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APMG Plastics fabricates ductwork for industrial applications.
Our extensive range of plastic ductwork and vent fittings complement our corrosion-resistant extract fans for fume cupboards, wet scrubbers and extract systems.
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Our friendly, professional team is waiting to help you with all your ductwork enquiries.
Our high-performance plastic ductwork solutions are purposefully designed for fume and exhaust applications in demanding industrial environments. Combining durability, rigidity, and lightweight construction, our ducting is resistant to corrosion and denting, ensuring long-lasting performance. The smooth interior surface minimises airflow resistance, enhancing efficiency and energy conservation.
Compared to metal ducting, our plastic variants offer a cost-effective alternative without compromising quality or performance. Our uPVC ducting withstands temperatures up to 60°C, while our polypropylene models endure even higher temperatures of up to 90°C. This heat resilience ensures optimal operation across various industrial settings, augmenting the overall safety and efficacy of your ventilation and exhaust systems.
Determining the optimal shape for plastic ductwork largely depends on your specific needs and space constraints. Traditional duct shapes are round, square, or rectangular. Round plastic ducting, although requiring more space, is renowned for its efficiency due to its smooth, corner-less design that facilitates seamless airflow. On the other hand, square or rectangular ducting, with its compact shape, is ideal for installations in restricted or smaller areas. Despite their different forms, both shapes can accommodate identical airflow, offering unique benefits based on the individual requirements of your ventilation system.
Round ductwork is frequently favoured over square or rectangular versions due to its inherent advantages. The absence of corners in round ducting leads to reduced friction levels, enabling higher efficiency in airflow per square inch. This means the ducting can be smaller while maintaining optimum airflow, leading to a quieter operation.
Thanks to its enhanced airflow efficiency, round ductwork is ideally suited for systems operating under high pressure, making it a versatile and effective choice for diverse applications.
Round plastic ducting represents a cost-effective solution compared to its square or rectangular counterparts, largely due to its availability in sizes up to 600mm in diameter directly from our inventory. APMG Plastics is equipped to handle custom fabrications in our state-of-the-art facility for sizes exceeding this. We house our butt welder and are proficient in fabricating up to 3000mm in diameter ducting.
With its superior airflow efficiency, round ductwork is especially apt for high-pressure systems, demonstrating its versatility and efficacy across various applications.
With its compact design, square or rectangular plastic ducting is an excellent choice for installations with space limitations or smaller areas. Its shape allows for easy fitting and seamless concealment within existing infrastructure.
Nevertheless, the cornered design and increased surface area result in higher friction levels when air moves through it, translating into lower airflow efficiency and elevated noise levels. Thus, it’s ideally suited for systems operating under low pressure.
Fabrication of square or rectangular ductwork typically aligns with the DW 154 ductwork specifications. While these ducts deliver top-notch performance, their fabrication process is labour-intensive, making them a pricier alternative than circular plastic ductwork.
At APMG Plastics, we use polypropylene and uPVC (unplasticised polyvinyl chloride) to fabricate our ductwork. These materials are chosen for their remarkable durability, chemical resistance, virtually maintenance-free nature, and exceptional heat deflection temperatures. uPVC can resist temperatures up to 60°C, while polypropylene surpasses this, withstanding up to 90°C.
Polypropylene, being inert to a vast majority of common chemicals, fits perfectly in a myriad of industrial settings. This material excels in ventilating corrosive exhaust gases and fumes and boasting extreme durability, making it ideal for stringent industrial processes.
uPVC ducting, on the other hand, offers a cost-effective, lightweight solution that carries an impressive resistance to corrosive fumes, gases, and fluids. This makes it particularly beneficial for industrial processes’ ventilation systems that handle corrosive exhaust gases and fumes.
GRP, an acronym for Glass Reinforced Plastic, is a composite material composed of resins and glass fibre strands. This unique blend is employed to fortify our uPVC ductwork and related products. Regarding polypropylene ductwork and products, we turn to Celmar PP, a product explicitly engineered to bond with polypropylene.
These reinforcing elements craft a seamless, homogenous layer that adheres completely to the base substrate of either polypropylene or uPVC. The resulting GRP layer is robust, exceptionally lightweight, and durable. Furthermore, it exhibits outstanding resistance to both weather and corrosion. For a touch of customisation, these materials can be tinted according to client specifications, thus meeting both functional and aesthetic requirements.
In scenarios necessitating heightened resilience against environmental factors like weather and temperature fluctuations or where added strength and safety for high-pressure applications are required, we apply GRP to PVC or PP Celmar.
To ensure a professional and durable finish, we complete the treatment of the ductwork, fan casings, and fume scrubbers with a resin-rich flood coat. This flood coat offers enhanced protection and can be pigmented to match customer colour specifications, satisfying practical and aesthetic demands.
When installing GRP ductwork systems, our seasoned teams are well-equipped to apply GRP and resin-rich flood coats to joints and other components on site, thus ensuring seamless integration and robust performance.
Please see below the most common question regarding our plastic ductwork. If you can’t find the answer you need, just contact our friendly team.
Your choice between round and square ducting depends on your needs and space constraints. Round ducting is often more efficient due to its seamless design, allowing optimal airflow. It’s also ideal for high-pressure systems. Square or rectangular ducting, on the other hand, takes up less space and can fit more easily into smaller or tighter areas. It’s best suited for low-pressure systems.
Plastic ductwork, whether polypropylene, uPVC, or GRP, offers many advantages. It’s durable, resistant to corrosion, and ideal for fume and exhaust applications. It’s also lightweight and rigid, making it easier to install and maintain. The smooth inner surface of plastic ductwork enables efficient airflow and is less noisy than other materials.
GRP stands for Glass Reinforced Plastic. It’s a composite material made of resins and glass fibre strands. We apply GRP to uPVC or polypropylene ductwork to create a seamless, homogenous layer that strengthens the ductwork and makes it resistant to weather and corrosion. GRP ductwork is strong, extremely lightweight, and durable. It can be tinted to suit specific aesthetic requirements.
The pipe is supplied male ended, whereas all fittings, i.e. bends, etc are supplied as female ended.
Our APMG Plastics standard range of ductwork is uPVC, but we can also offer fire retardant polypropylene (PPs) as an option.
PVC can be either solvent cemented or welded.
Polypropylene can only be welded.
Standard sizes range from Ø75 up to Ø600 as extruded pipe and moulded fittings. Anything larger we fabricate to order from sheet material, all designed and manufactured to DW154 specification. All fabrication work is carried out in our factory in Manchester.
From Ø75 to Ø400 in PVC is supplied in 6 metre lengths, Ø450 to Ø600 is supplied in 5 metre lengths. All polypropylene vent tube is supplied in 5 metre lengths. For diameters larger than Ø600, please consult our technical sales team for the options available.
If you wan’t to learn more about our plastic ductwork products, or discuss a project that APMG Plastics can help you with, get in touch with our friendly team today.