Practical, safer and economical solution.

The continuous and specific market demands along with the excellent quality levels of plastic have allowed Aquatechnik to set up a specifically equipped production department for manifolds and special fittings for the wide and complete fusio-technik range (pipes and fittings made of PP-R, polypropylene). Every manifold is studied and designed by the Aquatechnik technical departments following specific customer requirements and demands, in terms of shape (overall dimensions, type and number of outputs and measurements) as well as the more technical aspects related to the choice of pipes and fittings offered by the company.

In order to simplify this task, the Aquatechnik technical departments offer guidelines to the customers to select the most suitable materials according to each specific use to guarantee a product with the highest level of performance at the best possible price.

Advantages

Opting for a plastic manifold as opposed to a conventional metal manifold

(usually made of steel) offers several advantages:

• Safety and duration: it is well known that the most critical aspect of a hydraulic installation is the pipe/fitting junction, particularly in manifolds where a pipe section with many branches, and therefore, with just as many welding points, will be installed. Welding between pipes and fittings made of polypropylene is one of the most reliable in terms of quality and durability. In fact, a polypropylene weld results in a single body (1+1=1) and is therefore far superior to a metal weld, with regards to safety. Furthermore, our production is continuously tested (internally and by accredited entities), from the raw material to the finished product, o guarantee durability of over 50 years when used within the correct operating parameters, which is not the case for metal products. The duration of a plastic product is also established by the absence of corrosion, which is the main factor that causes metal products to fail;
• Systems cleaning: metal products release sludges and residues that, over time, generally, settle in the systems (pumps, boilers, heat exchangers, etc.), thereby compromising their proper operation. Using plastic materials eliminates this problem;
• Simple installation: polypropylene manifolds are much lighter and easier to handle than those made of metal. Installation, handling and clamping is much simpler and easier, thanks to their low weight;
• Practical: polypropylene manifolds allow work, such as adding an output that was not present in the initial project, to be carried out in a practical, safe and fast way;
• Energy saving: opting for a polypropylene manifold helps to increase the energy efficiency of the system thanks to reduced heat loss. In fact, polypropylene has a very low thermal conductivity value (l = 0.24 W/mK), especially when compared to that of steel (steel l = 52 W/mK, stainless steel l = 17 W/mK), namely between 70 and 215 times lower. Besides affecting energy savings, this aspect offers an almost final solution to the problem related to dew point, the typical phenomenon of “tearing” in metal manifolds. This phenomenon is almost never found in plastic manifolds since the dew point is moved upward in the psychrometric chart thanks to the low thermal conductivity value. Therefore, the “tearing” can only occur in limit operating conditions, hat is with particularly low fluid temperatures and in environments with particularly high relative humidity percentages;
• Range wideness: polypropylene manifolds allow you to choose solutions from many different materials, guaranteeing the best product for every type of application. In fact, you can choose from both different types of pipes (e.g., single-layer, multilayer fibre-reinforced and all with different thicknesses) and from multiple types of outputs: direct derivations for multilayer pipes, valves, taps, flanges, collars, threaded fittings, etc. Thanks to the wide range of pipes designed for a variety of applications, manifolds and special fittings can be manufactured for every system requirement.