In response to the increasing demand for inexpensive materials for the production of high-performance piping systems for transporting oil products, liquid chemicals, hot water or gas under extreme conditions, Solvay Polyolefins Europe (Rue du Prince Albert 33, B-1050 Brussels) has developed a new crosslinkable, ready-to-use HDPE compound under the name “Eltex” TUX 100 that offers new applications where standard HDPE could not formerly be used.

Among the attractive performance characteristics of the new material are, according to Solvay, a reduction in installation costs by using the excavated material as backfill instead of sand-bedding, improved chemical and mechanical protection, operation at high temperatures and slow crack growth down to -35 C. The pipes can be manufactured with Eltex TUX 100 using normal extruders, and it is also possible to coextrude multilayer pipes and to produce fittings by injection moulding. According to Solvay, the new product strengthens the company´s strategy to assume a leading world position on the HDPE market for gas and water pressure pipelines.

• Plasteurope.com Service: Eltex TUX 100 product brochure with technical data (English): PIE-No. 44777.