Steel pipe is a hollow, circular piece of metal that’s usually used to carry gas or liquid from one place to another. It’s the most common item produced by the steel industry and is used in a wide variety of applications, from underground transport of oil and gas to water and sewage systems. It’s also a popular material for bike frames, flagpoles, and street lamps because of its strong strength-to-weight ratio.

Steel pipe  are categorized by type of material, purpose, and production method. By material, they can be divided into carbon steel pipe, alloy steel pipe and stainless steel pipe; by purpose, they can be classified into transmission pipe, engineering structure, thermal equipment, petrochemical industry, machinery manufacturing, geological drilling and high-pressure equipment, etc. By production method, they can be classified into seamless pipe and welded pipe.

Exploring the Different Applications of Steel Pipes: Construction, Oil & Gas, and More

Welded steel pipe includes ERW, SSAW and DSAW pipe, which are manufactured by welding process. These types of steel pipe are made to API 5L specifications and account for 10% of all tubular goods. Line pipe, which is used in oil and gas applications, is made by ERW or Seamless manufacturing methods and accounts for 35% of all tubular products.

A continuous rolled blank, which is also called a bloom or slab, is converted into billets by putting it through more rolling devices to make it longer and narrower. It’s then cut by machines that are synchronized to race along the bloom and cut it into uniform shapes without stopping the manufacturing process. The resulting pieces are stacked to be welded into steel pipes.