Lincoln Electric Fcaw G Users Manual Success Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline

FCAW-G to the manual 91ff02bd-cb41-4199-8872-24f9374b41d1

2015-02-09

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SUCCESS
W E L D I N G

C O N S U M A B L E S

Flux-Cored (FCAW-G) Welding
Welding on Pipe

Cheyenne Plains Pipeline

Contractor U.S. Pipeline
turned to new Lincoln Electric
Pipeliner® G80M gas-shielded
flux-cored wire to weld the
pipe tie-ins for the 380-mile
Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline
project, which used X-80
grade pipe.

D

-CHALLENGE-

The Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline
project was the first major pipeline in
the U.S. to use high strength X-80
grade pipe. The contractor, U.S.
Pipeline, was looking for ways to
increase productivity while still creating
high quality welds that could pass
radiographic inspection.

-SOLUTION-

Lincoln Electric Pipeliner® G80M
gas-shielded flux-cored wire for
use on the pipe tie-ins at connection
points and railroad crossings near
populated areas.

uring the summer and fall of
2004, the plains of the west
were busy with the hustle and
bustle of cranes, trucks, heavy equipment and supplies to lay pipe for the
Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Project.
The 380-mile, 36-inch natural gas
pipeline runs from the Cheyenne hub
in Colorado to existing pipelines near
Greensburg, Kan. Once operational in
early 2005, the pipeline will export
560 million cubic feet of natural gas
per day from Wyoming to growing
markets in the mid-continental U.S.
and further east.
The $425 million pipeline, owned by
El Paso Corporation, was being constructed in three spreads which were
connected in the final phase of the
project. Spread one was contracted to
Associated Pipelines while spreads
two and three were handled by U.S.
Pipeline, Inc.
The Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline
Project was the first major pipeline in
the U.S.

to use X-80 grade pipe. Already a
standard in other parts of the world,
the X-80 pipe provides higher strength
with a thinner wall.
As on any pipeline project, welding
plays a critical role in the construction
process. But what made this project
unique was the extensive use of wire
welding to provide high productivity. A
new consumable from the Lincoln
Electric Company, the Pipeliner® G80M
gas-shielded flux-cored wire, was
selected by the evaluation team at
U.S. Pipeline, Inc. for use on the pipe
tie-ins at connection points and road
crossings near populated areas. These
welds, completed manually by independent pipeline contractors, connect
the mainline pipe to the thicker walled
pipe of the tie-ins.
For the mainline pipe, a CRC-Evans®
automated welding system was used
in combination with Lincoln’s premium
SuperArc® L-56 copper coated gas
metal arc wire.

- R E S U LT S -

Using a wire process yielded results
that were three to five times faster
than the stick welding typically used
for pipeline welding. The Pipeliner
G80M provided high quality and
flawless operation with its smooth
arc and low spatter levels.

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MC05-114 7/05

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C O N S U M A B L E S

SUCCESS

Flux-Cored (FCAW-G) Welding

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Cheyenne Plains Pipeline

Welding on Pipe

and then lowered it into the trench.
Finally, the construction crews at the
rear were responsible for conducting
hydrostatic pressure testing, backfilling
the trench and restoring the land as
close as possible to its original condition.
Welding Connection Points and
Road Crossings
After a lengthy process of evaluating
solid and flux-cored electrodes for the
job, U.S. Pipeline, Inc. selected a .045inch diameter Pipeliner G80M wire as
the consumable of choice for the
vertical up welding of the pipe tie-in fill
and cap passes. The Cheyenne Plains
Pipeline Project marked the first time
this new consumable was used in the
field and for many of the pipeline contractors, it was also the first time they
had made the switch from a traditional
Stick process to complete the tie-ins for
the job.
“We chose the Lincoln Pipeliner
G80M wire for this project for a
number of reasons. First, it met
the mechanical requirements of
the job and also offered a
crisper arc,” said Bratcher.
“In addition, we felt that the
Lincoln product flowed better
and was more suitable for
outdoor use.”

An Overview of the Pipe
Installation Process

“We chose the Lincoln Pipeliner G80M
wire for this project for a number of
reasons. First, it met the mechanical
requirements of the job and also offered
a crisper arc,” said Dana Bratcher,
Welding Foreman, U.S. Pipeline, Inc. “In
addition, we felt that the Lincoln product
flowed better and was more durable for
outdoor use. We also were attracted to
the fact that the pipe supplied from the
manufacturer was welded using a
Lincoln consumable.”

