Objective
Demonstrate to the oil and gas companies that the ultra fast laser orbital welding technique complies fully with existing standards relating to transport of sweet and/or sour oil and gas products.
The feasability study proved :
1. that orbital laser welding was possible with or without filler metal in the case of 12", X52 steel pipe;
2. that a prototype of a laser welding robot to be installed on a pipeline laying barge, giving an evenly distributed laser beam around the pipe, could be designed and built.
The project is now to demonstrate that this welding process can be performed on a barge in field conditions and achieved within the different metallurgical requirements set by the oil and gas operators.
Demonstration in-situ will be conducted in parallel with metallurgical experiments (match of different types of steel and filler metal). This will speed up the project significantly and in case of success enable the technology to reach market stage much earlier.
S-lay and J-lay techniques will be covered. The result will be the demonstration that offshore pipelines can be laser welded. This would be of great consequence as it would significantly contribute to the reduction of the development costs of offshore oil and gas transportation networks for both standard and deep water depth.
Results of specific targets of the project are not yet available due to the present project state of advancement : experimentation stage is just begining. However the results related to the preparation work stage may be commented :
- BOS Laser orbital welding technology and welding equipment were transfered to the other partners. That was reviewed and basically tested by Laser Technological Center Specialist : no major problem was encountered.
- The scope of bibliographic study was detailed in the following areas :
* status of actual welding techniques applied with laser process
* metallurgy of welded metal
* pipe weld girth manufacturing conditions
* characterisation of tougthness properties of laser weld
* patents.
The laser beam welding is a fusion bond welding process using the high power density of a focused laser beam. The main advantages are a large penetration capability associated with a high welding speed. The welds produced have thin transverse dimension, that require welding equipment with special accuracy. The welding process can be done without filler metal (autogenous welding) or with filler metal.
Laser welding is now a common technology in the automobile industries. The technology that is already used is though very specific and limited to flat autogenous welding. There is indeed no industrial orbital laser welding (laser welding in all position : horizontal, down-hill, over-head and up-hill), nor welding with filler material (another material is added while welding to form the fusion joint, thus modifying the mechanical properties of the joint for instance). In the preliminary feasability phases of the present project, both these technologies were successfully developed on a prototype robot, thus significantly widening the potential technical applications of laser welding. A prototype of laser welding robot was designed and built in order to be installed on a pipelaying-barge for demonstration.
The main advantage linked to the use of this technology is the welding speed obtained without any concession as regards quality, health and safety, and without requiring a new type of pipe-laying barge.
A such self contained welding equipment can be used on any kind of existing barge.
The innovative parts of this project focuse on the development of autogenous and filler metal orbital laser welding which has never been implemented in the pipeline industry, and the development of an appropriate offshore laser welding equipment. this equipment will be used for demonstration of feasability at the end of the project.
The economy of the project is mainly situated in the increase of pipe-laying speed which is realized by expensive floating supports and by reducing the n
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringmetallurgy
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics
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Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
DEM - Demonstration contractsCoordinator
78180 Montigny Le Bretonneux
France