Nord Stream Pipeline - a challenging project for a pipe manufacturer

One of the most important projects for the West-European gas supply is the Nord Stream Project in the Baltic Sea. EUROPIPE was selected to deliver 75 % of the entire pipe quantity. The project touches limits in terms of manufacturing, properties and logistics. To transport 55 bcm/a from Vyborg, Russia to Lubmin close to Greifswald, Germany the 1,220 km pipeline is designed with 1200 mm (48") diameter and 26.8 mm to 41.0 mm wall thickness with two strings. Base technical rules are DNV with fracture arrest properties (F) and high dimensional requirements (D). EUROPIPE manufactures its share of these high quality pipes for both strings with 50 km lots per month within about 3½ years. After qualification in the plate mills and in the Mülheim pipe mill the pipe production commenced March 2008 with 30.9 mm wall thickness. The logistic chain was prepared for consuming about 4000 t of plate per day. A comprehensive testing programme accompanied the production that required great efforts in management of specimens for in time release. High requirements to mechanical properties resulted in a special selection of pre-material. High geometrical requirements forced EUROPIPE to optimise the entire forming processes further. A special rough coating was developed to support adhesion of concrete weight coating on the pipes having sufficient corrosion resistance to protect the pipe. Logistics had to take care for rail transport with up to 3 trains per day allocating a sufficient quantity of rail wagons at the Mülheim mill. Crane capacities had to be set for loading pipes to the wagons from the stock area. This paper presents the project, the results from the 2008 production runs and how EUROPIPE copes with the challenging requirements about production and logistics. The presentation shows similarities and differences between the Nord Stream project in the Baltic Sea and the Langeled project in the North Sea.