Some Facts About Bending Steel Pipe For Pipelines
History went on for years,centuries,eons before pipelines, before we knew how to bend steel pipe to form these modern freight thouroughways. Here is the story of how we reached this point, where we bend pipes and create cross-continent pipelines.
Oil pipelines are a crucial element in the petroleum industry They are also important in our daily lives. Without oil, many of things around us would not be possible. Oil plays a role in everything from plastics to solvents, transporting pretty much everything we buy and taking us almost everywhere we go. And pipelines move the oil.
Interesting Fact #1:
Before the invention of pipe bending for oil pipelines, oil was transported from oil wells to railway stations by horse in converted wooden whiskey barrels. It is because of these wooden whiskey barrels that we still measure oil by the barrel today.
The first pipeline was built from wrought iron and it spanned over 6 miles from an oil field in Titusville Pennsylvania to a railway station in Oil Creek. Colonel Edwin Drake is credited with drilling the first commercial oil well in 1859 that used this revolutionary pipeline. Soon after the pipeline business grew and the type of metal used for pipes improved from wrought iron to steel.
Oil is one of the most important materials that utilize pipelines, but it isn’t the only one. Beside fuel, such as oil and natural gas, pipelines also carry water, sewage and many other things. There are three main types of pipelines, which are ones for gathering, ones for transportation and those for distribution.
1. Gathering Pipelines
Gathering pipelines are typically a group of smaller interconnected pipes that are used to gather crude oil or natural gas from a number of different areas or wells with the purpose of sending the material to nearby processing or treatment plants. The pipes used in gathering pipelines are smaller, both in length and diameter, than the large oil pipeline that most likely comes to mind. Gathering pipelines are also used in deep-water oil platforms.
2. Transportation Pipelines
Transportation pipelines are the ones that probably first come to mind when you think or an oil pipeline. These pipelines consist of very long pipes with large diameters and are used to transport products such as crude or refined oil and natural gas long distances. Transportation pipelines can stretch between cities, countries and even continents.
3. Distribution Pipelines
Distribution pipelines are those that send the finished product, such as natural gas, directly to the consumer’s home. Pipelines that are located at shipping and storage areas that send the product to tankers and storage facilities are also considered distribution pipelines.
As you can see, all three types of pipelines are important, and the pipes in each one would require bending at many points along the way.
Pipelines have been made from just about any material imaginable, from wood and stone to plastic and metal. Oil pipelines are typically made from steel pipe while natural gas pipelines are made using carbon steel. Water pipes are typically made out of copper today, however you will still find those made from lead.
Interesting Fact #2: The Romans were the first civilization to use lead pipes to transport water. Plumbum is the Latin word for lead and one who works with water pipes is still known today as a Plumber. (The next time a plumber comes to your house – may it be a long time from now – ask him if he knows where the word “plumber” comes from.)
In order to bend pipes for pipelines a significant amount of heat and pressure is required. This is why only a major metal fabrication plant can construct them. That’s right – don’t try this at home! As the demand for more pipelines increases metal fabrication plants will have to become more economical and develop systems that produce pipelines that are also more reliable.
Resources:
To find out more about the process of bend pipes than what David Leonhardt and Corey Rozon have shared here, please visit Paramount Roll’s pipe bending website, and take a look at what they have to offer.
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