PE112 – World-class Standard For Water Pipelines by SCG

One of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), which aim at tackling global issues, focuses on the management of and access to clean freshwater for consumption, as it is a basic requisite that directly affects the quality of life and constitutes a major condition for economic and social development.

Committed to its responsibility towards society, which is one of its stakeholders, SCG recognizes the significance of the issue. It was this awareness that led the company to collaborate with the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA) and start the Phun Phin-Samui Submarine Pipeline Construction Project in Surat Thani, with the goal of elevating the quality of life of Samui residents and establishing a strong foundation for the economic development of the local communities.

Samui and Water crisis
The southern island of Samui in Surat Thani is a vital tourist destination that generates as much as THB 57 billion per year – Thailand’s sixth highest tourism income – and welcomes about three million visitors per year, a number which is likely to increase each year.

Unsurprisingly, the need for freshwater has risen accordingly. However, as the island is only 250 square kilometers in size, it has a limited amount of freshwater, which contributed to a severe tap water shortage in 2016. In addition, wetlands that served as natural water reservoirs for freshwater production have dried up, and the rain has become patchy during the wet season thanks to global warming. This has forced large hotels to purchase water from private producers at a higher price, while local residents have to buy tap water at the price of THB 60-70. All Samui’s waterworks authority can do is to expand its freshwater reservoirs and produce freshwater from seawater for the citizens.

If left unsolved, this problem can grow into a structural crisis with far-reaching effects on the local way of life as well as the business and tourism development of Surat Thani and Samui in the short and long term.

PE112: Innovation for Sustainability through Collaboration
As Asia’s leading material science expert and petrochemical business, the Chemicals Business, SCG, under the Phun Phin-Samui Submarine Pipeline Construction Project in Surat Thani in collaboration with PWA, developed SCG HDPE H112PC, a ground-breaking material innovation for pipeline production that incorporates the black polyethylene compound PE112, recognized for its world-class quality and produced with SCG’s patented technology. The properties of SCG HDPE H112PC are as follows:

• Greater toughness, strength, and durability compared to regular PE100 resins on the market
• 10% higher resistance to pressure both on the interior and the exterior of the pipe
• 50% higher abrasion resistance, as illustrated by a sand slurry test
• Good flexibility, making it easier for pipelines to sink to the sea bed
• Longer pipe lifetime

The project marked Thailand’s first-ever major submarine pipeline construction project. The proposed pipeline stretched over 120 kilometers, divided into a 100-kilometer on-land pipeline from Phun Phin to the shore of Khanom District, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and a 20-kilometer underwater pipeline from mainland to Samui. Once fully operational, the pipeline system will increase freshwater production from 2,000 to 3,100 cubic meters/hour or 4,000 cubic meters/hour at maximum capacity. The project will also benefit and deliver clean freshwater to about 65,580 households across the five districts that the pipeline spans: Phun Phin, Muang Surat Thani, Kanchanadit, Don Sak, and parts of Khanom.

“SCG strives to develop plastic innovations to elevate the quality of life and advance the economy, society, and the environment. The company is ready to partner up with other organizations and agencies to find suitable solutions for other projects in the future,” stated Mr. Sakchai Patiparnpreechavud, Vice President – Polyolefins and Vinyl Business of the Chemicals Business of SCG

Watch the video clip of the project here