TPI April 2011

Stainless steel tubes

High quality welded tubes

Precision tubes from Italy Tecnofar SpA

Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil Ltda (VSB), a seamless pipe joint venture formed by Sumitomo Metal Industries, Sumitomo Corporation and Vallourec, began a test operation at its integrated seamless pipe steelworks, by successfully piercing its first billet at 9pm local time on 11 December 2010. Following the completion of the rolling mill, upstream facilities, including charcoal blast furnaces that enable carbon neutral iron making processes, will begin operation in the second quarter of 2011. Full operation as an integrated blast furnace steelworks will then commence. Ilta Inox, founded in 1963, produces welded stainless steel tubes, supplying demanding industrial sectors such as power generation and the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries. With its modern production facilities, Ilta Inox can guarantee products that meet stringent market requirements, and that are certified by important international testing organisations. The company has been certified according to ISO 9002:1994 since 1994, and according to ISO 9001:2000 since 2000, and is also certified to AD 2000-Merkblatt-TRD 100 97/23/EC (PED), and has ISO 14001 environmental certification. Raw material is purchased only from suppliers who are ISO 9000 certified. Before processing, the company undertakes a 100 per cent check on incoming material using a portable spectrometer, followed by further laboratory analysis to verify the exact chemical composition. A wide range of grades and thicknesses are held in stock to ensure that customer requirements can be met quickly. Slitting of coil feedstock is carried out in-house on coils up to 30 tonnes, followed by welding with laser welding

lines, and subsequent pickling to remove every trace of ferrous and oxidising contamination, which could be detrimental to corrosion resistance. Ilta Inox has the capability to pickle tubes in lengths up to 18m. Tubesproducedby Ilta Inoxaresubjected to a constant on-line dimensional check (laser OD checking), as well as continuous destructive tests, including flaring, flattening, reverse bending and expansion, in order to evaluate the integrity of the weld area. In addition, in order to guarantee the integrity of the whole tube wall, 100 per cent of production is eddy current tested off- line. The Ilta Inox production programme includes round tubes in a wide range of austenitic stainless steel grades including 304, 304L, 321, 316, 316L, 316Ti, 316SL, 310S, 31803, and 309. The company has recently extended the size range of its production to include tubes up to 711mm OD, with annealed tubes now available up to 219.1mm OD.

specialises in manufacturing stainless and nickel alloy tubes. It is a rapidly expanding company, and since 2005 has had two production units, located in Delebio and Gordona, covering a total surface area of 7,000m 2 . The company produces redrawn precision tubes, both in bar and coil form, by using the TIG welding process. The company offers a modern, well- equipped department for tube cutting and is able to produce cut pieces measuring just a few millimetres in length, completely burr-free. Tubesareproducedusingstainlesssteels provided and guaranteed by leading steel mills. ISO 9001:2000 accredited (by Italcert), the company has been certified by RINA for its welding system and heat treatment for the production range of OD 6-19mm and wall thickness of 0.4 to 1.1mm.

Ilta Inox SpA – Italy sales@ilta.arvedi.it www.arvedi.it

Tecnofar SpA – Italy info@tecnofar.it www.tecnofar.it

Seamless pipe steelworks produces first steel pipe

Capillary tubes from Tecnofar SpA

VSB plans to obtain approvals from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and its customers such as major oil companies, and fully ramp up the steelworks by the first half of 2012 in order to meet growing demand for global energy development. Production capacity will be 600,000 metric tons of seamless pipe per year (Sumitomo and Vallourec will each sell 300,000 tons), and 1,000,000metric tons of crude steel per year (of which 300,000 tons will be shipped to Vallourec). Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil Ltda – Brazil contato@vstubos.com www.vstubos.com

Tecnofar can cut pieces as small as just a few millimetres in length

51

www.read-tpi.com

April 2011 Tube Products International