GF’s Pre-Insulated Piping System Gains New Certification

GF’s pre-insulated plastic piping system, COOL-FIT has been assessed via an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).

The air conditioning and refrigeration solution already has approvals from by DNV, RINA, Lloyds Register, and Bureau Veritas.

For added transparency, the company has now assessed the COOL-FIT range with an EPD in accordance with ISO 14025 and EN 15804. An EPD is a standardized, third-party verified document that uses scientifically quantified data from Life Cycle Assessments to estimate environmental impacts and enable comparisons between similar products.

In 2022, a study commissioned by GF Piping Systems and conducted by the ship design and engineering specialist Foreship showed that COOL-FIT is helping ship owners and operators to save fuel, reduce emissions, and lower costs.

COOL-FIT is a completely pre-insulated plastic piping system consisting of pipes, fittings, valves, flexible hoses, and tools. They can be implemented in secondary refrigeration and air conditioning applications using chilled water, as well as glycol, ethanol, and brine in the -50°C to +60°C temperature range.

The system facilitates 30% better insulation performance within the cooling circuit compared to a traditional post-insulated piping system made of metal, says GF. Furthermore, it is 60% lighter than post-insulated metal systems and can be installed 50% faster thanks to electrofusion jointing technology. Through the application of corrosion-free materials, COOL-FIT has a service life of 25 years and therefore saves resources that would otherwise be necessary for maintenance, repairs, or replacements.  

The COOL-FIT range also offers a number of new components including the COOL-FIT Fixpoint kit which is designed as a solution for the high loads often encountered on large ships with pipe dimensions over DN140 and a length exceeding 50 meters. It is capable of withstanding three times the forces of a standard fixpoint.