Steel Tubes 

Steel Tubes Manufacturer, Supplier and Exporter in India

Solitaire Overseas is a manufacturer, supplier and exporter of steel tubes based in Mumbai, India. We supply seamless and welded tubes across stainless steel, carbon steel, alloy steel, nickel alloys, Inconel, Monel, Hastelloy, cupro-nickel, titanium, tantalum, zirconium and brass, for the heat exchanger, boiler, instrumentation and structural applications used by process plants, refineries and fabricators.

Every grade below links to its own specification page. Send your requirement with the grade, size, wall thickness and quantity through the contact form, and we will come back with availability and pricing.

What Is a Steel Tube?

A steel tube is a hollow, cylindrical (or square/rectangular) section specified by its actual outside diameter (OD) and wall thickness, rather than by a nominal size and schedule. Because the OD and wall are held to tighter dimensional tolerances than pipe, tube is the product of choice wherever the outer dimension itself has to fit precisely into a tubesheet, a fitting, a bend, or a piece of equipment rather than simply carrying a given volume of fluid. 

Tube is used in four broad ways:

• Heat transfer: heat exchanger, condenser and boiler tube, where wall thickness and OD are matched to the tubesheet and to the required thermal performance.
• Instrumentation: small-bore tubing for pressure, sampling and control lines, where a precise OD is needed for compression and flare fittings.
• Structural: round, square and rectangular sections used in framing, supports and fabricated structures.
• Mechanical: tube machined or formed into components, ordered to a customer's own dimensions rather than a standard size table.

Tube can be seamless or welded, and is joined by welding, brazing or mechanical methods such as flaring and compression fittings, rather than the threaded or flanged joints typically used on pipe. 

Tube and pipe are often used interchangeably in conversation, but a pipe is called out by Nominal Pipe Size (NPS) or Nominal Bore (DN) together with a schedule that fixes the wall thickness, with the bore as the controlling dimension. See our comparison of a pipe and a tube for a fuller explanation, or view our range of steel pipes if that is what your specification requires. 

Seamless and Welded Steel Tubes

Seamless Tubes

Seamless tube is drawn from a solid billet with no longitudinal joint, so the wall carries uniform properties around the full circumference. It is specified wherever pressure rating, cyclic loading or an aggressive medium leaves no margin for a weld line to fail — boiler, heat exchanger and high-pressure process duty in particular. See our guide to steel seamless pipes for the selection logic, which applies equally to tube.

Welded Tubes

Welded tube is formed by rolling strip to shape and joining the edges by welding. It typically holds tighter dimensional tolerances than hot-finished seamless tube and is more economical at volume and in larger sizes. Our comparison of ERW, DOM and seamless tube explains where each route is the better fit for a given duty.

Tube Sizing: Outside Diameter and Wall Thickness 

Ranges vary by grade and by mill, so send the exact OD, wall thickness, length and end preparation with your enquiry and we will confirm what can be supplied against it. If you need to estimate shipment weight, see our steel weight formula.

Applications of Steel Tubes

Steel tubes are specified across process, power and construction sectors, and the grade that suits one duty is often wrong for another:

• Oil and gas, petrochemical and refining: process and instrumentation tubing, with corrosion-resistant grades in sour and offshore service.
• Power generation: boiler, superheater and heat exchanger tubing, including IBR tube for regulated boiler installations.
• Chemical, fertiliser and pharmaceutical processing: stainless and nickel alloy tube in corrosive and hygienic circuits.
• Desalination and water treatment: cupro-nickel and titanium tube, chosen for chloride and biofouling resistance.
• Pulp and paper, sugar and distillery: stainless heat exchanger and condenser tube across liquor and evaporator duty.
• Shipbuilding and marine, and general engineering and construction: structural and mechanical tube in carbon, alloy and stainless grades.

Our heat exchanger and condenser tubes and boiler tubes pages cover these applications in more depth.

Choosing the Right Tube Material

Material selection is driven by the properties the service demands:

• Corrosion and chemical resistance: usually the biggest single factor in price; over-specifying a nickel alloy where stainless would do adds significant cost.
• Ductility and malleability: govern how easily tube can be formed or bent to route, which matters for U-bend and coiled applications.
• Hardness: an advantage in high-pressure systems, a disadvantage in machining and fabrication time.
• Elasticity: allows tubing to absorb thermal expansion and contraction in service.
• Thermal conductivity: maximised in heat exchanger tube, minimised where heat transfer must be prevented.

Share the medium, operating temperature, design pressure and any chloride or acid exposure with your enquiry, and we can help match the grade to the duty.