METHOD OF MOUNTING MONOLITHIC COLUMN OF STEEL PIPES BY ORBITAL LASER WELDING AND DEVICE FOR IMPLEMENTATION THEREOF Russian patent published in 2024 - IPC E21B7/20 E21B17/00 B23K101/06 

FIELD: metallurgy.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to laser welding and cutting of steel pipes of drilling platforms, including repair of pipe sections when they are extracted from a well. Method of mounting a monolithic column of steel pipes by a system of orbital laser welding consists in the fact that mechanical contact is carried out in the end of the pipes being welded by their axial alignment, at which the lower pipe is fixed by the wellhead circumference in the drilling well and has a free end, and the upper pipe is brought to the lower pipe from above for laser welding. Before installing the upper pipe for orbital laser welding by an apparatus freely suspended on a cable at the point of passage of the axis through its centre of gravity, and to bring the upper pipe to the lower one, a template is supplied on the cable in the form of a pipe, the mounting dimensions of which are identical to the dimensions of the pipes being welded, which is equipped with a stop, when clamping the template with the upper gripper of the orbital laser welding system, the lower edge of the template is automatically fixed at the level which coincides with the required accuracy with the known level of the laser beam passage. Further, the template is brought to the end of the lower tube by means of a hydraulic cylinder of longitudinal-axial movement, behind which the system of orbital laser welding is suspended. Bottom tube is clamped by bottom gripper to centre it along template axis by bearing structure body arc connecting said grips. After that, the template is removed and the upper pipe is installed in its place until it stops from the lower one, it is fixed with the upper grip, and then orbital laser welding is performed. Process is repeated after the next lowering and fixation of the string in the wellhead circumference.

EFFECT: higher safety and efficiency, improved operational properties of the laser orbital system with more perfect adjustment of the system and maintaining high quality of the weld.

5 cl, 2 dwg