Tubes and pipes in technical and everyday use In the beginning was the hollowed-out tree trunk, one of the first capillary tube to be crafted by human hand. With a vast array of models in the plant world to inspire him, Homo sapiens had a much easier job inventing the tube than the wheel for which, by contrast, nature had no example to offer. Bamboo and reed are just two examples of plants with hollow stalks. Nature already knew the value of the tubular form, which combines high stability with the capacity to Transport essential substances for growth, such as water and nutrients, out of the earth. In technical terms, a tube or pipe is a cylindrical, hard hollow body which usually has a round cross-section but can also be oval, square, rectangular or more complex in profile. It is used on the one hand to convey liquid, gas and solid matter and, on the other, as a construction element. Whatever its purpose, the term covers all sizes and diameters, from the smallest needle pipes right up to wind tunnels. No other profile shape with the same material cross-section has such a high flexural strength, which is what makes the tube so important as a load-bearing element in building. Tubes for transporting purposes In the past, people always tried to settle close to water. As the size of the settlements grew, it became increasingly difficult to get the water from the source - the spring, pond, river or lake - to the different dwellings. At first, people used open conduits - initially simple trenches, later stone canals. When the springs and sources were exhausted, aqueducts were used to carry water from the mountains into the towns. Some 300 years A.D., the Romans transported water from the Campagna into their capital and some of their impressive waterways can still be marvelled at in modern-day Europe. Later, the open canals were covered over and used as closed conduits - and thus the pipeline was born. People were also quick to realize the benefits of closed pipes against open canals for removing waste water. Early pipe materials included wood and stoneware (fired clay), but also easy-to-work metals such as bronze, copper and lead. The first closed pipelines were made around 4,000 years ago of fired clay. The oldest metal pipelines date back to 200 years B.C., first made of bronze and later lead. Lead pipes were cast and chiefly used to Transport water. Copper pipes meanwhile were made from chased copper plate which was rolled and subsequently soldered together. The advent of an economical method of producing large quantities of cast iron in the 14th century laid the foundation for the manufacture of iron pipes. Gunsmiths and cannon-makers were amongst the first to produce iron pipes. Cast iron pipes were used as early as the 15th century to carry water - some dating back to the 16th century are still in use today. Cast iron pipes also accompanied the development of a public gas supply network, for which compression-proof pipes were a matter of safety and therefore absolutely essential. As more economical steelmaking methods were developed, an opportunity opened up for this material to be used for pipes. The first were forge-welded out of hoop steel, a method already known to gunsmiths in the Middle Ages. Around 1880, the invention of crossrolling by the Mannesmann brothers also made it possible to produce seamless pipes and tubes. With their thicker walls, seamless pipes offered greater stability at a relatively low weight. Oil-prospectors used such pipes to reach deeper reservoirs and by doing so were able to satisfy the growing demand for mineral oil which accompanied the early days of motorisation. The fact that mineral oil could be transported economically over long distances through a pipeline pushed up the demand for steel pipes even further. Soon, pipelines came to be the biggest market in this area, with demand reaching several million tonnes of welded and seamless pipes every year. The crucial importance of how a pipe is made for the economic efficiency and environment-friendliness of industrial plant can be illustrated with the contemporary example of seamless boiler pipes with inner ribs. For years the power industry has been aiming to reduce fuel consumption and thereby cut CO2 emissions by stepping up efficiency. This can be done by working with higher operating pressures and temperatures. Consequently, plans have been made to set up new power plant in the first decades of the next century, which will run with pressure levels of up to 350 bar (today's maximum is 300 bar), at operating temperatures of around 700 "C (as opposed to 600 'C) and with efficiency increased from fts current 40% to 50%. Operating parameters of this kind can only be used for suitabie products and materials, of which seamless boiler pipes with inner ribs are one example. On account of their internal geometry, these pipes substantially improve the heat transfer between heating and the vapour phase on the inside of the pipe. Pipes made of nonferrous metals and plastics Thanks to its good corrosion resistance, copper can be used to make pipes for the chemical industry, refrigeration technology and shipbuilding. Alongside their application for installation purposes, the usually seamless copper pipes are also used in capacitors and heat exchangers. For corrosive materials, low temperatures or stringent demands on the purity of the material carried by the pipe, Aluminium and Aluminium alloys are used in pipe construction. Meanwhile, thanks to its high resistance to many aggressive materials, titanium is well- suited to use in chemical engineering. Plastics belong to the group of newer pipe materials. With the development of methods for producing plastics on an industrial scale in the 1930s, it also became possible to manufacture plastic pipes economically. By the middle of the 30s, plastics were already being used in Germany to make pressure pipelines. Among the chief advantages of plastics are their high corrosion resistance and a substantial chemical resistance to aggressive media. Moreover, the smooth surfaces mean that plastic pipes are not prone to incrustation, which can have a very detrimental effect on their conveying capacity. Pipes supplying drinking water are mostly made of polyethylene (PE) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Like ABS (acrylonftrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer) plastics, these two materials are also used for gas pipelines. Thermoplastic materials - alongside PE and PVC these include PP (polypropylene) and PVDF (polyvinylidenefluoride) - can also be used for industrial pipelines. Beyond these, PB (polybutene) and PE-X (cross- linked polyethylene) are also widespread in pipe-making. Plastic pipes find application in areas such as heating technology, shipbuilding, underwater pipelines (the crossing below a river floor from one bank to the other), irrigating and drainage plant, and well-building. The right choice of material has a crucial bearing on the economic efficiency and safety of a pipe system. Materials therefore have to be selected according to the demands of each specific application. In steel boiler construction, for example, pipes must be made of steel with high temperature stability plus heat and scaling resistance, while special corrosion resistance is all-important in the chemical and foodstuffs industries. Meanwhile, the mineral-oil processing industry requires heat- proof or press-water-resistant steels for its pipes, gas liquefaction and separation, on the other hand, need materials which have special strength at low temperatures. This broad and highly diversified range of requirements has put a fantastic array of materials to use in pipe- making. Alongside the iron and steel, nonferrous metals and plastics mentioned above, these also take in concrete, clay, porcelain, glass and ceramics. In addition to liquids and gases, solid matter, broken down, as dust or mixed with water in slurry form, is also pumped through pipelines. Gravel, sand or even iron ore can be conveyed in this manner. Pneumatic transportation of grain, dust and chips through pipes is also a widespread practice. Pneumatic tube conveyors, which similarly work with air, are another important mode of transporting solid matter. Pipes may be several meters in diameter and pipelines many kilometers in length. At the other end of the scale are conduits with tiny, barely perceptible dimensions. One example of their use is as cannulas in medicine - a collective term referring to instruments with a variety of applications, including infusions, injections and transfusions. Their outer diameter ranges from over 5 millimeters to as little as 0.20 millimeters. Cannulas are made of high-quality grades of stainless steel, brass, silver or nickel silver (an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, sometimes admixed with traces of lead, iron or tin), but also plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene or Teflon. Often, different materials are combined with one another to produce the individual components. These tiny tubes must have extremely pronounced elastic properties. They may bend but under no circumstances snap. Their surfaces are often nickel
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