Current Development Status of Titanium Welded Pipe

Current Development Status of Titanium Welded Pipes in China

1. Development Course

The development of titanium welded pipes in China started relatively late and developed slowly in the early stage. In the early days, the production technology was mastered by professional manufacturers in countries such as Japan and the United States. Although China introduced a complete automatic production line for small-diameter titanium welded pipes, due to the reliance on imported titanium coil strips as raw materials, high prices of imported materials, and the inability to provide strip blanks for thin-walled titanium welded pipes, coupled with difficulties in digesting imported technologies and purchasing raw materials, China did not possess the capacity for mass production, and a real market for titanium welded pipes had not been formed at that time.

In the past decade, the titanium welded pipe industry in China has witnessed rapid development, mainly thanks to breakthroughs in the production technology of titanium coil strips. Since 2008, multiple titanium welded pipe production lines have been successively built in China. The expansion of production capacity has intensified competition among titanium welded pipe enterprises. The application fields of titanium welded pipes have been continuously expanded, and the products have also achieved mass exports.

2. Comprehensive Advantages

Mechanical Properties: Compared with titanium seamless pipes, there are few differences in aspects such as chemical composition, mechanical properties, and process performance between titanium welded pipes and titanium seamless pipes. With the progress of welding and heat treatment technologies, domestic thin-walled titanium welded pipes generally adopt single-gun or multi-gun TIG/PAW autogenous welding and online heat treatment processes, which make the weld microstructure uniform, and the composition, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance of the weld are basically the same as those of the base metal.

Appearance and Quality: Titanium welded pipes are welded from cold-rolled coil strips, with uniform wall thickness, good concentricity, good smoothness, and are less prone to fouling inside the pipes. In terms of thin-walled titanium pipes, titanium welded pipes have obvious advantages. It is very difficult for titanium seamless pipes to produce pipes with a wall thickness below 1 mm, while titanium welded pipes can achieve a wall thickness of 0.5 mm and below, saving a lot of materials and costs and obtaining a higher heat transfer coefficient.

Cost and Environmental Protection Advantages: 

The production process of titanium seamless pipes is complex, with low production efficiency and yield. There is a large waste of materials, and the yield is only about 50%. It is impossible to carry out large-scale production, and the production cycle is relatively long. Titanium welded pipes are produced through an automated production line, with a high material utilization rate. When titanium coil strips are used as raw materials, the material utilization rate is above 95%. With the rapid development of the domestic titanium industry and the increasingly mature welding technology, the production efficiency of titanium welded pipes will be greatly improved, with higher quality stability, consistency, and production efficiency. They can be cut into required lengths according to customer requirements, have a short delivery period, and a lower unit cost than seamless pipes. The production process of titanium seamless pipes will use a large amount of rolling oil, drawing oil, etc., resulting in serious pollution at the production site. After rolling and drawing processing of titanium pipes, it is necessary to degrease and pickle the grease and dirt on the inner and outer surfaces of the pipes, and the pickling process has a great impact on the environment. In order to ensure the health of operators and protect the environment, it is necessary to increase protective equipment and protective measures, thus increasing capital investment and corresponding product production costs. Titanium welded pipes are produced in large quantities continuously through an automated production line, with stable quality and high production efficiency. Except for certain consumption of water, electricity, and other energy, they hardly cause pollution to the environment. With a deeper understanding of titanium welded pipes, their use in the petrochemical industry will be recognized by the market, and their application range and market share will continue to expand. Although the investment cost of titanium welded pipes is higher compared with commonly used fluid transmission pipelines, it is lower than that of titanium seamless pipes. Analyzing from the service life and maintenance cycle of titanium welded pipes, the investment cost of titanium welded pipes can be compensated during use. The use of titanium welded pipes in pipeline systems can reduce production costs by reducing the frequency of regular maintenance, reducing downtime, improving product quality, and increasing the service life of pipelines. Especially in recent years, the global titanium industry has not been very prosperous, and the competition has been extremely fierce. The price of titanium welded pipes has been at a relatively low level, and enterprises in the petrochemical industry can have a lower upfront equipment investment cost when choosing titanium welded pipes.