Revisio Date Description Changed by Approved by

19th
Kevin Gray (IP
1.0 April I. Created Package.
Holder)
2018

The Copyright of this presentation remains the property of Black Reiver Consulting Limited

© BRCL 2018
 Advanced Drilling
Casing and Tubing Manufacture

Facilitador: Kevin Gray

OCTG Production

It is important to understand the processes and chemistry of OCTG (Oil

Country Tubular Goods) as each step of the manufacturing process
affects the physical and chemical properties of that tubular over its entire
service life

© BRCL 2018
OCTG Seamless Pipe Production Processes
Steel Production Pipe Rolling Heat Treatment Pipe Threading

Green Pipe

Plain End
Bar Steel

Finished
Product
© BRCL 2018
 Steel Billet Manufacturing Process
Scrap

Iron Ore
Blast Furnace Oxygen Convertor Electric Arc Furnace

Charcoal & Coke

Chemical Properties
verification and adjustment Alloying
to required “Mill Certificate Ladle Furnace
Chemistry” Elements

*optional for higher grades

Vacuum
Degassing*

Continuous
Forging Air Cooling
Casting

To Storage and Tubular

© BRCL 2018
Manufacturing Process
Iron Production – Blast Furnace

• Loading
Iron Oxide, Carbon fuel, Limestone
• Main Blast Furnace Reaction
Fe2O(S) + 3Co(G)→2Fe(L) + 3Co2(G)
• Carbon Combustion
Air injection at base produces 1650⁰ and CO gas
• Reduction of Iron Oxides
CO gas reacts to take O from oxides to form iron and carbon dioxide over 700
⁰ needed for reaction
• Melting of Iron
Due to high process temperatures all solid become molten
• Final Product
Liquid Iron with Carbon ≤6% ≥4.5%

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – Oxygen Converter Process

• Main Reaction
[C]Metal + 02(G) → CO2(G)
• Removal of Impurities
Silicone ,Manganese and Phosphorous with air
(21% O2 gas
• Oxidation of Carbon dissolved in Iron
Resultant steel with carbon ≈ 0.4%
• Final Product
Liquid Steel with low Carbon and residual
element levels but high level of oxygen

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – Electric Arc Furnace

• Main Process
Raw steel from Conversion + Scrap + Heat + O2
→ Liquid Steel with controlled Chemistry
• Scrap Material
Sorting and chemical checking, needs low sulphur and low
phosphorous scrap, balance purity and cost
• Removal of Impurities
May require addition of required alloying elements
May require secondary refining for high grade
steels
(Silicon, Manganese, Phosphorous, Sulphur

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – Refining
• Remove Oxygen by adding reducing elements to steel
Aluminium, Silicon, Titanium e.g. Al+O2 →Al2O3

• Slag addition to top of liquid Bath

Composition of Slag CaO, Al2O3, MgO
Prevents oxidation due to contact with air
traps Impurities as inclusions in slag

• Alloying elements added

Chromium, Boron, Aluminium, Vanadium, Cobalt

• Quality control of raw steel for casting

Detailed Metallurgical analysis of final product
required to produce ‘Mill Certificate’ of steel origin – Required as
part of well integrity documentation and casing design process
Metallurgical Ladle
Furnace

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – De-Gassing
• Removal of Gas by Vacuum
• Only required for certain grades of steel
Essential for Sour Service and high Chrome alloys
Essential for thick wall or large diameter pipes
Vacuum
• Degassing is required to:
Reduce the level of molecular Hydrogen
Reduce the level of molecular Nitrogen
Improve the ‘cleanliness’ of the steel produced

• Degassing is dedicated to premium steel grades

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – Bar Casting Process

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – Bar Casting Process

• Transformation of Liquid Steel into Solid bar Product

• Protection against oxidisation
• Primary cooling of Shell of moulding
Control of shell thickness to allow handling
Solid shell allows maintenance of liquid phase inside
• Secondary Air Cooling
Control of the transformation of the steel inside the bar from liquid to solid phase
Avoid presence of internal cracking and high porosity
• Limited range of bar sizes
• Bars are cut to fixed lengths adapted to required input sizes of tubular forming processes:
OD, Weight, Range
• Marked for Traceability
Heat Number, Position of bar in heat, OD, Weight, Steel Grade

