Tube and pipe technologies showcased at DIM 2024

Following a tube and pipe market analysis given by James Ley - Rystad Energy, technology presentations and discussions focused on competitive seamless tube and welded pipe processing and customer service.

Patented Danieli FQT offers premium-quality results with reduced CapEx and OpEx to produce medium- to large-diameter seamless pipes.

FQT™ - Fine Quality Train is a combined Wall Thickness (WT) and Outside Diameter (OD) finishing mill, specifically designed to cover an output of pipes with diameters from 73 to 508 mm and relevant wall thicknesses, with different machine ranges.

It ensures production flexibility and competitiveness with capital expenditures proportional to the overall required capacities, and the lowest OpEx thanks to high production efficiency.

Maximum production flexibility covers product dimension changeover and lot sizes.

Danieli FQT fully satisfies the demanding oil-and-gas industry application standards in terms of high product quality, traceability and repeatability, minimizing setup times and optimizing costs.

ATC is the Danieli Adaptive wall Thickness Control for quality seamless pipe production that ensures wall thickness consistency, even in case of potential, unexpected changes during rolling procedures.

All Danieli Centro Tube seamless tube mills equipped with FQM™ -Fine Quality Mill and FQT™ -Fine Quality Train technologies are provided with automated functions, including ATC, to apply different static or dynamic settings to both hydraulic capsules and motors, and to control roll positions and speed based on nominal data.

Such functions compensate for wall thickness variations due to expected transitions in the rolling process, which are caused by the interaction between the mill and the rolled material (e.g. rolling material impact causing motor speed drop). These are also used to correct deviations from subsequent process steps (e.g., end thickening in the stretch-reducing mill).

Danieli ATC system guarantees tube thickness control even in case of unexpected or time-evolving rolling conditions, such as non-constant pierced shell temperature, progressive roll wear or uneven mandrel conditions.

ATC provides faster response and target achievement, and it can be easily installed on different mandrel mill plants equipped with various adjustment systems or measuring devices.

Electric-Resistance Welding -ERW equipment and plants, which in some cases are complementary to the seamless ones, were presented. They are designed to produce different types of tube and pipe products, such as precision tubes for automotive, line pipes and OCTG for oil and gas, water tubes, mechanical hollow sections, and construction tubes.

A couple of presentations were made to show the audience company developments for:

high productivity plants, involving a tube mill stand design that can guarantee high-quality products together with smooth running and consequent long equipment life, as well as through the installation of a high-speed flying cut-off to achieve precise cutting of finished tubes.

Automatized solutions that give process continuity together with operating cost reduction, thanks to the fewer operators assigned there, were highlighted.

Some examples of significant customer service jobs completed the tube and pipe session, including:

- Supply of tooling like piercer rolls, retained mandrel mills and SM-SRM rolls;

- Refurbishment jobs for various piercer and retained mandrel mill equipment, making use of the Danieli local service centers (and not only for Danieli plants);

- A revamp project for the Jesco hot rolling line, replacing the intermediate and final transfer systems;

- A turnkey revamping project for the MPM - upgrade of the rack and front bench.

A final report outlined the C-Stock concept for which various contracts are already in place worldwide.