BRUGG Pipes, Switzerland’s largest pipe manufacturer based in Kleindöttingen, has developed an innovative testing technology for flexible pipes in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute ITWM (Institute for Industrial Mathematics). This was prompted by a new EU Drinking Water Directive, which required the pipe structure to be adapted and made the X-ray inspection previously used technically impossible. In order to ensure quality assurance even under these new conditions, a measuring method based on terahertz technology was developed – a world first in the field of insulated pipes.
Legal requirements as a driver of innovation
With the implementation of the EU Drinking Water Directive 2020/2184, the German Drinking Water Ordinance was also amended. For BRUGG Pipes, this meant that the inner pipes of its drinking water pipe systems had to be provided with an oxygen-diffusion-tight aluminum layer to prevent the penetration of possible substances. However, this additional metal layer blocked the X-rays during the quality inspection, which meant that the previous inspection procedure could no longer be used in production in Kleindöttingen. “Our flexible pipe systems are continuously X-rayed during production to ensure that the inner pipes are positioned correctly,” explains Dr. Jürgen Kress, Global Head of Product Development at BRUGG Pipes. “With the aluminum layer, the previous X-ray system no longer works. That’s why we had to innovate.”
Terahertz technology replaces X-rays
As the development team at BRUGG Pipes is small, the company was looking for a competent partner with expertise in the field of radiation measurement technology. BRUGG Pipes found this partner in the Fraunhofer Institute ITWM in Kaiserslautern. “The specialists at the Fraunhofer Institute recommended terahertz technology, which is used in the automotive industry and in modern body scanners at airports, for example,” says Kress.
The new testing system uses terahertz radiation, which is non-ionizing and therefore harmless to health. The BRUGG Pipes product developers and the Fraunhofer experts jointly developed a special measuring device: a rotating measuring head scans the pipe 50 times per second and creates an exact image of the centricity of the inner pipe – even with complex pipe combinations with several pipes. The measuring head moves around the pipe on a rotating rail and provides precise data on foam distribution and positioning in the pipe.
Innovation for more quality, safety and sustainability
The new testing technology has recently been successfully implemented on the CALPEX Line 1 production line. Further lines are to be equipped with it in the medium term. “Highly complex measurement technology has become necessary for a supposedly simple product from the construction industry,” says Dr. Jürgen Kress. “High-tech is not only found in medical technology, but now also in pipe production.”
The process developed jointly with the Fraunhofer Institute is patent pending and protects the innovation from imitation. The technology not only stands for maximum precision, but also for consistent compliance with safety and health standards in industrial production.