OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2011. JFE Steel Corporation announced today it will manufacture and sell seamless specialty pipe measuring 18 inches or more in outer diameter (OD) and 30mm or less in wall thickness, aiming to capitalize on the increasing use of large OD, thin-wall seamless specialty pipes for steam- and gas-turbine combined-cycle power plants and petroleum refineries.

JFE Steel Chita Works in Japan will produce seamless pipes (mother pipes) measuring16 inches (406.4mm), which it will enhance with chromium for extra high-heat resistance. The pipes then will be outsourced to SungKwang Bend Co., Ltd. in Busan, South Korea for expansion and heat treatment. Large OD, thin-wall seamless pipes measuring 18 to 30 inches will be imported back into Japan and inspected by Chita Works before final shipment.

Busan-based SungKwang Bend (KDQ: 014620) was founded in 1980 and had sales totaling 258 billion Korean won in 2010.

Seamless pipes for transporting mainly steam and oil under high temperature and high pressure are used for connections between boilers and steam turbines in power plants and transportation of distilling oil in refineries. Pipes with larger diameters help to raise operational efficiency in all facilities, while thinner walls enabled through the use of an alloy for extra hardness help to reduce construction costs in refineries and lower weight loads in power plants.

Steam- and gas-turbine combined-cycle power plants, which offer superior energy-conversion efficiency and CO2 emission reduction, are being built to meet the growing needs for electric power worldwide. Lighter pipes are increasingly being used in such facilities for main steam piping, connecting piping and header pipe.