Pipe Manufacture And Coating

Pipe Manufacture

Much of the pipelines in today is manufactured

according to the specifications of American
Petroleum Institute (API).
Qualified manufacturer are permitted to use
API monogram on pipe they sell.
 Grade Distribution in Pipe Manufacturing

Grade Minimum Yield Strength

Grade A 30,000 psi

Grade B 35,000 psi

Grade X42 42,000 psi

Grade X60 60,000 psi

 Manufacturing Process
Two general types of line pipes are manufactured :
1)Seamless
2)Welded
 Seamless steel pipe is made without longitudinal weld by
hot working lengths of steel to produce pipe of the desired
size and properties.
 Welded pipes have several manufacturing process . They
differ both in number of longitudinal weld seams in the pipe
and the type of welding equipment used.
 Types Of Welding
There are three types of welding:
1)Electric flash welding:
Flash welding is a type of resistance welding that does not use
any filler metal.
2)Electric resistance welding:
Electric Resistance welding refers to a group of welding process
such as spot and seam welding that produce junction
faying(Tendency of cracking) surfaces where heat to form the
weld generated by electrical resistance of material.
3)Electric induction welding:
Is a process the uses electromagnetic induction to heat the work
piece.

 Flash welding is mainly used in Pipe Line.

 Types Of Welded Pipes
There are different types of welded pipes:
1) Submerged-arc welded pipe:
 This type of pipe has one longitudinal seam formed by
automatic submerged arc welding.
 At least pass must be made on the inside and at least one
pass at the outside.
2) Gas metal arc welded pipe:
 Pipe has one longitudinal welding formed by continuous gas
metal arc welding.
 At least one pass must be made on inside and at least one
pipe on the outside of the pipe .
 Continuing types of welded pipe

3) Double seam welded pipe:

 Specified in API 5L as applicable to Grades A through X80 in
sizes larger than 36 in. outside diameter (OD), has two
longitudinal seams formed by the submerged arc welding
process or the gas metal arc welding process.
 The seams are located about 180˚ apart.
4) Spiral Weld Pipe :
 This type of pipe has a spiral seam along its length formed by
either the electric welding process or the automatic
submerged arc process.
 At least one welding pass is made on the inside and at least
one welding pass is made on the outside.
Figure: Seamless and Welded pipe

Seamless pipe Welded pipe

 Chemical properties:

 Carbon is the key component in all steels.

 The amount of carbon affects the strength, ductility, and
other physical properties of steel.
 Maximum carbon content ranges from 0.21%-
0.31%,depending on the grade of steel used and the
method of pipe manufacture.
 Manganese , phosphorous, sulfur, columbium , vanadium
and titanium are also used in different quantity according
to steel grades.
 The amount of manganese required in line pipe steel
increases as the grade (strength) increases.
 Physical properties
Some tests are done to know physical
properties of pipe. Such as :
1)Tensile test,
2)Fracture roughness test,
3) Bending test,
4) Ductility test,
5) Hydrostatic test,
6)Other tests depending on specification.
 Pipe Ends
 Pipe is manufactured with either plain end or threaded
end.
 Bell and spigot ends are also furnished in a few of the
lighter pipe weight.
 On pipe furnished with a threaded end , the coupling is
screwed onto one end of the pipe and a thread
protector is installed on the other end.
 Threads on the pipe and threads on the coupling must
meet specification requirements and tolerance.
 Plain end pipe is used for a pipeline in which the
individual joints will be welded together.
 Marking
Pipe manufactured under API specifications must be properly
marked so pertinent information can be obtained at a glance.
Markings include the following :
1) Manufacturer’s name or mark,
2) Spec 5L,
3) Size of the pipe in inches,
4) Weight of the pipe in pounds per foot,
5) The pipe grade ( A= Grade A; B= Grade B; X52= Grade X52;
etc. )
6) The process used to manufacture the pipe (S=seamless;
E=welded pipe; except continuous welded; F= continuous-
welded pipe )
 Continued
7) Heat treatment performed
(HN=normalized; or normalized and tempered;
HS=subcritical stress relieved; HA=subcritical age-hardened;
HQ= quenched and tempered )
8) Test pressure , if higher than the pressure tabulated in
the appropriate specifications .
9) Any other requirements.

