Corus New Zealand supplies Affco Horotiu plant

Corus New Zealand supplies specialised stainless steel plumbing & drainage systems for major upgrades at Affco New Zealand’s meat processing plants at Imlay and Horotiu.

When Affco planned their $multi-million plant upgrades, they not only looked to improve visible production areas, but also saw fit to future-proof the unseen potable water and waste-water services.

After a presentation by Corus New Zealand, it was decided that stainless steel was the logical choice of material, due to its better resistance to high temperatures, pressures, and corrosive cleaning solutions than the copper, plastics, and fibreglass which had failed previously.

Affco also identified that the Mapress pressure system and the Blucher drainage system provided a robust, hygienic, flexible, cost effective solution to their problems.

Initially material costs appeared to be costly, but when the “installed price” was taken into account (including labour savings) along with the life cycle cost advantages, the decision was easy.

Mapress is a press-fit (crimped) pressure system manufactured from T316 stainless steel. The special Mapress press-fit tool allows connections to be made in as little as 6 seconds, and can be readily adapted to match BSP fittings or flanges. The risk of stress corrosion cracking is drastically reduced as no heat stresses are introduced to the material during installation, therefore reducing the need for more expensive welded duplex stainless steel pipework.

Blucher is a complete push-fit T316 stainless steel drainage system, comprising pipes, fittings, industrial / domestic drains, channels, grates, and accessories. Installation is as simple as lubricating the end of a pipe and pushing it into the appropriate fitting. No bulky tools or volatile chemicals mean drastically reduced labour costs, along with easier and safer access.