The Differences Between HDPE and PE

The HDPE pipe is a type of PE tube which, like the PE pipe, is made of plastic. The welding methods of HDPE and PE pipes provide the highest reliability, they have good resistance to environmental strain and resistance to rapid stress cracking. They have a service life of 50 years or more when installed properly. But do you know the differences between them? If you want to know more about it, read the following words.

Definition of HDPE tube:

The HDPE tube is also called a high-density polyethylene tube, and "HDPE" is its abbreviation. The HDPE tube is constructed of a denser polyethylene that is typically used to make drains due to its rigidity and unique crystal structure. The high crystallinity of HDPE, that is, the proportion of its crystalline region is large, and thus has a high melting point.

At the same time, HDPE is a thermoplastic resin that has the properties of heat softening, cooling hardening, and maintains this performance regardless of how many times heating and cooling are repeated. The appearance of HDPE is milky white, showing a certain degree of translucency in its cross section.

Definition of PE pipe:

The PE pipe is a polyethylene plastic pipe, and its constituent material PE is the most basic plastic. The plastic bags and cling film which are often used in daily life are composed of PE. PE pipes can be classified into low density polyethylene pipes, medium density polyethylene pipes, and high density polyethylene pipes, that is, HDPE pipes are also a type of PE pipes.

Compared with steel pipes, PE pipes are simple in process and have certain flexibility. More importantly, because PE pipe is resistant to a variety of chemical media, in addition to a few strong oxidants, there is no electrochemical corrosion, so the process of anti-corrosion treatment is eliminated. Therefore, the manufacturing process is also simplified to some extent.

The difference between HDPE pipe and PE pipe:

1. HDPE tube strength is larger than PE tube, almost 9 times that of ordinary polyethylene tube. Therefore, HDPE pipes usually use PE resins with large molecular weight and good mechanical properties. Compared to ordinary polyethylene pipes, HDPE can withstand more pressure.

2. HDPE pipe wear resistance is higher than PE pipe. Because the HDPE tube has a high molecular weight, it is very resistant to wear and even exceeds many metal materials such as stainless steel and copper. Among all the engineering plastics, HDPE has the highest wear resistance, but the ordinary PE pipe wear resistance is not very high.

3. HDPE pipe can replace the use of traditional metal pipe or drinking water pipe, and even has higher performance, while ordinary PE pipe does not. The HDPE pipe has all the characteristics of the PE pipe, but the performance of the PE pipe does not necessarily have the HDPE pipe height.

4. HDPE pipelines are mainly used for water supply or transportation of natural gas in different areas or projects, while general medium or low density polyethylene pipes are used to transport gaseous artificial gas, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas. Low density polyethylene pipes are softer than HDPE pipes.

5. PE is solvent resistant and can cause swelling, dissolution, cracking or deformation in resistant solvents, while HDPE is solvent resistant. But these two are products derived from gasoline and are very practical in daily life.

EAGLE Company specializes in the development and manufacture of HDPE profiles, tanks and related articles with proven technology and core equipment. If you have a need on HDPE, please contact us in time, we will try our best to provide you with a satisfactory service to meet your existing needs.