【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】2361-2021: Chengde Steel Pipe’s Research and Development of Large-Diameter, Low-Temperature-Resistant Seamless Pipes for the China-Russia Eastern Pipeline Project

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Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Progress in Chemical Engineering Equipment】A continuously updated summary post – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** Published by Yangzhou, March 16, 2021, 09:35. Reporters learned from Jiangsu Chengde Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. yesterday that more than 200 tons of large-diameter seamless steel pipes produced by this company were used in the middle section of the China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline project (Jilin Changling–Hebei Yongqing). Wang Rujun, the company’s technical director, explained that these pipes have a diameter of 1422 mm and are made of X80 grade steel; they can be used in temperatures as low as -45°C. This represents a first in China, as it solves the technical challenges related to the low-temperature resistance of large-diameter seamless steel pipes. The China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline project within our country starts in Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province in the north and extends to Shanghai in the south, with a total length of 5,111 kilometers. The middle section of this project was officially put into operation on December 3 last year, improving the energy structure in the Bohai Sea region. It also connects with the existing pipeline networks, thereby enhancing the natural gas supply capacity and emergency response capabilities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. The Mid-Line Project faces extremely cold weather along its route and a highly complex geographical environment, which imposes high requirements on the quality of the gas transmission components. The development of large-diameter, low-temperature resistant seamless steel pipes is the result of collaborative efforts between Chengde Steel Pipe and renowned domestic universities and research institutions in the field of industry-university-research cooperation. It is understood that since 2016, Chengde Steel Pipe has worked in close collaboration with the Iron and Steel Research Institute and Northeastern University, investing over 40 million yuan to advance research on large-diameter, low-temperature resistant seamless steel pipe technology. The Iron and Steel Research Institute is a world-class R&D center in the three fields of materials, processing, and testing, while Northeastern University possesses strong capabilities in the research and development of seamless steel pipes. “At that time, there were no mature technologies available in the country to draw on, so it was necessary to make breakthroughs in the basic preliminary processes such as developing steel compositions and steelmaking techniques. ”Wang Rujun explained that, for example, improving the low-temperature impact resistance of steel pipes can be achieved by increasing the alloy content. However, too high an alloy content can affect the welding properties of the pipes; it is therefore necessary to take all performance requirements into account in order to determine an appropriate steel composition. Research and development rarely goes smoothly. It is understood that the steel composition ratio scheme initially introduced by Chengde Steel Pipes failed to achieve the expected performance during the steelmaking and product testing stages. To this end, the technical team continued to optimize the original solution until it met the performance requirements of the project. After four years of persistent effort, a technological breakthrough was finally achieved. Last March, the products developed by Chengde Steel Pipe passed expert evaluation ； In June, Chengde Steel Pipe was selected as a supplier for the Central Route Project and a supply contract was signed ； In August, Chengde Steel Pipe began supplying products, with large-diameter, low-temperature-resistant seamless steel pipes being used in the construction of the central pipeline project. The development of large-diameter, low-temperature-resistant seamless steel pipes is a vivid example of Chengde Steel Pipe’s long-term commitment to independent innovation. Since the production of the first large-diameter seamless steel pipe in 2003, the products developed by Chengde Steel Pipe have repeatedly filled gaps in the market; among them, the large-diameter seamless pipes used in ultra-ultra-critical thermal power units won the **First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress**.