The Environmental Benefits of Repurposing Tubular Steel from Pipe Mill Secondary and Oil Field Surplus-PPT Presentation

PPT Presentation

Pdf Summary

The presentation reports a life cycle assessment (LCA) of repurposed tubular steel—downgraded pipe-mill stock and unused oil-field surplus—used for driven pipe piles. The study aimed to quantify environmental impacts and provide verified data for construction-industry greenhouse-gas reporting.<br /><br />Conducted under ISO standards, the LCA assessed impacts from raw materials through installation (stages A1–A5), using 2022 operational data. Its functional unit was one tonne of repurposed welded steel tubular, represented by a 9⅝-inch pipe with a 0.352-inch wall. Because the pipe was treated as a production co-product rather than burden-free waste, it received 13.2% of the raw-material carbon burden, based on its market value relative to new steel.<br /><br />The assessment found emissions of 455 kg CO₂e per tonne for stages A1–A3 and 694 kg CO₂e through installation. Raw materials accounted for 50% of cradle-to-install emissions, delivery to site 31%, and inbound transport 15%. The resulting Environmental Product Declaration was independently verified and published in April 2024.<br /><br />Comparisons with new-mill tubular steel indicated A1–A3 savings of 77%–83% per tonne. Across the full cradle-to-install stages, the presentation reports savings of 68%–75%. A battery-plant foundation project using 1,114 tons of repurposed pipe was estimated to avoid 2,132 tonnes of CO₂e compared with new prime-mill steel.<br /><br />The presentation concludes that repurposing tubular steel can substantially reduce emissions and support a more circular construction economy. It recommends extending LCA and EPD work to manufactured pile products, including micropiles, helical piles, pile caps, and splices.

Keywords

life cycle assessment

LCA

repurposed tubular steel

driven pipe piles

environmental product declaration

EPD

greenhouse gas reporting

ISO standards

carbon emissions

circular construction economy