A Brief History of Steel Piping Systems

Mar. 07, 2024

In this day and age, we rely on piping systems for a variety of matters, with some being perhaps more crucial than others. Without piping systems, as well as the pipe fittings that sustain them, we would not have fuel. The United States relies on them to transport both natural gas and liquid petroleum. Therefore, as long as we remain reliant on these fuel systems, so too will we remain reliant on piping systems.

But what is the history behind these pipes? When did we begin to use equipment like carbon steel pipe fittings, for example? This complex system may actually date back further than you even realize. With that in mind, let’s explore the history of the pipes that we depend on.

The Beginnings of Pipelines

Far before we used the carbon steel pipe fittings that we are used to today, there were actually hydrocarbon pipelines in existence. They in fact date back to China in 500 BC and were crafted of bamboo. China was a massive empire, and it was important that fuel was readily available even in its early days. Long before the United States was even a nation, China was already using natural gas and oil to supply its country with energy. Although there is no record of exactly when China began using natural gas, we know that the local people of Szechuan were already digging into the earth get natural gas and brine before 400 BC.

By the first century BC, their technology had advanced considerably. At that point, the Chinese empire had workers digging as much as 800 feet underground and by 1090 scholars were writing about the future uses of oil. Shen Kua predicted that oil and natural gas would both become widely used for energy. At the time, China often used oil for weapons, medicine, lubricants, ink, and lighting. But it was understood by some that eventually the rest of the world would understand the value of oil and natural gas and expand those uses over time, as did eventually happen.

Early Steel Pipes

Shen Kua was obviously correct, and eventually there became a greater demand not only for oil and natural gas, but the pipes that could transport them. In fact, the first methods for producing steel pipes were introduced in the early nineteenth century. William Murdock created a coal burning lamp system, and subsequently joined together long barrels of discarded muskets in order to transport the coal gas. As his light system gradually became more popular and successful, the demand for steel pipelines also grew and the systems became more refined.

In 1824, James Russell patented his method for creating steel tubes that would work as pipes. This method involved joining the tubes together against a flat metal strip. The metal would then be heated until it was malleable, and the edges would be folded together and welded using a drop hammer. The pipe would then be finished by passing it through a groove and rolling mill. However, this method was eventually replaced by that of Cornelius Whitehouse. With this method, a model for current pipe-making processes, the thin sheets of iron were heated and drawn through a cone-shaped opening. They then would curl at the edges and create pipe shapes. The other two ends were then welded together to finish the pipe. Over time, not only these pipes but forged steel fittings like carbon steel pipe fittings would become more widely produced.

The Production of Pipes Today

Today these pipes are obviously mass produced, with the world production of pipes reaching 78.45 million tons by 2004. Fitting distributors furthermore create and sell fittings to correspond with different pipes, suiting the individualized needs of customers. Therefore, carbon steel pipe fittings can be made to satisfy a range of different requirements, ultimately providing a more precise output.

Although natural gas and petroleum may not be our primary fuel sources forever, we rely upon them now. Furthermore, the fuel that replaces them will likely still require piping systems for transportation. Therefore, these systems are here to stay for the long term. It’s important to understand how they work and how far they’ve come.

We can find traces of steel pipes being used for various purposes in the United States as back as the early 1850s.

The original version of the now famous pipe was the one factory-made by rolling steel sheets or plates into shape and by flattening the seams. Quite decent solution for that period of time I have to admit. This way of production gradually continued with slight improvements well into the 1930s when pipe wall thickness manipulation technology allowed it to be easily varied to fit the various pressure heads of a mainstream pipeline profile.

Steel pipes have remained being widely used because they are quite durable, can bend without breaking and are pretty shock resistant making them a preferred choice for many uses.

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What is a steel pipe?

Well, first things first. Steel pipes are long, hollow tubes that can be used for a wide range of purposes. Although, technology advanced greatly since the introduction of pipes more than 150 years ago, they are generally manufactured by two distinct methods which either result in a welded or a seamless pipe.

Whatever the method used, raw steel is first cast into a more workable or let’s put it a more user-friendly starting form. It is then turned into a pipe by stretching the steel out into a seamless tube or forcing the edges and welding them together to form a sealed product.

Steel’s properties depend on several factors such as their chemical composition, processes implemented to transform the base metal into the required shape, and by the heat treatment applied. With millions of tons of steel pipe being produced each year, its versatility makes it the most often and widely used product of the steel industry.

How do we do it

Chemical composition

Steel used in construction is a mixture of iron and carbon with varying quantities of other elements—principally manganese, phosphorus, sulphur, and silicon. These and some other elements are inevitably present or deliberately added as part of the recipe in various mixtures and ratios aiming to achieve specific characteristics and properties of the finished steel products.

Casting

The traditional steel-making process is done by pouring molten steel into moulds to form castings known as ingots. These ingots are then removed from the moulds, reheated, then rolled into products with square or rectangular cross sections. This is a hot-rolling operation which extends and stretches the ingots and leads to semi-finished products known as blooms, slabs, or billets.

Heat treatment for steels

Various heat treatments can be used to cause steels to react and produce the required characteristics. These heat treatments are generally categorized into slow and rapid cooling treatments, such as (some technical terms coming up fast):

Annealing
Normalizing
Stress relieving
Quenching and tempering
Controlled rolling
Controlled finishing-temperature rolling

The evolution of steel pipes as we know them today

Thanks to Comenius Whitehouse, a gentleman who developed an improved method for making metal tubes called the butt-weld process, we have the basis for our current pipe-making magic.

Using his method, thin sheets of iron were heated and drawn through a cone-shaped opening. As the metal went through the opening, edges bent and created a pipe shape. Finally, the two ends needed to be welded together with welding electrodes to finish the pipe.

In 1888, an enhanced method got awarded a patent. It basically featured a solid billed cast around a fireproof brick core. When cooled, the brick was removed leaving nothing but a hole in the middle. Afterwards new roller techniques have replaced these methods.

Here is good video showing that method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x1uRR9Jb34

In conclusion, without these pipelines, our way of life would come to a rather unpleasant halt. They are used in many areas, from producing bicycles to gas transportation, electrical conduit and plumbing.

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