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Natural gas and crude oil, travel worldwide through underground and undersea pipe lines
This record pipes are manufactured in straight lengths But ofcourse the pipe route never runs on a straight line
So every turner change in elevation requires a piece of pipe that's bent
This factory specializes in bending steel pipe which is manufactured in straight length
A piece of pipe is typically 12m long weighs up to 20tons
So workers use cranes to move it from one operation to the next
The first stop is a blasting machine that cleans the pipe
To heat and bend properly, the surface must be clean and uniform But pipes usually arrives in the plant dirty
And wearing a coat of varnish to prevent rusting during transport and storage
The blasting machine shoots grains of steel at high pressure for about an hour
The pipe exits with its surface now clean and smooth
From the blaster its on the bender, to heat the pipe to about 1000 degrees celsius, then makes the bend
A technician installs the induction heating coilInduction heating allows greater temp control which is the key to preserving the quality of the steel
The coil doesn't actually touch the pipe, because that would cause a short circuit
Next, they clamp a pipetting arm to one end of the pipe then power up the coil
This generates a magnetic field that produces intense heat Cold water jets confine it to the target area
As the technician monitors and measures, the arms pulls the pipe through the heating coil at a specific speed
Curving the softened steel to the same angle
Water cools the pipe at a controlled rateA process called quenching
They must control heating and cooling preciselyOtherwise, the steel will weaken
Once the pipe exits the bender, workers verify the angles again
They also verify th pipes dimension,to make sure that the bending process do not distort them
Now they cut off the straight ends leaving just the curve portion
Next the pipe go into a furnace for tempering A 10-hour reheating and cooling cycle
This reliefs stress in the steel that bending created
After tempering, pipes design to go under water go through a second quenching
This gives the steel the right properties,to withstand deep sea water pressure
Then, using an ultrasonic gauge workers measure the thickness of the pipe walls which changes with bending
After another trip through a blast cleaner, workers supply a liquid that highlights even the most minute surface cracks that bending can induced
If they find cracks, they scrap the pipe
But defects are rare, because the factory first perform test bends on sample pieces of pipeThen subjects those samples to a battery of tests
The lab measures dimensions and wall thickness, then test how much weight can sample support before collapsing
And how much streching it can stand before snapping
Back on the factory floor the pipe goes through another blasting
Then workers heat it and spray a protective coating that prevents corrosionIt melts to the hot plate
Once the pipe cools they stamp along technical specifications
Then this pipe bends go off to join with their straight counterparts