and the application of polyurethane coatings.
The next step, which we are already dedicated to, is qualification for manufacturing under the ASME standard.
