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Zhongyou BSS Petropipe Commissions SMS Meer L-SAW Pipe Mill

08/28/2009 - Zhongyou BSS Petropipe successfully commissions a new 150,000 tonnes/year large-diameter pipe mill supplied by SMS Meer.

Zhongyou BSS Petropipe Co. Ltd. has successfully commissioned a new large-diameter pipe mill, supplied by SMS Meer, Germany.
 
Located in Qinhuangdao about 300 km east of Beijing, the new JCO® mill has an annual capacity of up to 150,000 tonnes and is the most modern of its kind in China. It will be used to produce longitudinal submerged arc welded (L-SAW) steel pipes with diameters ranging from 508 to 1422 mm and wall thicknesses up to 40 mm in lengths of up to 12.2 meters and material grades up to X100.
 
The short-stroke version JCO pipe forming press operates with a maximum press force of 65 MN. The plate with milled and subsequently crimped edges is formed stepwise over its whole length by a patented forming tool to result in an open-seam pipe with parallel longitudinal edges — optimized preconditions for pipe welding.
 
In the tack welding machine’s roller cage, the gap between the open-seam pipe’s two longitudinal edges is continuously adjusted to the parallel position and tack welded under inert gas. During the subsequent submerged arc welding process, the tack weld serves as a weld pool backing. To ensure that the plate’s longitudinal edges are brought optimally together, the roller cage’s beams are servo-hydraulically adjustable even under load, if necessary. This hydraulic machine concept is being delivered for the first time to China.
 
The main tasks of the mechanical expander are sizing and straightening of the pipes. Through gradual cold forming with an expanding head the pipes are straightened over their whole length and given an accurate roundness with an exact inside diameter. This simplifies the subsequent laying of the pipes in the field, as the cross-sections fit perfectly together, even when cut in the field, as the pipes are sized uniformly over their full length.
 
SMS Meer supplied and installed the key machines for the plant, including a plate edge milling machine, the technological components of the crimping press, a JCO pipe forming press, a hydraulically adjustable tack welding machine, and a mechanical expander.
 
Following erection and commissioning of the key machines, the acceptance tests were carried out smoothly and on schedule. Since all guaranteed contract values could be achieved, Zhongyou BSS Petropipe Co. Ltd. successfully started pipe production at the beginning of June 2009.
 
The commissioned equipment is suitable to produce pipes that meet all the relevant international standards such as API, ISO, DNV. Pipes will be applied in pipelines that transport oil and gas from Chinese rigs in the northeast to the major cities in the east and southeast.
 
Zhongyou BSS Petropipe Co. Ltd. is a joint venture between the Malaysian UMW group and Baoji Petroleum Steel Pipe Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of CNPC, China's largest oil and gas producer and supplier.
 
SMS Meer GmbH is a company of the SMS group, which is, under the holding SMS GmbH, a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It consists of the two business areas SMS Siemag and SMS Meer. In 2008, some 8,900 employees worldwide generated a turnover of more than EUR 3.6 billion.