How to reduce a flange size while maintaining a consistent pipeline ID

Maxi stub flanges — comprising a hybrid stub flange and backing ring — are a quick and effective solution to reduce a flange size whilst keeping your HDPE pipeline internal diameter (ID) consistent.

They’re particularly useful when your poly pipe system features a magnetic flow meter.

That’s because maxi flange adaptors are specifically designed for joining poly pipe to equivalent-sized flow meters, allowing poly pipe to be joined to a reduced NB size without having to use reducers and compromising the pipeline’s ID.

Recently, we prefabricated a series of maxi stub flanges to enable a client in the hard rock mining sector to upsize a pipe system.

Customer Service Representative at Advanced Piping Systems, Ripley Craig, said having initially undersized their design for a water suction pipeline required to transport water from a dam up the side of a steep embankment to a mineral processing plant, maxi stub flanges ‘were the only option’.

“They’d undersized their initial design, which featured pipelines sized between 315mm to 355mm,” Ripley said.

“They didn’t allow for the thickness of the poly, reducing the ID…they sized based on nominal bore, not on ID and the poly pipe.

“The other complicating factor was that they wanted to keep the magnetic flow meters, due to the long lead time and high cost of ordering new ones but needed to upsize the whole pipe system around it.

“So really, there was no other option, aside from using maxi stubs.”

Acting swiftly, Advanced Piping Systems supported the client by developing new designs for the suction pipeline, with limited information provided (except for required flow rates).

Our Prefabrication team then manufactured custom maxi stub flanges, ready to transport to site.

Last-minute design changes meant that some materials needed to be fabricated and installed on-site, which Advanced Piping Systems was able to achieve thanks to our flexible and reliable nature.

The upsized water suction pipeline was installed on-time, on budget – and importantly – with a consistent pipeline ID, allowing for accurate flow and volume data, reduction in vortexing, and less abrasion at flange steps.

To learn more about how maxi stub flanges can help your poly pipe system maintain a consistent pipeline ID, contact Ripley and our Customer Service Team today.