All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S04E07.Pipe.Dreams.720p.WEBRip.x264-KOMPOST_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Join us on
Tomorrow's World Today,

as we journey through
the worlds of inspiration,

creation, innovation
and production,

to find the ideas
and technologies

that are shaping our future.

On this episode, we visit
the world of production,

to explore how ductile
iron pipes are made,

and how constantly
innovating something

that has been
around for millennia

can make a huge difference
in our infrastructure.

Did you know that we didn't have
running water in the U.S. until the 1800?

Let's join our host,
George Davison.

[George] Our ancestors would
carry a pail to a water source.

And they would fill it
with water

and then carry it back
to their homes.

Can you imagine doing that
in today's world?

I surely can't,
and I don't want to.

Thank goodness
for human ingenuity,

because it led
to the invention of the pipe.

This invention helped
create grids and systems

to carry liquid
to and from our homes.

And before big machinery
was invented

to install the pipe,
we used animals,

like this elephant,

to help with the pipe and then
lower it down into the ground.

This type of pipe it's evolved.

Do you know the difference
between these two pipes?

This is grey steel pipe,
and this is ductile pipe.

Ductile pipe is stronger,
lighter, more durable,

and even more cost-effective
than its predecessor.

It's also made from
over 90% recycled material,

like these old car
parts right here.

While piping and infrastructure
are used every day,

you probably don't
think about it at all,

until one day they stop working.

Look at the size of that pipe.

I'm sending David
to Alabama to show you

the latest in innovation
in how piping is made.

[David] I'm at
the main mill of U.S.

Pipe's headquarters,
in Bessemer, Alabama.

And I'm surrounded
by scrap metal,

but none of this metal
is going to waste.

You see, the steel industry has been
recycling steel scrap for more than 150 years.

Today, U.S. Pipe is turning
this scrap into ductile iron.

In the 1950, ductile iron pipe
became the better alternative

to the cast iron,
it's stronger, more durable,

and it just simply lasts longer.

Different linings
and coatings have been created

to prevent corrosion
and add to its longer life.

I'm meeting with Jeff Mason
to learn the chemistry

behind how this is turned
into the ductile iron,

our underground
infrastructure depends on.

Hey, David!

Jeff! Good to meet you.

Good to meet you,
welcome to Bessemer, Alabama.

Thank you, what's the
weather like up there?

- Hot and humid, just like down here.
- Yeah.

So, I've been standing here
for a while,

and I've been noticing
a specific chemistry

that has
been going on over here.

Could you tell me
about that process?

Yes, so, what we've
got going on here is,

is we got really two general
piles that we're picking from.

And that crane operator
is mixing those

in different ratios, somewhat
similar like making a cocktail, right?

The cocktail
we make here is iron.

And so, today what we're
making is this ductile iron,

and we've been making
iron pipe here since 1899.

I didn't realize so much
went into making ductile iron.

Could you tell me
about that process?

Yeah. So, what we're making,
right, is ductile iron here.

It starts off as grey iron
when we initially melt it,

and grey iron, we're
probably familiar with, like,

an old cast iron bathtub, right?

Big and heavy and thick.

Ductile iron came about
really in the mid-50s,

where we do
additional treatments

downstream in this plant,

so it can be a thinner profile
and it can take impact

without fracturing and breaking.

There's a cupula inside,
and that's where

we melt that iron down
into a molten metal,

and then this feeds
two plants on site

that make ductile iron pipe.

And, so, I'm going to walk
you through the cupula,

take a look and then
we're going to go somewhere

where it's not
quite so hot and loud,

and we're going to
talk about what we saw.

- Great.
- All right, let's check it out.

Yeah.

[David] The process
of melting down iron

starts at the top
of this cupula,

where scrap metal is loaded.

Cupulas have actually been
around since the 7th century.

They're still used today
as a mean to melt iron

because of their low cost
and simplicity.

Way cooler in here.

What is it? Two million
degrees out there?

That's extremely hot
out there, isn't it?

Yeah.

We actually keep track
of it on this monitor up here,

and right now we're at
2,872 degrees Fahrenheit.

[David] That's hot.

