Pre-insulated Pipe Support
Pipe Shields, Inc. is the original inventor of the pre-insulated pipe support, the first company to relocate the support attachment from the direct pipe connection to the outside of the insulation. “Nobody had ever done that before.” That single innovation, patented in 1974, remains the foundation of every product Pipe Shields designs and manufactures today: pre-insulated pipe supports, slides, guides, and anchors for the power, petrochemical, chemical, and commercial markets. Pipe Shields’ proprietary specifications, first written into engineering standards in the 1970s, have become an industry benchmark used by owners, engineers, and contractors throughout world markets. Pipe Shields has operated as a division of Piping Technology & Products, Inc. (PT&P) since 2004.
Our History
Pipe Shields was founded in 1971 by William J. McClellan, an industrial engineer who identified a costly flaw in conventional pipe supports: clamping directly onto hot pipe caused significant heat loss at every support point. Working with Bechtel Corporation and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, McClellan developed and patented the pre-insulated pipe support, engineering the industry’s first support designed to sit outside the insulation rather than on the pipe itself. The design was later adopted into Intel’s global piping specifications, establishing Pipe Shields as the industry standard for pre-insulated supports. Piping Technology & Products, Inc. acquired Pipe Shields from the Shaw Group in August 2004, and the company has continued to build on McClellan’s original insight ever since.
Read the full story: The Origin of Pre-Insulated Pipe Supports: How Pipe Shields Invented an Industry Standard
What We Build
Pipe Shields has developed a large and growing family of pre-insulated pipe supports engineered to handle the full range of piping challenges our customers bring us:
- Service and media – Gas, steam, chilled water, and styrene lines
- Support type – Guides, sliding supports, restrained supports, anchors, and pipe hangers
- Performance requirements – Light, medium, and heavy load capacities; high-temperature service; thermal growth accommodation; minimum-clearance and minimum-friction-load configurations
Whatever the application, if a pipe needs to be supported without sacrificing insulation performance, there’s a Pipe Shields product engineered for it.
Industries & Applications
Pipe Shields’ pre-insulated supports are used across a wide range of industries, including:
- Power generation
- Petrochemical and refining
- Chemical processing
- Commercial and institutional facilities
- Cryogenic and high-temperature process piping
Manufacturing & Engineering Capabilities
- Products rated from -300°F (cold shoes) to 1400°F (hot shoes), built from calcium silicate, polyurethane, Micarta, and Permali insulation, compliant with MSS SP-58
- Materials comply with both American and European standards (ASTM C533, C656) and are CE certified, depending on project location
- In-house finite element analysis using ProEngineer and ANSYS, including wind and seismic piping assessment
- 3D printing for prototype evaluation before full production
- Product testing including hydrostatic, pneumatic, and dye-penetrant methods
- 24/7 emergency field service with a guaranteed 30-minute response
About PT&P
In business since 1978, Piping Technology & Products, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (U.S. Bellows, Inc., Sweco Fab, Inc., Pipe Shields, Inc., and Anchor Darling, Ent.) offer a wide range of engineered products and services for various industries and applications.
From engineered pipe supports, expansion joints, pre-insulated pipe supports, and miscellaneous fabrication to various engineering and technical services, PT&P has decades of experience providing products and services for all your engineering and construction needs.
PT&P strives to satisfy each customer’s request, from custom-designed and engineered products to emergency situations in need of critical and time-restricted attention. PT&P also continues to search for ways to increase customer satisfaction and quality. Through our value-added services such as 24×7 Field Services, product testing, stress analysis, and engineering & design services, PT&P is able to support our customers above and beyond expectations.
Learn more about Piping Technology & Products, Inc.
Our Team
Alberto A. Dizon
General Manager/Engineer
Nasim Atashparvar
Engineering Project Management
Let’s Build Something That Lasts
The design that started as one engineer’s better idea is now specified by the world’s most demanding companies. Let’s talk about your next project. Request a Quote | Contact Us | Schedule a Meeting