TPT March 2010

S traightening T echnology and E quipment

Pipe testing and finishing – around the world

IN 2010, Bronx/Taylor-Wilson (BTW) marks its 70 th anniversary of providing solutions in pipe testing and finishing. In the last decade the company has supplied pipe manufacturers with 75 new straightening installations and 25 new pipe testing installations. Bronx/Taylor-Wilson’s presence in North America includes over 200 finishing equipment installations for customers including Webco Industries, US Steel and Gerdau Ameristeel. Among the more recent installations is TMK-Ipsco’s Baytown facility.

The line at Baytown incorporates a Bronx/ Taylor-Wilson series 6.CR.9 straightener, 140 MPA pipe tester and a pair of high speed end-facing and bevelling machines. In South America, BTW’s resume includes over 50 installations for several customers, including Vallourec & Mannesman in Brazil and several Tenaris plants throughout Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. Currently, the company is in the design and manufacturing stages for Vallourec & Mannesmann Sumitomo Corporation for a hydrostatic pipe tester that requires pressures that have never been accomplished on such high yield equipment for API standard 5CT/5L product diameter ranging from 177.8 to 406.4mm. The hydrotesters will be designed to withstand an end load of 8043KN for 406.4mm OD casing. This end load is said to be the highest of any product that will be tested at such diameters. Bronx/Taylor-Wilson’s roots inEuropedate back to 1940, and the Bronx Engineering Company. With over 630 installations, BTW equipment can be found in the majority

of European metals producers, including Corus, Mittal Steel and CMC. Of BTW’s 70 installations in Scandinavia, the most recent include a section straightener at Fundia Works to process bulb flat sections as well as equal and unequal angles and flats, and a full-automated 10-roll tube straightener to handle light-wall material for Sandvik. BTW’s history in South Africa includes a complete finishing line at Mittal Steel, and several BTW cross roll straighteners are installed in major tube and pipe producers. A recent contract in the Middle East came from Jesco in Saudi Arabia. BTW is currently working on two hydrostatic pipe testers for a 13 3/8 API machine and a 16" API machine, both of which test pressures of 85 MPA. Additionally, the contract calls for two series 6.CR.11 machines, which will process a

Hall 4 Booth C09-01

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M arch 2010

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