As an example, the stencil marking for 14 in pipe size,

weight 54.57 lb/ft , Grade B, seamless (S) ,regular weight
plain end pipe is :
ABCO Spec. 5L 14.00 54.57 B S
 What’s Used Where
 Pipe manufactured by each of the different process is used
in a variety of applications.
 In general seamless pipe is manufactured in the smaller
sizes because the process is not practical for very large
diameter pipe.
 Welded pipe is manufactured in a wide range of sizes.
 The use of spiral welded pipe for a large- diameter pipeline
is growing in part because of advantages of spiral welding
offers in the manufacturing process.
 The size pipe (diameter) used in any pipeline depends
primarily on the volume to be handled.
 Continued
 The size selected for a given throughput represents the most
economical combination of pumping or compression horse
power and working pressure.
 A given volume of gas could be transported through a
relatively small-diameter pipeline by operating the pipeline at
a high pressure and using large amount of compression horse
power .
 A larger pipeline could handle the desired volume at lower
operating pressure using less compression horsepower.
 A significantly lower pressure would require a lighter
pipe and would eliminate the need for high pressure
valves and other special equipment.
 Larger diameter pipe is more costly, but added cost could
easily be offset by its advantages.
 Pipe Coating
 Coating and wrapping pipelines has provided to be
an economical way to extend pipeline life.
 To be effective, a coating must resist corrosion, and it
must resist damage that would uncover areas of pipe
where corrosion could occur.
 The purpose of the wrap on the outside of the
coating is to provide protection to the corrosion-
inhibiting coating.
 After the coating is applied tape is wrapped around
the pipe in a spiral.
 Wrapping tape protects coating from damage.
 Other Types Of Pipes
 Gathering systems for oil and gas and long distance
pipelines are virtually made of steel and individual lines of
pipe are normally joined by welding.
 Pipe made of materials other than steel are used in
special application such as:
-Fiberglass pipe
-Pipe made of various plastics
-Cement asbestos pipe
 Steel pipe with internal lining with cement or other
materials has also been used.
 This special pipe materials are typically used in relatively
low pressure applications and in corrosive service.
 Continued
 Saltwater disposal pipelines are of these
special types as it needs high corrosion
resistance.
 Installation of fiber glass or plastic pipe is
not done by welding. Individual lengths are
joined by a bell and spigot joint, an
adhesive bonded joint, a coupling that uses
an O-ring to steal the joint , or other special
joining methods
 Properties Of Coating
An effective pipeline corrosion coating needs several
properties:
1) Ease of application,
2) Good adhesion to pipe,
3) Good resistance to impact,
4) Flexibility,
5) Resistance to soil stress,
6) Resistance to flow (of the coating),
7) Water resistance,
8) Electrical resistance,
9) Chemical and physical stability.
10) Resistance to soil bacteria , marine organisms and cathodic
disbondment.
Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coating Plant
 Concrete coating
 Offshore pipeline are coated with concrete
in addition to the corrosion to provide
negative buoyancy ( a weight greater than
the buoyant force of the water ) to the
pipeline .
 This added weight is necessary to cause
the pipeline to sink to the ocean floor and
remain in position on the seabed.
 Application of the concrete coating

1) Forming: It a system more suitable for small quantities of

weight coating of water crossing of short length. It is a
slow process.
2) Guniting: It is a process in which concrete is sprayed onto
the pipe under pressure.
3) Extrusion:
 It is a process in which the concrete is rolled onto the
pipe beneath an outer wrap.
 A heavy paper wrap has been used, as a polyethylene
tape.
 Wire reinforcement is used in this process : one layer of
wire in thinner coatings and two layers of reinforcing wire
in thicker coating .
 Continued
4) Impingement:
 It is used to meet requirements for a high
strength, high-impact-resistance coating.
 This application technique required better
reinforcing .
 Wire mesh reinforcing is replaced with
performed cages of hard drawn wire.
 The cage-type reinforcing is fitted to the
corrosion coated pipe by plastic spares.
Pipe Coating
Concrete weight Coating
 Reference:

Oil And Gas Pipeline Fundamentals :

Kennedy L. John
(2nd edition)