The global oil and gas industry places some of the most stringent requirements on steel to ensure the long-term safety and security of energy networks. Nowhere are these requirements higher than in the United States. That’s why Borusan Mannesmann, a leading supplier to the industry, turned to ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products when they required steel for a new pipeline project in Texas. The 1.75 billion USD project will transport up to 56 million cubic metres (1.98 billion cubic feet) of natural gas daily from the Texas oilfields to the Atlantic coast.

Strict limits and parameters met

The project called for a high-quality steel grade commonly used in the oil and gas industry, API 5L X70 PSL 2. However, the end customer requested specific changes to the steel’s chemistry to improve weldability onsite. Strict limits were also placed on the mechanical and chemical properties of the steel, and new test requirements were specified to ensure these parameters were met.

“It was one of the most stringent steel specifications we have ever received for our large diameter pipes,” says Zafer Atabey, general manager of Borusan Mannesmann. “Thanks to its expertise and strong knowhow in steel, ArcelorMittal has been always a reliable partner in our oil and gas projects, so we naturally turned to them.”

Following the steel, every step of the way

Due to the high technical specifications for the steel, the Borusan Mannesmann team were allowed to follow the production of the steel at ArcelorMittal Bremen, Germany. “ArcelorMittal’s technical team played a significant role in ensuring the quality of the steel, and they did that with great transparency and effort,” says Zafer Atabey. “Our feedback was received very positively and triggered technical cooperation and synergies between Borusan Mannesmann and ArcelorMittal. This ensured that the production and delivery of the steel concluded on time, and with required level of quality.”

Once the steel was produced, it was shipped to the Borusan Mannesmann plant at Gemlik in Turkey. There, the 15.24 mm thick steel was formed into 42’’ spirally welded pipes in one of the world’s most advanced production lines for this type of oil and gas pipe. The pipes were then coated internally and externally to the project’s high standards before being delivered to the port of Corpus Christi in the United States.

Strong and trustworthy partnership

Despite the imposition of tariffs on steel by the United States government, the contract with Borusan went ahead due to the pipeline’s strategic importance. “There is a distinct lack of local suppliers who could meet the timeline given the quality constraints and the quantity of pipes required,” says Zafer Atabey. “The project owner decided to move forward with Borusan Mannesmann, whatever the conditions.”

For Zafer Atabey, the success of this project is likely to result in further cooperation between ArcelorMittal and Borusan Mannesmann: “Working with a strong and trustworthy supplier such as ArcelorMittal is crucial because of their excellence in terms of timing and quality. ArcelorMittal met our expectations perfectly throughout the project and we will continue that success by cooperating on upcoming projects.”

About Borusan Mannesmann

Borusan Mannesmann has over 60 years of experience providing high added value products to a range of industries including energy and water transportation, construction, and engineering. The company produces both large and small pipe diameter solutions to meet customer requirements.

Thanks to the high quality of its pipes, Borusan Mannesmann is the only Turkish manufacturer of spiral pipes authorised to supply the North American oil and gas pipeline market.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communications

Photos: Borusan Mannesmann

Good news for astronomy enthusiasts: the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will be located in Chile, is currently being built with ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products’ steel plates produced in Gijón, Spain. Once in service, this powerful telescope, equipped with a 3.2-billion-pixel camera, will make a survey of the universe in 3D.

10 years studying the universe

Thanks to its dry atmosphere, Chile has become the site of choice for many astronomy observatories with 70% of the world’s astronomical infrastructure planned to be in the country by the 2020s.

This is where the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), developed by AURA (Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy), is currently under construction. The project has been funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and aims to produce the deepest, widest image of the universe night after night for 10 years.

The LSST uses a three-mirror design, which offers a wide field of view and is able to survey the entire sky in only three nights. It will deliver sharp images taken by a 3.2-billion-pixel camera, the largest digital camera ever constructed.

A robust structure made with our steel

In 2014, a Spanish consortium formed by Asturfeito and GHESA won the offer for the design, construction, and testing of the Telescope Mount Assembly.

ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products’ mill in Gijón supplied customer Asturfeito with steel plates for the construction of the telescope’s structure. Our plates in grade S355J2 + N provide the necessary toughness for an application such as this one.

The competitiveness of our offer in terms of price and technical requirements convinced Asturfeito to opt for our steel solutions. Regarding logistics, the location of our mill was an added benefit due to its proximity with the customer’s facility (also in the region of Asturias).

Coming in 2020

Asturfeito fully assembled the LSST in its production site and carried out control and performance tests in collaboration with GHESA. The telescope will be disassembled and the parts will be transported from the port of Avilés to Chile this autumn before being installed at 2600 metres of altitude in Cerro Pachón. LSST will see “first light” with a commissioning camera in August of 2020 and begin the ten-year full science survey in October of 2022.

About Asturfeito

Our client, Asturfeito, is a leading company in the engineering, manufacturing, and commissioning of capital goods with more than 20 years of experience in the scientific, nuclear, petrochemical, renewable energy, industrial, and steel industries. The company currently employs 220 people and has three production sites in Asturias: in Tabaza; in the Principality of Asturias Business Park (PEPA), very close to the port of Avilés (facilities where the skeleton of the telescope has been built); and in Silvota.

Fact & figures about the LSST

•    16 metre-diameter
•    375 tonnes
•    8.4-m mirror - the width of a singles tennis court
•    3200-megapixel camera
•    Each image the size of 40 full moons
•    37 billion stars and galaxies
•    10-year survey of the sky
•    10 million alerts, 1000 pairs of exposures
•    15 terabytes of data...every night