The Bacalhau oil field was discovered in 2012 near the Lula oil field, approx. 185 kilometres off the coast of São Paulo in Brazil. The Bacalhau offshore oil field can therefore be found in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin at a depth of approx. 2 050 metres.
BUTTING received a first partial order from Subsea 7 to produce almost 6 500 metres of metallurgically clad pipes (10” OD) in August. In October a second order for approx. 73 kilometres m
of mechanically lined BuBi® pipes (10” OD) and 4 200 metres of metallurgically clad pipes (14” OD) was placed. The pipes were ordered in the material combination of carbon-manganese steel and corrosion-resistant alloy.
BUTTING started already in advance before the contract had been awarded. In order to achieve the extremely demanding requirements BUTTING further developed the forming process and invested in new toolings. According to Thomas Schüller, Managing Director of BUTTING in Knesebeck: “Thanks to the know-how of our employees, our short decision-making processes and our internal production engineering, we were able to expand our production programme within a very short time for the benefit of our customer.”
Bernd Harborth and Berni Reimer, Project Managers Clad pipes, explain the challenges behind this order: "The pipes are exposed to high tensile loads due to the 2 050 metres water depth. To withstand these conditions, maximum options for wall thicknesses, dimensional tolerances and material properties will be used during production.” The team is convinced that they will meet this challenge to the complete satisfaction of the end customer in Brazil.
The use of clad materials in pipe manufacture combines the excellent properties of strength and toughness of carbon-manganese steels with the corrosion resistance of stainless steels. BUTTING has produced metallurgically clad pipes from steel plate for renowned customers worldwide since the mid-1980s employed as riser, line and process pipes.
BUTTING – Progress by Tradition
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