Spiral welded pipe for oil and gas: state-of-the-art
A new JIP involving a global review of the state-of-the-art of spiral welded pipe for oil & gas applications has been successfully launched by TWI.
Spiral welded pipe offers potential cost benefits over UOE pipe, such as typical 10-15% ex-mill savings and up to 20 fewer pipe joints per km where advantage can be taken of the longer products available. Widely used in utility duties, acceptance of this product form for oil & gas applications is markedly varied between different companies. However, new pipeline requirements worldwide and continuous demands for cost-reduction have led to the need to evaluate the product available today.
TWI is offering an independent appraisal of the technical issues related to specification, production and use of spiral welded, so that cost savings can be realised wherever possible, without compromising safety.
This will collate experience and concerns internationally from pipe manufacturers, pipeline installation companies and operators, producing a unified report giving guidance on appropriate use, and to identify areas where more information is needed to increase confidence.
Programme objectives are:
- Development of an independent state-of-the-art review of the current experience and concerns influencing utilisation of spiral welded pipe for oil and gas linepipe applications.
- Identification of necessary data required for derivation of the safe application envelope for spiral welded pipe including associated production criteria.
For more information on the project contact Stuart Bond or Richard Pargeter.
E-mail: stuart.bond@twi.co.uk or richard.pargeter@twi.co.uk
Fax: +44 (0)1223 894717
