Tata Steel has become the first company to manufacture a submerged arc-welded longitudinal line pipe installed through reeling method in the North Sea.
Manufactured at Tata Steel’s Hartlepool 42” UOE mill, the pipe was developed as a bespoke order for a well-known international energy company which required an urgent replacement pipeline.
Working closely with the end client and lay contractor from an early stage, the project had a demanding specification which provided a new challenge for all parties.
Tata Steel used some of the best pipe plate available to manufacture a product which both increased the maximum thickness of pipe that can be produced for a 16-inch pipe, and re-established the reel-ability of SAWL pipe.
Martin Connelly, Tata Steel’s technical manager, said: “The chosen installation method meant the pipe wall thickness needed to be designed to withstand the strains associated with the reeling process. With the aid of our state of the art finite element (FE) modelling and tooling programme, the pipe was manufactured and delivered ahead of schedule.”
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy