New Plastic Pipes Conference Session Sees Record Attendance

The newest session of the Plastic Pipes Conference Assn. (PPCA) meeting on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) was attended by a record number of industry professionals from around the world.

Held in a different country every time, the Plastic Pipes Conference and Exhibition is the largest event of its kind. This year’s conference, PPXVIII, was held in Berlin in September and had 450 attendees from 43 countries. The conference is organized in collaboration with the Plastics Pipe Institute Inc. (PPI), the European Plastic Pipes and Fittings Assn. (TEPPFA), PE 100+ Assn. and PVC4Pipes.

“The action was nonstop in Berlin,” said Conference Organizing Co-Chair Sarah Patterson of PPI. “Because of the great number of people, plenty of networking opportunities were created and the sessions were full. The new workshop on Non-Destructive Testing was nearly standing room only. More than 100 participated and there were seven papers from firms located in six countries, plus a one-hour panel discussion.

“The reason the NDT session was so exciting is because, for nearly 25 years, NDT was done by individual firms who set their own criteria. Now, the technology has made its way into the standards organization for the inspection of plastic pipe. This session provided a forum for the two industries, NDT and plastic pipe, to discuss the technologies as well as methodology being proposed for acceptance criteria,” Patterson said.

Presentations examined NDT technologies, inspection methods, detection of any indications in butt fusion and electrofusion joints, and ways to determine if an indication is actually a defect. The discussions from the NDT session were also of interest to the organizing associations.

“PPI created an NDT task group in late where we, like our other PPI committees and groups, investigate best practices and data in order to provide guidance to the industry for the use of NDT methods for the inspection of plastic pipes,” Patterson said.

Other key subjects covered at PPXVIII included the introduction of new technologies, technical, and marketing issues relating to materials and ingredients, along with the design and development, testing, installation and operation of plastic pipe systems. Best practices were reviewed as were case studies focused on water and industrial applications. Technical and engineering pipe solutions were also reviewed plus market trends for future growth in the use of plastic pipes for the infrastructure.

“We would like to recognize and thank the PPI member companies and industry associates for volunteering their time and expertise to the PPXVIII Berlin 2016 Conference,” said Tony Radoszewski, president of PPI.

Plastic Pipes Conference and Exhibition XIX (PPXIX) will take place in Las Vegas, Sept. 24 to 26, 2018. Additional information can be found on the Plastic Pipes Conference Association website: www.plasticpipesconference.com.

Source: Plastic Pipes Institute