TPT September 2016

T E CHNOLOG Y

Increasing the productivity of a tube and pipe mill

THE productivity of a tube and pipe mill is generally based on two sets of data, according to Dalian Field based in China: one set of data that looks at which kinds of products can be produced by the mill and the other data set that looks at how high a speed the mill can reach when dealing with different sizes of tubes. Both sets of data are important for producers who have only a small number of mills. The second set of data is more important for producers who have many mills of different sizes. Taking an example of a Ø219mm/t x8.0mm pipe mill with 500kw HF welder, when the line speed is at 24m/min, wall thickness is decreased to 4mm and the line speed will be up to 60m/min; but due to drag from the cutting-off machine of the mill, the real speed can only be up to around 30m/min, because high speed will result in the short life of the saw blade. There are two methods to increase line speed: double length cutting for off-line secondary cutting (which requires more space, more labour cost and therefore very few producers choose to do it this way); or double cart milling saw (FD patented technology) – a flying saw with increased line speed without a decrease to saw blade life. If line speed can be up to 60m/min when producing Ø219mm/t4.0mm, the max speed of this mill can be up to 120m/min (when producing size less than Ø114mm/t2.5mm). Productivity on one set of this kind of mill will be equal to that of two sets of normal mills. In addition, it has already been proven that for producers who have only a small number of mills, the size that can be produced by the mills is very important. Taking the example of a Ø219x8.0mm pipe mill, a standard size range is at Ø114- 219mm/t2-8.0mm; but if the minimum size can be at 76x1mm, and there is a mill of Ø12-76/t0.8-4.0mm, then various pipe sizes below Ø219x8.0mm can be produced with only these two mills. The above examples tells us the significance for productivity. A good choice will not only decrease preliminary investment costs, saving land and factory investment, but is also an important economic and technical index that influences the cost of production for a long time in the future, which is a major determinant of competitiveness for pipe producers.

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Hall 6 Booth N6215

QUALITY MEANS TO US: PROVIDING RELIABLE SOLUTIONS

FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE.

Our pioneering EDDYCHECK ® 610 is a fully digital signal processing eddy current system for the unerring quality assurance of tubes, bars and wires with up to 10 chan- nels at up to 6 test positions. • Higher productivity due to higher throughput speeds • Higher spatial resolution for fault marking and reduction of false scrap • Extensive test result documentation • Ease of operation through touchscreen and push-buttons

Dalian Field – China Email: fd@fdmachinery.com Website: www.fdmachinery.com

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PRÜFTECHNIK NDT GmbH Am Lenzenfleck 21 85737 Ismaning Tel.: +49 8999616-0 ndt-sales@pruftechnik.com www.ndt.pruftechnik.com

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S eptember 2016