More than 140,000 tons of pipe and
25,000 individual sections were used to
complete this project. Each section of
pipe is 78-feet long and per industry
standards, was buried at least 30 inches
below the ground through a trenching
process.

This electrode, specifically designed
for pipeline welding, is easier for the
operator to use and provides a
smooth arc, lower spatter levels
and less frequent
clogging of gun nozzles when
compared to other flux-cored wire
electrodes.

Much like an assembly line where each
worker is responsible for a certain portion of the job, construction crews in
each spread followed after each other
along the length of the pipe to complete
specialized tasks. Crews at the front
staked the area and prepared the rightof-way. Those following behind aligned
the pipe, welded and inspected the pipe

All tie-in welds were performed
manually because of the specialized skills needed to handle fit-up
issues between the thinner mainline pipe and thicker tie-ins. Each
manual welding team consists of
two welders, one on each side of
the pipe performing one-half of
the welding pass – root, hot, fill

and cap. Each welder also had an
assistant who performed tasks such as
preheating the joints, setting the clamp
to align the two lengths of pipe, setting
up the welding equipment and completing the finish wire brushing on the joint.
Every tie-in weld was inspected with a
radiographic process and throughout
the job the weld quality had been excellent. “We had a low repair rate with the
Lincoln wire. It was consistent and
worked wonderfully,” noted Bratcher.
“Our welding operators liked the fact
that they were able to see how the
puddle flowed.”
The use of Pipeliner G80M wire to weld
the spiral seam pipe’s fill and cap passes provided significantly increased
productivity and high quality welds.
“The wire is about three to five times
faster than stick welding,” said Ray
Edwards, an independent pipeline
welder from the Pipeliners Union 798
and one of the welders on Spread Two
of the project. “The same length of weld
bead that would take up to five minutes
with stick welding is now taking me
about one minute.”
In addition, Lincoln’s Shield-Arc 70+
stick electrode was used to complete
the tack welds and vertical down root
pass on these tie-ins. This rod was chosen for its ability to accomplish the outof-position welding required for this job.

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SUCCESS

Flux-Cored (FCAW-G) Welding
Welding on Pipe

Cheyenne Plains Pipeline

On-Site Support and Equipment

Thomas also described how once the
G80M product was selected, Lincoln
representatives qualified the procedures
for the wire and were close at hand to
answer questions and provide technical
assistance as U.S. Pipeline qualified their
operators.

For the pipe tie-in welding, Lincoln fully
supported the welding efforts from the
initial qualifying of the consumables to
on-site assistance to ensure the independent contractors weren’t subject to
any downtime.

“Every tie-in weld was
inspected with a radiographic
process and throughout
the job the weld quality had
been excellent.”

According to Dave Thomas, District
Manager in Lincoln’s Tulsa Office, he
and representatives from the Cleveland
headquarters were present while the
Pipeliner G80M consumable was being
tested for the job against competitive
consumables. “We watched as U.S.
Pipeline officials welded with each of
the consumables. The Pipeliner wire
product was much more proficient in
operator appeal and also created a better looking weld. In addition, it also
came out on top after destructive tests
on the plate in the lab,” said Thomas.

During initial start-up of the job in the
field, Lincoln representatives were at the
site three to four days per week, and at
least one day a week on an ongoing
basis throughout the project’s duration.
“The Lincoln consumables ran flawlessly
on the job with great operator appeal

“The wire is about three
to five times faster than stick
welding,” said Edwards.
“The same length of weld
bead that would take up to
five minutes with stick
welding is now taking me
about one minute.”

and ease of use,” commented Steve
Duren, Technical Sales Representative
from Lincoln Electric’s Denver office.
“The only issues we addressed with
consumables were questions about
techniques and proper drag and push

3/4

angles. On a project of this magnitude,
having so few issues was exceptionally
good.”
David Fullen, Lincoln Electric Denver
District Manager echoed these same
words about the Pipeliner G80M electrode. “For many of the welding operators on the job, this was one of the first
times they had wire welded. What’s
remarkable is that they adapted so well
and never had any complaints with the
wire. The integration of the wire welding
has gone smoothly and the job finished
ahead of schedule. Most of our time
spent on the job site was addressing
equipment issues.”
Although a competitive
brand of welding equipment
was specified for the job,
its alarming failure rate and
resulting downtime prompted
Lincoln to step in and
provide equipment.“We
received an urgent call
about equipment when the
contractors were struggling
with the competitive wire
feeders. We were able to
answer the call and overnight
equipment to the field,”
said Fullen. “We sent Lincoln
LN-15 wire feeders with
accompanying Magnum
welding guns to the job
which remedied the situation.
We also spent time on site
providing technical assistance, setting up the equipment and
installing wire feed CV modules. We
were dedicated to keeping the customer
up and running.”
“Throughout this project I received
great service from Lincoln,” explained
Bratcher. “With a phone call, I would
have what I needed either hand delivered or on site the next day.”
For this project, Lincoln Electric
partnered with distributor Airgas
Intermountain to supply select consumables and equipment to the site as well
as an 85 percent/15 percent argon
blend shielding gas. According to

