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Section 110
Rev A - 98
CT STRING MANUFACTURE
Contents
1
2
Page
Introduction .................................................................................................... 2
CT STRING DESIGN ..................................................................................... 2
CT STRING MANUFACTURE ......................................................................... 4
2.1 Strip Production Process ...................................................................... 4
2.2 Skelp Production Process ..................................................................... 6
2.3 Tubing Production Process .................................................................... 6
2.3.1 Strip Preparation ................................................................................... 6
2.3.2 Forming the tube ................................................................................... 8
2.4 Laboratory Testing ............................................................................... 12
2.5 Documentation Package ..................................................................... 13
2.6 Delivery and Spooling ......................................................................... 13
2.6.1 Spooling .............................................................................................. 13
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Section 110
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Introduction
1 CT STRING DESIGN
Improved steel manufacturing and rolling processes combined with new tube manufacturing techniques enable
modern CT strings to be manufactured without butt welds.
This has contributed greatly to the general reliability and
greater acceptance of CT services.
Steel mill - master coils of the required material specification are cast and rolled.
Slit mill - the master coil is slit accurately into the strips
(skelps) of the required width for the size (OD) of tubing to
be formed.
Tapered strings are commonly used in deep well applications, where heavy walled tubing is required at the surface
to support the load while thinner walled tubing is used
toward the downhole end to reduce the load.
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Section 110
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Section 110
Rev A - 98
2 CT STRING MANUFACTURE
The following CT string manufacturing sequence details the
process, and associated checks or tests, performed in a
series of manufacturing steps conducted in several locations and manufacturing facilities, including:
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Arc Furnace
2.1 Strip Production Process
The majority of steel produced for CT string manufacture
originates in Japan (CT manufacturing plants in U.S.A.) or
France (CT manufacturing plants in UK). The following
production stages are common to most steel strip providers.
Iron and steel scrap are fed into the furnace through the
open roof. The roof is swung into place and carbon
electrodes are lowered until they are in near contact with the
furnace charge. The power is applied and an arc temperature of approximately 6,000 F melts the alloy materials.
When the specified steel requirements are met, the furnace
is tapped and the steel run off into the casting ladle.
Blast Furnace
Casting Ladle
The blast furnace is charged with iron ore, sinter, coke and
limestone, as they descend they are met by a rising volume
of hot gas formed by combustion of the coke in a forced air
stream (preheated to 1,800 F). Carbon monoxide produced
from the burning coke reduces the iron oxide to iron, while
the limestone removes impurities from the ore. The molten
iron (at 2,700 F) is tapped at the base of the furnace into
ladles.
Iron from the blast furnace contains approximately 5%
carbon, up to 1% of both manganese and silicon, and much
smaller but still significant amounts of phosphorus and
Carbon:
Manganese
Phosphorus
0.03 maximum
Sulfur
0.005 maximum
Silicon
Chromium
Copper
0.40 maximum
Nickel
0.25 maximum
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Section 110
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Blast furnace
ARC furnace
Casting ladle
Continuous
caster
Slab reheat
Rolling mill
Pickling
Oiling
Master coil
Rolling Mill
The continuous caster produces steel strip in a semifinished form. The ladle of liquid steel is tipped into an
intermediate, smaller ladle that feeds a water-cooled copper mould. The partially solidified steel is slowly drawn into
a series of rollers that transfers the cast material from a
vertical to a horizontal orientation. A travelling torch cuts
the ingot or slab into manageable lengths.
Slab Reheat
Since the steel slabs are produced in a continuous process,
some of the slabs may have to wait before entering the
rolling mill. To maintain the correct temperature the material
is held in a slab reheat facility. If, during the rolling process
the slab temperature drops too much, it may also be
returned to the reheat facility for reconditioning prior to
finishing.
Pickling Line
The rolled strip is passed through an acid spray and bath to
remove surface scale and oxides which may have been
picked up during the rolling process. The final pickling
process includes a treatment to ensure residual chemicals
are neutralized.
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Section 110
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Oiling
Immediately following pickling, the strip is sprayed (coated)
with a viscous oil preparation which prevents atmospheric
corrosion or contamination while in storage or during
transportation to the tube manufacturing facility.
Master Coil
Following pickling and oiling, the strip is wound into a spool
known as the master coil and prepared for shipment to the
slitting mill. Representative strip material from each mill
heat is submitted for chemical composition analysis to
ensure that the steel meets the required specification.
Each master coil is uniquely identified and supported with
a documentation package which includes details of the
steel specification, manufacturing process, overall length
and thickness.
2.2 Skelp Production Process
Skelp production is a relatively simple process conducted
at special slit mill facilities located in the U.S.A. or UK.
The master coil is spooled down and cut into strips (slit) by
means of rotating blades, the width of the strip being
determined by the required OD of the finished tubing. The
resulting strip, or skelp, is then individually prepared and
uniquely identified before shipping to the tubing mill.
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Bias Welding
To ensure the weld joining each strip forms an integral part
of the assembled strip, the end of the strip is cut at a bias
angle which precisely matches the cut in the tail of the
preceding strip. The strips are then welded together using
a plasma arc welder with an inert gas shield to form one
continuous strip.
When the tube is formed, this bias weld takes on a helical
profile making the tube less prone to failure than a tube-totube (butt) weld.
Radiographic Inspection
2.3 Tubing Production Process
The tubing production process is typically completed in two
distinct phases.
