Capacity for large pipe production extended

Group Five Pipe Saudi Ltd. has placed an order with Schuler for the delivery of a complete pipe plant. At its heart is an offline spiral pipe line for manufacturing pipes with diameters of 508 to 2,235 millimeters (20 to 88 inches) and lengths of twelve to 24.4 meters. In addition, the pipe plant boasts four welding stands and various testing stations. The contract was signed in Dammam (Saudi Arabia) at the beginning of March.

With a production speed of ten meters per minute, the new plant easily outperforms the conventional spiral pipe plants previously used by Group Five Pipe Saudi. "Our customer will be increasing its capacity by up to 400,000 metric tons per year," explains Jochen Früh, Managing Director at Schuler. "We are not only building and supplying the complete plant with all peripheral equipment, but will also fully install it and launch production over the course of the coming year."

Large pipes are made from high-grade steel (up to X100) with thicknesses of up to 25.4 millimeters, which is wound onto coils. The spiral pipe line forms this material into the desired shape and diameter and tack welds the seams. At one of the four welding stands, the pipe is then welded into its final shape at speeds of up to 2.50 meters per minute using a submerged arc-welding process. In accordance with the API standard, pipes are subsequently checked using ultrasonic devices, x-rays and hydrotester. The entire pipe plant has a length of 450 meters. During their manufacture, pipes are carefully scrutinized.

Group Five Pipe Saudi Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is based in Dammam on the east coast of Saudi Arabia. The TÜV-certified company belongs to the AHQ & Sons Group of Companies and has four sites where large pipes are produced according to the highest quality standard of the American Petroleum Institute (API). Its customers include companies in the gas and oil industry, such as Halliburton, Saipem and Saudi Aramco, as well as the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, which produces drinking water for Saudi Arabia, and the German pump manufacturer KSB.

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