Uponor, a leading Finnish supplier of plumbing and heating/cooling systems for the residential and commercial building markets has recently achieved a manufacturing milestone.

“Since we began the production of polyethylene pipes in the year 1972, we have manufactured more than 2.5 billion metres of high-pressure peroxide crosslinked polyethylene pipes,” says Jens Schuell, marketing manager for Uponor Europe East and International. “This record is a testimony of the high demand for our pipes and for the quality of our products and covers pipes with dimensions from 6 mm up to 110 mm and is particularly used as a system pipe for potable water or heating installations and heating/cooling tasks in radiant heating systems.
The PE-Xa pipe has been approved for use challenging projects because of its specific features, says a spokesman for the company. “The high endurance strength and the certificated heat and chemical resistance of the product range allow it to be used for a wide range of applications. The product can be used for potable water and also for hydronic heating systems in a wide range of projects, be it independent houses or industrial plants.
“Moreover testing and approvals of the PE-Xa pipes provide more security for the whole system since all components are harmonised and become approved as one system, he says.
To ensure the quality and reliability of the pipes, Uponor applies a process which improves the basic material polyethylene in an essential way, says the spokesman. During the process, polyethylene is three dimensional high pressure linked in the extruder. The upcoming homogeneous linked molecule chains are responsible for several pipes features such as excellent heat-aging resistance and creep strength at high temperatures. This is particularly important for installations in hydronic systems. In this case the PE-Xa pipe is used for economic heating and cooling for instance for thermally active building systems. Amongst others PE-Xa pipe proves as particularly tough for the installation in the rough circumstances of a construction site, says the spokesman. The features of the homogeneous linking provide a dimensionally stable and stress-crack insensitive use. In the field of potable water installations and radiator connection the material convinces with the wide spectrum of temperature features and chemical resistance.
Uponor runs four production sites for PE-Xa pipes worldwide. The most important site for Europe, Virsbo (Sweden), features a very broad production portfolio with dimensions from 14 mm up to 110 mm. Depending on the application area the PE-Xa pipe is produced in higher dimensions or as “pipe in pipe”, with a safety ring, for special industrial applications.
At Europe’s biggest production site for PE-Xa pipes in Virsbo, Uponor has a production capacity of 100 million metres. Additional production sites are located in Mostoles, Spain, Apple Valley, US and St. John, Canada.

Strong portfolio
The company’s piping solutions have been used on some of the leading projects in the Middle East including the Golden Mile project on The Palm in the UAE and the Pearl Qatar.
The Golden Mile Residences, which will be managed by the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, consists of 10 identical and interconnected 11-storey apartment buildings on separate plots offering a total of 860 units that include townhouses, one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses.
The project, which is equipped with the  highest quality products, selected Uponor for the supply of a number of products from its Uponor multilayer composite pipe (MLCP) range for tap water installation. While Uponor was selected on the project in 2006, the company started the supply of the piping systems from May last year.
“The fact that we have a wide range of products, the ease of installation and better price ratio as opposed to copper pipes, have been some of the decisive factors for the developer taking us on board,” says Tarek Shihada of Aquagas Group, Uponor’s MLCP distributor.
The contract involved the supply of a wide range of pipes and fitting solutions from an outer dimension of 16 mm to 110 mm. At the project, Uponor MLCP tap water system has been used for the whole tap water piping installation right from the risers up to the faucet. Since May last year, a total of over 150,000 press, compression and PPSU (polyphenylsulfone) fittings and more than 200,000 m of MLCP have been supplied.
Currently, the company is promoting its Uponor Unipipe multilayer pipe system and Uponor Wirsbo PE-Xa pipe system.
Uponor’s pre-insulated pipe system Ecoflex is used for district cooling applications. The group, which employs 4,500 people globally, has recorded net sales of €1.2 billion ($1.8 billion) last year. Over the years the company has established a strong distributor network in all the Gulf countries, which is managed through a representative office in Dubai.