So, when we were out there,
I noticed a lot of things.

And the thing I noticed,
there were two troughs.

Could you tell me
what each trough is for?

Yes, so you got the two troughs.

[Jeff] The main trough
is what conveys the iron,

and then we have
a diversion trough,

which conveys all the slag
away from the iron,

so that allows us to maintain
the iron in its purest form.

On top of that, right, we're
standing in the control room here,

and this control room
in almost real time,

within a five-minute window,
monitors what's in that iron

that's pouring to these ladles,

and allows us to make
adjustments as needed.

[David] All right.

So, we still have grey iron,

and after this we're
going to go check out

when we convert that into
ductile iron batty magnesium.

And then we're going to
watch the pipe get casted.

- Let's do it.
- [Jeff] Let's check it out.

[David] U.S. Pipe has been
repurposing steel scrap for over 120 years.

Instead of this scrap ending
up in a landfill, they repurpose it

and turn it
into ductile iron piping.

So far, we've learned some of the
chemistry behind the melting process,

now it's time
for the pouring stage.

Okay, David.

So, this is where
the magic happens, right?

We're going to take grey iron and
we're going to turn it into ductile iron.

So, we have a 10-ton ladle here,

and we're going
to pour in magnesium.

So, sitting on the bottom
of that ladle is magnesium.

So, you can see all this
white flashing heat, right?

That's a reaction happening
with the magnesium,

which is changing the grey iron.

And what it's doing is,
is it's changing the graphite.

So you've got graphite in it
in the form of a plaque.

And it's changing that plaque

into like a nodule
or a glass ball.

So, now, with ductile iron,
it's much stronger,

much more durable.

And so, with that,
let's go watch pipe be made.

[David] Next, the metal is transported
by a ladle or a series of ladles,

to the back
of a casting machine,

where it's poured into
troughs, so that it can be spun

in the mold and cold by water,

which is being sprayed
onto the mold.

[Jeff] And so, we're
going to keep spinning that

until that pipe cools
down enough,

so that it actually shrinks, then
can be pulled from the mold.

Wow, man, you weren't kidding.

This is... This radiating
heat is a lot.

I know, right?

It still is maintaining
temperature over.

So, right now
what we're seeing here

is the other side
of the pipe end,

which we call the bell end.

And so, this is a sand core
which acts as a plug,

which goes in the end,
it stops the iron

from coming out the end,

but it also is where
our metal shape comes from.

And now, this arm
is going to go in, expand,

and it's going to pull
that 16-inch pipe right out.

And you'll see on the end,
that's the bell

where the spigot inserts into.

So here comes the pipe.

And in three minutes,
you went from molten iron,

to a full stick
of ductile iron pipe.

[David] This is impressive.

[Jeff] So, now
we've got ductile iron.

But it's got one more
heat treatment

to make it even more
robust and durable,

and that's called annealing.

- So, let's go check that out.
- All right.

[Jeff] Okay, so we just
took the recently cast pipe,

and now we're going to
lift it and bring it over here

into the annealing oven.

So, these pipes were already
molten, they were all extremely hot.

Why are you heating it back up?

So, we're doing
a secondary heat treatment,

because it's going to make it
even more strong and more durable.

We'll bring it back up
to 1,750 degrees

and then bring it
down to 30 and 50.

It all takes about an hour,
and at the end of it,

it's a much more strong and
durable, even more ductile pipe.

But, let me show you
where the real heat is at.

All right, like I said, this
is where the real heat is at,

let's take
a look inside this oven.

Hokey-smokey!
You're not lying, that's hot!

Yeah, so it's about
1,750 degrees in there.

That pipe is white hot,
as we like to call it.

And so, you cook a marshmallow
about a second and a half.

[David] I believe it.

So, after about an hour of
this, we're done annealing it,

and then we can quench the pipe,

get it down
to handling temperature

where we can start to do secondary
processes like quality control.

So, moving from the hot side
to the cold side.

All right.

It's hot.

This is the end
of the annealing oven,

so it's still
1,300 degrees here,

and we're leaving the hot side

and move to the cold side
of the plant.

