CNES, which has considerable expertise in machine build and refurbishment, won the order to build the new press, which has now been witness tested by TPCO at CNES’ workshops in Scunthorpe and will shortly be delivered to China.

TPCO manufactures seamless steel pipe, used for a wide range of applications, including casing for oil well drilling, for transporting petroleum and natural gas, and for applications in the offshore, machinery, construction, electricity and aviation industries. These pipes need to be tested to International Standards (ISO 13679) to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose and can withstand the very high tension and compression forces acting on them when in use. The new test rig replicates these forces.

The press itself measures 13m(L) x 2m (H) x 2.5m (W) and weighs just over 70 tonnes. As John Backhouse, Business Development Manager Offshore & Energy at CNES states: “We had a number of technical meetings with Oil States back in 2007. We didn’t offer the cheapest solution, but we certainly gave Oil States engineers confidence that we could handle the project from a technical point of view. Our workshop facilities at Scunthorpe and our engineering expertise also helped sway the decision. There was also some very challenging machining and fabrication work to do and Oil States were happy that we could handle this.”

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