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Cheyenne Plains Pipeline

Welding on Pipe
Mark Duncan, General Manager-East for
Airgas Intermountain, Airgas provided
additional on-site support to augment
Lincoln’s efforts. “We have a strong
relationship with the Lincoln Denver
office and worked as a team. I couldn’t
have asked for better support from
them,” said Duncan. “I also tip my hat to
our field person, Tom McClelland, who
did a fantastic job providing technical
assistance, process help and service for
the equipment when necessary.”

tractors, and ultimately
the pipeline owner, were
satisfied with the overall
quality of the welding
and productivity
achieved, thanks in part
to the Lincoln electrode
selected.”

Welding Pipe Mainline
For welding the mainline pipe of the
Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline, Lincoln
consumables also played a prominent
role. A CRC-Evans® automated pipe
welding system was utilized to automatically weld the circumference of the
pipe using a gas metal arc process
for high productivity.
The system was used in combination
with Lincoln’s premium SuperArc® L-56
copper-coated gas metal arc wire for
welding the pipe’s outside diameter,
consisting of hot, fill and split cap passes.
This .040-inch diameter wire, provided
specifically for this project, offers superior

feedability and excellent arc characteristics, a result of Lincoln’s manufacturing
which uses a strictly controlled chemistry
process. All mainline welds are inspected
using automatic ultrasonic tests.
“From a business perspective, it was a
good decision for us to work with a
domestic consumable supplier such as
Lincoln Electric,” said Brian Laing,
President of CRC-Evans. “From a technical standpoint, the mechanical property
requirements for the project were easily
met by the SuperArc L-56 wire. Our
direct customers, the construction con-

According to Peter
Nicholson, Manager of
Pipeline Products at
The Lincoln Electric
Company, providing
consumables for the
Cheyenne Plains Gas
Pipeline required a coordinated effort
between many Lincoln entities including
its International Division, the Cleveland
headquarters, and Lincoln’s Houston district office.
“Six months prior to the start of pipeline
construction, consumables were tested
in the Houston office to ensure the weld
procedures with the consumable complied with the strict industry standards
for this job. Lincoln engineers worked
closely with CRC-Evans personnel to
ensure the right consumable for the
job was selected,” said Nicholson.

Featured Lincoln Products

Pipeliner G80M is designed to deliver high deposition rates
for low hydrogen semiautomatic fill and cap pass welding of
high strength pipe up to X80.

LN-15 Semiautomatic Wire Feeder
The LN-15 is one of the smallest and most maneuverable
wire feeders for the construction, shipbuilding and pipeline
industries available on the market today. Through the use of a
high temperature, abrasion resistant plastic case, aluminum
alloy roll cage and fully encapsulated PC boards, the LN-15 is
perhaps the most rugged, portable wire feeder in the world.
The LN-15 is available in both Across-The-Arc and Control
Cable versions. Both offer outstanding welding performance,
including pulse welding, on a wide variety of steel, stainless
steel, aluminum and alloy materials.

AWS Class:
E71T-1MJH8
& E71T-9MJH8

ADVANTAGES
• Smooth, spray type arc transfer and low spatter level.
• Slag system provides excellent puddle support, good
wetting and good bead shape in all positions.
• Manufactured to actual lot control. Actual certificates of
conformance are available upon request.

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Keywords                        : "pipe welding, wire welding, Pipeliner G80M, gas-shielded, flux-cored welding"
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Title                           : Success - Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline
Description                     : Contractor U.S. Pipeline turned to new Lincoln Electric Pipeliner® G80M gas-shielded flux-cored wire to weld the pipe tie-ins for the 380-mile Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline project, which used X-80 grade pipe.
Subject                         : pipe welding, wire welding, Pipeliner G80M, gas-shielded, flux-cored welding
Page Count                      : 4
Creator                         : ApogeeX Result Export Task Processor
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