At the North Carolina State Ports Authority in Morehead City on the Atlantic, supply terminals house molten sulfur used to make sulfuric acid. The supply terminals are close to Morehead's deepwater port, where the molten sulfur is transferred to bulk-carrying barges for transporting to various industrial destinations along the eastern seaboard.

B & B Hose in Wilmington, NC has been a longtime hose supplier for this process, but over the years, as environmental laws became more stringent, so have the hose specifications. When B & B needed a new source for these specialized hoses, general manager Richard Horton turned to Pete Livengood of the NovaFlex Group, "whose experience," as Horton put it, "has made him one of the gurus in this area."

Crucial to this hose's operation is to maintain the molten sulfur at a consistent temperature of 275ºF during transfer -- otherwise it will solidify. The molten sulfur's temperature must be maintained when it leaves the South American refinery.

Novaflex Hose stepped up to the challenge, designing and supplying a specialized 2 in. thick hose, complete with built-in carbon steel flanges, made specifically for the transfer of molten sulfur. With working pressures of up to 225 psi with material between 270-300ºF, an extremely robust hose was needed.

"There is a specialized way of doing it," said Horton, "and I have great confidence in Pete's expertise, that's why we're now using NovaFlex."