So, what's going to happen is, this
pipe is going to leave the annealing oven,

and it's going to roll
over into a roller,

and that roller
is going to make sure

there's no ovality, that is nice
and round for future installation.

And then,
immediately after that,

we're going to cool it down
in the sprayer,

and that's going to get it
down to handling temperatures

so that way we can start
to begin our QC process.

So, now we're cooling the pipe
down to handling temperatures.

Is this just water,
or you have some magic elixir?

No magic as far as I'm aware of.

Just recycled water.

So, everything we do here is on a
closed loop, so we don't waste anything.

And so, after this,
we start performing our QC.

Okay, so now we're officially in the quality
control part of the manufacturing process.

So, what exactly are you
looking for in quality control,

and what happens to the product

that doesn't come
to that standard?

We're making sure that the
pipe itself can hold pressure,

and then we're going to test the
material properties of the iron itself.

And anything that fails goes
back out to the scrap pile,

gets broken up
and re-melted on the cupula.

So, this is the first step,

it's a hydrostatic
pressure test.

We take it to 500 psi.

It's all or nothing, if that
pipe is ductile, it'll pass.

But if it's not ductile,
it'll fracture

and out to the scrapyard
it goes.

After that, we then
start testing the iron itself,

making sure it meets
the standards we say it does,

and then it goes
to cement lining.

So, we're going
to go check cement lining.

Let's go.

So, all this pipe
has quality control.

Now, once we're done with that,

we bring it over here
to cement lining.

[David] Cement?
Why do you use cement?

Cement actually
has two benefits.

One, it's a corrosion barrier
from the iron and the water,

but second, it can help
balance water chemistry

in a harsh water environments.

That completely
makes sense to me,

so are there other materials
you can use besides cement?

There are, so we got, um,

a epoxy lining is one,
and a glass lining

among several others,
but those are the main two.

And those are,
you know, more like

for waste water
environments or sludge.

But, let's go walk over there
and see a little bit closer.

Yeah.

Full out here, but you
can see that there's a lance,

and there's actually two
of them, we do two at a time.

And those lances go inside
the pipe that's spinning.

And that lance injects
cement, slurry into the pipe.

And it gives it a nice,
equal thickness

throughout the entire
length of the pipe.

The target is, anywhere from
the 16 to 1/8 of an inch there.

We have a clear angle
here of the pipe rotating,

and that lance
is injecting cement

while that pipe is spinning,

and we get that even thickness.

[David] So, what's happening
here? I see a lot of water.

[Jeff] Yeah, it might look like
we're washing the cement out of it,

but what we're really doing
is cleaning that bell cavity.

The gasket fits
into that bell cavity,

and that has to be clean,
because that gasket

has to hold
pressures up to 350 psi.

[David] I see the pipes
entering the oven.

What is that for?

[Jeff] This is what
we call a curing tunnel.

And so, what it is,
is high temperature,

high humidity, and that allows
the cement to dry without cracking,

and the whole process
only takes about an hour,

which normally would
take much longer.

High humidity keeps the cement
from drying out, because then it cracks.

So, this humidity keeps the
moisture within the cement.

Okay, so we got done
with our lining process.

And right after that, we're
on to our coating process.

So, I assume just like the
interior has different linings,

that the exterior will
have different coatings

depending on the
purpose of the pipe?

Yes, so what's occurring right
now is our standard shop coat.

But outside of that, for
additional corrosion protection,

if you want it to be,
you know, 150+ service life,

what we can do is
add a zinc coating.

On top of that, we have
multiple other specialized coatings

for specialized applications.

But, after this,
we're kind of at the end.

We're going to bundle it
and we're going to ship it,

and it's off to its end user.

So, follow me
and we'll go see it.

All right, we're at the end
of the line here, right?

So now we're at bundling
and packaging.

You know, one of the things
I've enjoyed most

in my time here,

is just seeing
the growth that I've seen,

the automation in this mill was way
different than what I saw in the last.

Yeah, so this mini mill here
is a much newer mill, right?

So, with that,
we're able to take advantage

of a lot of the new
current technologies.

And those technologies
like this arm,

where it picks it up
and turns it, right?

