TPT July 2011

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10 July 2011 ›
Industry News
TMK IPSCO’s premium pipe threading
facility in Ohio, USA began a two-week
commissioning phase for its second thread
line, which will allow the facility to thread
more and larger pipe to meet the expanding
demand in the oil and gas industry.
“What this means for the industry is
that we are now able to provide an even
quicker response to the growing needs
of the Marcellus drilling region,” said
Piotr Galitzine, chairman of TMK IPSCO.
“Marcellus will play a major role going
forward as natural gas finds new uses
in electricity generation and municipal
transportation.”
TMK IPSCO’s Premium pipe
connections are well-known in the industry.
The second thread line will allow the plant
to thread pipes up to 135/8" in diameter,
up from the previous size range of 4"-
75/8 " under the first thread line. Each line
is capable of threading more than 40,000
tons of pipe per year with an ULTRA-
DQX™ Premium Connection, ULTRA-
SF™ Premium Connection or ULTRA-FJ™
Premium Connection.
TMK IPSCO’s team expressed great
optimism at the added capacity brought
on by the addition of the second thread
line at Brookfield. “The second line not
only doubles our threading capacity at
Brookfield,” said David Green, director
of operations in TMK IPSCO’s Premium
division, “it also allows us to thread a
wider range of product more efficiently,
including the new ULTRA-QX™ Premium
Connection, which is especially important
in deeper and higher pressure drilling
environments. This is true in Marcellus and
in some of the Canadian projects that we
began shipping directly to this year.”
In addition to threading, the facility in
Brookfield also manufactures connections
fittings and accessories for oil and gas
exploration and recovery. The facility’s
accessories line was commissioned in
October 2010 and is the only such provider
in the Marcellus region.
“The accessories business is crucial,
as the float equipment and other tooling
required in the wells require the same
threading as the pipes with our premium
threads,” said Mr Green. “We are working
to expand our accessory business at both
our Brookfield and Houston locations.”
Strategically located near TMK IPSCO’s
steelmaking and pipe-rolling operations in
Koppel and Ambridge, Pennsylvania, the
Brookfield facility currently employs more
than 60 workers. Total employment at the
facility is projected to increase to more
than 100 with the future addition of a third
thread line.
“We are fortunate to have a wealth of
experience and expertise in our backyard,”
says Ernie Sexton, plant manager at
Brookfield. “We look forward to expanding
our team in this rapidly growing region.”
Groundbreaking for the second line took
place in early October 2010 during a visit to
the facility by the Board of Directors of TMK,
the parent company of TMK IPSCO.
TMK IPSCO operates in North America
as a division of TMK, a global market leader
in energy pipe production. TMK operates
23 production facilities around the world.
TMK product offerings include a wide range
of seamless and welded energy tubular
products including oil and gas drill pipe,
well casing and tubing, line pipe, LD pipe,
standard pipe, hollow structural sections
and related services. The company also
manufactures premium connections for oil
and natural gas drilling and production
under the ULTRA™ Premium Connections
and TMK Premium brand names.
TMK IPSCO – USA
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TMK IPSCO rolls out second thread line
Extended
laser tube
cutting
facilities
LASERTUBE Cutting, part of the Barrett
Steel Group, has commissioned its second
LT8 tube laser, with a third on order for
delivery in June 2011. The addition of
the third LT8 will establish Barrett Steel’s
tubes division as one of the leading laser
processors in Europe.
Previous recent investment has been
in the LT Jumbo, the largest tube laser
in the UK both in terms of tube range
processed, lengths that can be produced
and scale of machine. Plans to invest
in the UK's first LT Fibre laser will bring
Barrett Steel’s total investment in new
technology to £2mn, further demonstrating
the tube division’s commitment to serving
its customers by using the latest and most
advanced processing equipment.
Laser cutting offers a number of key
benefits for the customer as complex
cutting procedures, including angles
and V-shapes in both closed and open
section tubes, can be carried out in a
single pass. Electronic drawing lists can
be programmed directly into the machine,
allowing prototypes to be produced quickly
in a single pass, saving time and money
on processing and providing greater
opportunities to redesign and refine.
David Cleaver, sales manager of
Lasertube Cutting, commented, “Acquiring
our second LT8 opens up a wealth of
opportunities for our customers, not just in
the extra capacity it provides, but also in
the speed of turn round. It also increases
our capabilities for newer and growing
requirements in the offshore wind turbine
industry and other renewable energy
markets where high volumes are required,
often to tight deadlines. Crucially, the LT8
allows us to guarantee repeatability in
terms of accuracy, tolerances and finish.”
Typical applications for laser cut mild steel
tube includes arms for excavating equipment
for leading yellowgoods companies, precision
cut steel sections for the UK’s leading coach
builder and other vehicle manufacturers,
and for bracings in buildings. Stainless steel
products that benefit from laser tube cutting
include architectural handrailing, racking
systems for shop fitting, architectural feature
work, security and architectural fencing,
lighting columns and office furniture.
The LT8 can process traditional circular,
square, rectangular, oval, elliptical oval
and open sections such as channel, angle
and flat bar. Also equipped with a tilting
head, the LT8 offers 3D cutting for time-
saving weld preparations.
High productivity is achieved with
the machine’s ability to load material
automatically from a dedicated bunker or
from a single bar loader on the other side,
and automatically cut multiple pieces of
different profiles and lengths.
Barrett Steel – UK
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