Recently, good news came from the East African Crude Oil Export Pipeline Project. The self-developed pipe bender of KINGWORK IMPORT AND EXPORT (SUZHOU) CO., LTD. has successfully completed the bending task of 20 insulated steel pipes in the Tanzania section of the project, winning high recognition from the project owner TotalEnergies and breaking the long-term monopoly of overseas equipment in this field. This is another important breakthrough for domestic pipe bending equipment to enter the international high-end market.
The East African Crude Oil Export Pipeline Project is an important energy cooperation project under the “Belt and Road” initiative, with a total length of 1,443 kilometers. It is the world’s longest electrically heated crude oil pipeline. The project passes through ecologically sensitive areas with complex terrain and more than 40% of the year is rainy season, which puts forward extremely high requirements on the environmental adaptability and processing accuracy of pipe bending equipment. Previously, the core technology of such pipe bending equipment was monopolized by European and American countries, and the construction initiative was restricted.
Aiming at the special working conditions of the overseas project, Kingwork’s R&D team spent 18 months iterating three generations of prototypes, successfully developing a special pipe bender that can adapt to complex outdoor environments. The equipment can complete installation and commissioning by only 2 staff in 2 days, with strong environmental adaptability. It adopts independent blind operation and zero external support technology, which can realize zero damage to the inner wall of the pipe and qualified detection of accompanying heat pipes, and all key technical indicators have reached the international advanced level.
The outstanding performance of Kingwork’s self-developed pipe bender in overseas projects has not only demonstrated the strong R&D strength of domestic pipe bending equipment, but also laid a solid foundation for the localization of high-end pipe bending equipment and its entry into the international market. At present, the equipment has passed the EU CE certification and has been exported to more than 10 countries and regions including Tanzania, Kenya and Indonesia.