McDermott Incorporated has announced its acquisition of automatic pipeline welding equipment, technology, and related license rights from H.C. Price Company. Included were five automatic pipeline welding spreads that will be installed aboard McDermott pipelaying barges. Each of the five spreads can handle pipe ranging in size from 20-inch coating outside diameter to 62-inch coating outside diameter, and can weld and lay up to 230 joints a day. This equipment has been used to lay more than 100 miles of pipe in various countries, including the Ninian Field in the North Sea, the Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) in Louisiana, and also on pipelines for Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX).
The systems use the gas metal arc (MIG) welding process at four to six welding stations. At each station, there are four weld heads which operate simultaneously and the system uses a narrow groove weld joint design.
The acquisition provides McDermott with the flexibility to offer its customers both its own proprietary system that utilizes the tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process as well as the above gas metal arc (MIG) system.