© BRCL 2018
Steel Production – Bar Forging
• Guarantee internal quality of the bars
Removes porosity

• Improve microstructure homogeneity

Forging removes variation in microstructure caused by differential cooling rates across the cast bars

• Increases the ‘reduction rate’ during rolling

Original cross section area / Final cross sectional area

• Compaction of the steel

reduction in the outside diameters

• Removal of defects

© BRCL 2018
OCTG Seamless Pipe Production Processes

Bar Final
Final OD
Heating Piercing
Sawing Thickness

© BRCL 2018
 Mannesmann Effect
Applied Pressure
Applied Pressure

Rolling
Movement

Tensile Tensile
force force Opening Void
Space

Applied Pressure

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Applied Pressure
Mannesmann Effect – Pilger Mill

Solid Bar Stock

Feed Direction Feed Direction

Piercing Manderel

© BRCL 2018
Types of Mill and Common OCTG Product

250mm to
- Larger OD tubulars
660mm Pilger Mill - Low productivity process
OD

- MPM – Improvement on Stiefel process

140mm to Stiefel Plug Mill
Multi Stand Plug Mill –
- Medium to larger tubulars
406mm OD
(MPM) - High productivity process

21mm to - Smaller sizes, longer lengths

178mm Continuous Mill - High productivity process
OD
© BRCL 2018
Plug Mill Example Process
Rotary Kiln Pierce Rolling Mill Plug Mill

Reeling Sizing Mill Straightening

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Milling Dimensions – example process

230mm
Raw After After
250mm x
Piercing 328mm x
OD Sawn 32mm Second
15mm
Bar Piercing

2.7m 5.0m 7.6m

After After After

312mm x Rolling 340mm x Reeling 327mm x Sizing
8mm 8mm 8mm

13.8m 12.8m 13.2m

© BRCL 2018
Heat Treatment
Primary Heat Treatment processes

Normalising Annealing Quenching Tempering

Heating the material to above Heating the steel material to a

Heating the steel pipe above
its critical temperature long precise temperature below the
the critical temperature, and Heating the steel pipe
enough until microstructure critical point, and often done in the
cooled in the air. material to critical air, vacuum or the inert
transform to austenite. Then
Through normalizing, the temperature until atmospheres. There are low
slow cooled in the furnace, temperature tempering 205 to
steel material stress could be microstructure transformation
get maximum transformation 595°F (400 to 1105°F), medium
relieved, improves ductility is done, cooling it in a rapid
of ferrite and pearlite. temperature and high temperature
and toughness for the cold rate. tempering (to 700℃ 1300℉).
Annealing will eliminate
working process. Normalizing Quenching purpose is to The purpose of tempering is to
defects, uniform the chemical
usually applied for the carbon produce the thermal stress increase the toughness of steel and
composition and fine grains. alloy steel pipe. Before tempering,
and low alloy steel pipe and tissue stress. It can
This process usually applied these steel is very hard but too
material. It will produce eliminate and improve
for the high carbon, low alloy brittle for the most application. After
different metal structure, through the tempering. The process can improve the plasticity
and alloy steel pipe need to
pearlite, bainite, some combination of quenching and toughness of steel pipe, reduce
reduce their hardness and or eliminate the residual stress and
martensite. Which brings and tempering can make the
strength, refine the crystal stabilize the steel pipe’s size. Brings
harder and stronger steel comprehensive performance
structure, improve the good comprehensive mechanical
material, and less ductility improved. properties, so that it does not
plasticity, ductility, toughness
than full annealing material. change in service.
and machinablity.

© BRCL 2018
 Heat Treatment 3 Processes

Heat Preservation Phase

Temperature

Cooling Phase
Time

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Heat Treatment 3 Processes
Heating
The steel can be heated below its critical point or above critical point
• Heating below the critical point can stabilize the microcrystalline structure and eliminate the residual
stress within the material
• Heating above the critical point is a process known as Austenitizing

Heat preservation
The time period for heating preservation is required to allow an even temperature to be attained across the
entire pipe and to allow time for re-organization of the steel microstructure

Cooling
The cooling process is the key process in heat treatment, it determines mechanical properties of steel pipe
after cooling process.

© BRCL 2018