Gas pipes provider Inkulu Plastics now offers the South African market a range of small-, medium- and large-bore high-density polyethylene (HDPE) gas pipes of between 16 mm and 630 mm in diameter.

“Manufactured in accordance with ISO 4437 standards, our gas pipes and fittings are quality-tested throughout the entire production process to ensure their reliability and effectiveness for gas transportation,” says Inkulu Plastics marketing manager Faize Gafoor.

Owing to their HDPE properties, the gas pipes are maintenance free. They are also corrosion resistant, easy to install and flexible, with high-impact strength, and can be used in trenchless construction. The company says the pipes are also suitable for use at estates, such as the Steyn City, in Johannesburg, where the company installed gas pipes last year.

Most estates have installed gas reticulation systems using HDPE gas pipes and electro fusion fittings as an alternative energy source.

“We have a well-proven record of supplying quality pipes on time, focusing on establishing and building partnerships with suppliers and customers, and delivering reliability and quality every time,” says Gafoor, adding that the company has tasked itself with becoming one of South Africa’s leading HDPE pipes manufacturers.

Inkulu Plastics believes its experience will enable it to provide the local market with the latest HDPE gas pipes. “With more than 900 t of pipe manufactured monthly, the company currently manufactures pipe certified to SANS/ISO4427 and ISO 4437. Our policy is to use only the best virgin raw material available and focus on producing high-quality products.”

Further, the company operates seven lines of the most updated technologies in pipe extrusion lines. “Our expansion in a granulating system enables us to have total control of all first-generation HDPE material produced in-house. We can successfully claim that only virgin HDPE pipe grade material passes through our extruders,” Gafoor adds.

The company’s modern laboratory, in KwaZulu-Natal, enables Inkulu Plastics to conduct all related tests, specifically in-house material analysis.

Meanwhile, the company has also introduced its fleet of trucks and trailers to the local market, with a trailer to support pipes up to 19 m in length.

The company was established in 2014 and has rapidly expanded to being a leading supplier of small-, medium- and large-bore HDPE pipes in South Africa, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.

Gafoor tells Engineering News that the company has been involved in several projects in the quarrying industry in Sierra Leone, Sudan and the DRC.