That makes it more
efficient and safer,

as that's
really important to us.

And so, that's it,
and now we're off to shipping,

and then it gets
to go to its final home.

- Sounds great.
- All right.

[Jeff] This is the yard,

this is where all
the finished product comes

until we ship it
to its final destination.

Ductile iron pipe has always
been a material of choice

because of it
durability and long life.

We think that municipalities
and owners

are starting to
especially realize that

the word
resilience and reliability

mean more now as we start
to see higher density living,

and know that it costs a lot
to put a pipe in the ground.

We anticipate that the ductile
iron market will continue to grow

as people realize that the
materials that they choose

do have an impact
on service life.

[David] Jeff, I've had
such an insightful trip.

I've seen engine blocks
being melted down,

becoming finish pipe
and everything in between.

I know Vik's meeting
George in Pittsburg,

and that's where I'm headed.

Well, we love being
a part of this industry,

and we hope
that you've enjoyed it.

- Hey, Vik!
- How are you, George?

Welcome to adventure land.

Absolutely, thank you
for having me.

You bet.

We've been waiting
for U.S. Pipe

for quite a lot to get here, we've
been wanting to tell this story.

And you guys have been
at it for quite a while.

Long time, lot of innovation
over the years.

I hear there's quite
a few innovators down there

- working on things.
- They are.

You know, it looks very simple,

our pipe carries water
from point A to point B.

Where we spend our time innovating is
on making sure that that pipe will do that,

no matter what's happening
around it.

So, around innovation,
right, we're thinking about

population change, population
growth, climate change,

and all the stresses that's
going to put on water for structure

- and how do we do our part.
- Mm-hmm.

So, take
deep freezes for example.

Right? Our pipe now

has a solution to make sure
the water is not going to freeze.

Wild fires is another example.

I've actually watched
our pipe burn in a fire

- for over 20 minutes.
- [George] Yes.

And not only does
the material stand up to it,

but the water inside the pipe
actually insulates the gasket

and our pipe
functioned beautifully,

and not
all materials can say that.

Very nice.

And then, finally, just
thinking about earthquakes

and earth movements,
in making sure that our pipe

has the ability to deflect
and flex a little bit,

while still maintaining
all of that strength.

[George] Well done.

So, what's the next big move?

Where are you heading in this
technology world with pipe?

Well, you know,
this piece of pipe right here

and the joint that I've brought
you is actually our latest HDSS.

- Okay.
- And what you see is,

we have a typical
gasket structure,

but we also have a weld bead,

and then we've got
these locking segments.

And they go in just one slot,
you just kind of slide them down,

so they're incredibly
easy to install.

And then, ultimately,
when pressurized,

creates an enormous
amount of resistance.

[George] Interesting.

So, in other words,
I'm sliding this pipe in,

you're going to bring
two pipes together,

and then you put
your rubber gasket

in there and it can still
move a little,

but with this mechanism here,

this blue mechanism,
which you jam in there.

It basically takes up
all the tolerance,

so you have a very resilient
and reliable come-together spot.

Incredibly resilient pipe
that could sustain

those kinds of earth movements
and anything else that came its way.

Because in U.S. Pipe we're not
just thinking about how do we create

a product
for the next several decades,

we're thinking about centuries.

And we have plenty of pipe
that has been on the ground

for over 100 years,
and we're thinking about

how do you create pipe
that could last 200 years.

- Maybe even longer than that.
- [George] Right.

Because the need for water
is not going to go away,

and it will always
remain essential,

and that's what we innovate
for, that's our job.

They've gotten stronger,
lighter, more resilient.

You know, this is looking
like it might fit around here.

Well, it's kind of heavy, I'm not
sure I want to take it back with me.

I would love it if you
could find a home for it here.

You know I have a home for it,

I'm putting it right
in there where the museum is,

and we get all those kids
come in through here.

We'll tell a good story
on this one too, Vik.

I appreciate it.
Thank you so much.

Thank you, Vik.

Ah...

Oh, yeah.

Got one down.

[narrator] To learn more about
the content in today's episode,

visit us online at
www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com.

[grunts and chuckles]