Stage 1 - The relatively short lengths (approximately 3500
ft) of flat steel strip, of the required properties and
dimensions, are bias welded to form the complete length
of the CT string. Each weld is heat treated in a closely
controlled process to remove any HAZ from the strip
material. The assembled strip is wound onto a accumulator reel for transport to the next stage of the manufacturing process.
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Slitting
Bias welding
Radiography
Planishing
Machining
Heat treatment
Lay er 1
LAS E R
1
2
3
4
5
MPI inspection
Width inspection
Length check
Strip spool
Longitudinal weld
Bias weld
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Heat Treatment
Accepted welds are induction heated to raise the temperature of the weld area, thereby eliminating the hardness and
embrittlement which occurs during any welding process (in
the heat affected zone).
Planishing
This optional process minimizes the amount of material
removed in the next step by passing the weld area between
high-pressure rollers to smooth and prepare the weld area.
Machining
In order to achieve a smooth transition between strips, and
over the weld itself, excess material remaining after welding and planishing is removed by a precision grinding
process.
Dimensional Inspection
The strip at the weld site is checked for thickness, width,
hardness and alignment, each measurement must fall
within the original strip tolerances before the weld is
ultimately accepted.
Dimensional checks
Length Counter
Seam-weld mismatch
Crush test
Ovality
Wall thickness
Flare test
Accumulator Reel
Tensile test
The assembled strip is spooled up on an accumulator reel
which is used to store and transport the strip in preparation
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Forming Stands
The forming stands comprise a series of rollers that
gradually form the tube from the flat skelp. This manipulation is designed to evenly work the material and avoid
areas of high stress. The tube forming process also
incorporates the longitudinal welding process which occurs
immediately the two skelp edges are closed.
Longitudinal Welding
The longitudinal weld is made using a high frequency
electrical induction weld system. Heat for the weld is
generated by electrical resistance induced by a coil which
encircles the tubing. The heat produced (approximately
2500 F) is confined to a narrow area along the edges of the
closing tube. The final set of forming rollers force the edges
together at fusion temperature to produce the weld. Since
no filler material is added during the welding process, the
composition of the weld is the same as the body of the tube.
The tubing is welded slightly oversize with the emphasis on
the weld quality rather than on the final dimension.
Seam Annealer
The formed tube passes to the seam annealer which heat
treats the weld area (approximately 1650 F) to recrystallize the material in the heat affected zone. This process
relieves the stresses resulting from the welding process.
Cooling Station
The tube is slightly cooled before progressing to the next
stage of the manufacturing process.
Weld Inspection
Electronic inspection of the seam weld is carried out using
an electromagnetic (eddy current) testing system. The
testing station continually records the inspection data and
automatically identifies and precisely marks any area that
may require further inspection by magnetic particle testing
and radiography.
Flash Removal
Sizing Stand
A small quantity of weld flash material is extruded on the
inner and outer surfaces of the tube. This is removed from
the outer surface by a contoured cutting tool located
directly after the welding station. On larger CT sizes (>1-3/
4-in.) the internal weld flash can also be removed if desired.
70,000 psi
80,000 psi
Minimum elongation:
30%
Minimum hardness:
22C Rockwell
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Section 110
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Forming stand
Strip spool
Weld inspection
Water cooling
Diameter check
Stress relief
Flash removal
Longditudinal
weld
Final sizing
Air cooling
Hydro-testing
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Seam anealling
Length check
End fitment
welding
Weld inspection
Spooling
Length Check
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Section 110
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Spooling
Air Cooling
In preparation for spooling, the tubing is air cooled over an
interval between the tubing mill and spooling stand.
Nom. Wall
Thickness (in.)
1-1/4
1-1/2
0.075
1.000
0.080
1.000
1.1875
0.087
0.875
0.095
2-3/8
3-1/2
1.1875
0.875
1.1875
1.375
0.102
0.875
1.1875
1.375
0.109
0.875
1.1875
1.375
0.116
0.875
1.1875
1.375
0.125
0.875
1.125
1.375
2.000
0.134
0.875
1.125
1.375
2.000
0.145
0.875
1.125
1.375
1.875
2.500
0.156
0.750
1.0625
1.250
1.875
2.375
0.175
0.750
1.0625
1.250
1.875
2.375
3.000
0.190
1.000
1.250
1.875
2.375
3.000
0.204
1.000
1.250
1.875
2.375
3.000
0.224
1.1875
1.750
2.250
2.875
0.250
1.125
1.750
2.250
2.875
0.280
1.625
2.188
2.750
0.300
1.625
2.125
2.750
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Section 110
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Weld Inspection
The end fitting weld undergoes radiographic inspection.
Typically, three shots are taken at 120 intervals around
the circumference of the weld, offset from the weld centre.
The resulting film is inspected for the following flaws and,
on successful conclusion of the checks, placed in the
string file:
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Dimensional Checks
Surface misalignment
Ovality
Hydro Testing
Wall thickness
Seam-weld mismatch
Crush Test
Completely flattens a test section of tubing with the seam
weld orientated at the apex of the fold. No open defects are
permitted in the weld.
Crush
Flare
Ovality
Seam weld
mismatch
Tensile
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Wall thickness
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Flare Test
Tensile Test
Details of purging/drying or freeze protection procedures
Full section test samples are marked to enable % elongation to be determined, placed in a tensile test facility. A
tensile load is gradually applied until the sample is tested
to destruction. The resulting data is used to determine:
Yield strength
2.6 Delivery and Spooling
Ultimate yield strength
Elongation
Chemical composition
2.6.1 Spooling
Heat number(s)
Mechanical properties:
Hardness
Tensile strength(s)
Yield strength(s)
Identification and position of tapered string segments
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