Development and application of Baosteel X80 large diameter UOE longitudinal submerged arc welded pipes

With the increase in energy demand,the demand for oil and gas transmission pipes,particularly high-grade longitudinal submerged arc welded pipes (LSAWs),have been growing in recent years.The construction of the 2nd West-East natural gas transmission pipeline project shows that the oil and gas pipeline construction has entered a new phase of development with X80 pipes being applied in large scales for the first time in China.This paper briefly introduces the 2nd West-East natural gas transmission pipeline project and its main technical requirements with the focus on the features of API standard 5L X80 grade  1219 mm series of U-ing-O-ing-Expanding (UOE) LSAW pipes,which Baosteel developed with the integrated technology for the 2nd West-East natural gas transmission pipeline project.The analysis shows the extra-low carbon content,the high contents of manganese and niobium,the fine microstructure,the high strength,the toughness and the good weldability of X80 pipes meet the requirements of "the technical specification of LSAW linepipes for the 2nd West-East natural gas transmission pipeline project in China".By the end of June 2010,Baosteel had totally produced 322000 t of  1219 mm X80 UOE steel pipes,which have been successfully used in the 2nd West-East natural gas transmission pipeline project,thus filling the gap of the production of large diameter X80 UOE LSAW pipes in China.