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Engineering ToolBox > PE Pipes and Pressure Grades
High density polyethylene - HDPE - is a very popular material for water pipes. It is
PE pipes can be used in range of temperatures -40oC to +60oC considering the change of operating pressure. Typically the standard specification identify class of a HDPE pipe is by the nominal pressure class - PN - up to PN 20 or 20 Bar. HDPE pipe can also be classified by the material used - PE 100, PE 80, PE63, PE 40 or PE 32.
PE pipes are produced in different pressure grades (PN grades), which indicates the pressure in bars the pipe can support with water at 20oC.
The pressure grades available according to European standards are
Color codes used to indicate the pressure grades on the pipes are
| Color Code | PE Pressure Grade |
| Yellow | PN 4 |
| Red | PN 6 |
| Blue | PN 10 |
| Green | PN 16 |
Polyethylene pipes are also classified by the type of material used:
The Minimum Required Strength - MRS - according ISO 4427 for the different materials are:
| Designation of material | MRS at 50 years at 20oC Mpa (bars) |
| PE 100 | 10 (100) |
| PE 80 | 8 (80) |
| PE 63 | 6.3 (63) |
| PE 40 | 4 (40) |
| PE 32 | 3.2 (32) |
Common colors used to classify the pipes
Note that the colors may depend on country.