Pipe fittings and couplingstri-clover, RJT, flanges, bends and ducting.

Conveying lines rarely fail in the straight sections. They fail at joints and at bends, and both are fitting decisions. A joint that is awkward to open will not be opened during a cleaning schedule that is already tight, so product residue accumulates where nobody is looking. A bend chosen too tight for an abrasive product wears through from the outside of the curve and puts a hole in the line above a walkway. Neither problem is expensive to design out at the start.

Connection type follows the cleaning regime, not the pressure. Tri-clover clamp and RJT unions come apart by hand in seconds, which is what a line that changes product or is washed down regularly needs. Compression couplings and flanges are quicker to assemble and better where the run is long, permanent and not opened between batches. Mixing the two along one line is normal and correct — clamp fittings where hands go, flanges where nobody goes.

Bend radius is the single biggest wear decision in a conveying line. Long radius bends turn the product stream gradually, which reduces impact on the outer wall and reduces the damage done to a friable granule. Short radius bends are used where the route is genuinely tight, and they are the right answer for a soft, non-abrasive product in a congested plant. Where the product is abrasive and the layout allows it, long radius is nearly always the cheaper choice over the life of the line.

PTP supplies fittings and couplings on their own, which matters more than it sounds. Most of the fitting work on a plant is not a new line — it is a modification, an extra take-off, a replacement bend on a section that wore through, or a set of gaskets in a material the site cannot source locally. Send the existing connection type and size, the product, and whether the line runs pressure or vacuum, and the parts can be matched to what is already installed.