Due to increasing demand, the management team decided in 2019 to approve investment to expand capacity at very short notice. Within two years the production capacity was set to double. In May of the same year, for example, a new 12 m hydroforming plant was ordered from a renowned mechanical engineering company.
Thomas Janssen, Head of Production technology, development and construction, and the planning team brought their extensive experience and knowledge of the last 20 years to the decision-making and design process. "We used proven technology and at the same time examined the individual process steps. So lots of ideas for small improvements were included in the planning," explains Thomas Janssen. The result is a plant that operates according to the same manufacturing principle as the two existing plants, but is equipped with state-of-the-art aggregates and the latest pump technology. "Our customers benefit in two ways: we are increasing our capacity for the production of mechanically lined pipes, and at the same time we can implement the narrowest special tolerances evenly over the entire pipe body for thick-walled pipes made of stainless steels," says Thomas Schüller, Managing Director of BUTTING in Knesebeck, underlining the advantages of the plant.
The hydroforming plant can process pipes in the dimensional range from 4" to 26" at a pressure of 2 500 bar. Depending on the outside diameter, this results in a new total production capacity for mechanically lined pipes of over 200 kilometres per year.
Thomas Schüller is visibly proud: "The project went well all round – the members of our project team and our supplier worked together constructively and collaboratively. This was the basis for meeting the very tight schedule. Thanks to them, we have now been able to put the centrepiece of our new production line into operation and have already processed a first order."
For many years, mechanically lined pipes have been successfully used for demanding and sensitive applications in the oil and gas producing industry, both onshore and offshore. At BUTTING, customers have a choice: mechanically lined BUTTING bimetallic pipes in the form of BuBi® pipes or as cemented mechanically lined GluBi® pipes. In this process, a corrosion-resistant BUTTING stainless steel pipe is drawn into a carbon-manganese steel pipe and mechanically joined using a hydroforming plant. As riser, line and process pipes, they are used to carry highly corrosive media.
BUTTING – Progress by Tradition
