TPI July 2013

Corrosion prevent ion

Cladding quench valves Weld overlay cladding and fabrication specialist Arc Energy Resources has completed the coating of three large quench valves for a major offshore oil and gas installation.

well as ISO 14001:2004 environment management, Investors in People and OHSAS 18001:2007 Health & Safety management system.

Arc Energy also offers in-house test weld, heat treatment, PMI and NDT facilities.

Industry certifications include ISO 9001:2008 quality management, ISO 3834-2 fusion welding of metallic materials, and the internationally renowned ASME U and R Stamps, as

Arc Energy Resources – UK sales@arcenergy.co.uk www.arcenergy.co.uk

The directional quench valves, which weigh approximately three tonnes, were delivered to Arc Energy’s Gloucestershire, UK, facility as pre- machined body castings. In order to combat the combined erosion and corrosion attack from an aggressive medium, Arc Energy’s welding engineering team advised a 3mm thick coating of Ultimet, a cobalt-chromium alloy that combines corrosion, wear and impact resistance with high tensile strength. The complex internal geometry of the as-cast surfaces of the valve necessitated precise set up and close control of Arc Energy’s mechanised welding equipment. Some of the surfaces to be clad were not directly visible, and did not provide good accessibility. Because of the need for control of a welding head moving in three axes and in a variety of welding positions, cold wire TIG was selected from Arc Energy’s library of welding procedures and techniques, ensuring that the inner surfaces of the ball valve received a consistent, high-quality layer of weld deposit. After cladding, all surfaces were successfully tested to confirm the surface integrity and checked for thickness of deposit. Arc Energy Resources recently made a major investment in two new rotating head welding machines costing £500,000. This has increased productivity and extended the size and scope of work the company can handle, which now includes complicated component geometries for the full or partial cladding and fabrication of a wide range of component sizes weighing up to 15 tonnes. The company’s in-house designed cladding workstations feature state-of- the-art control systems developed to suit specialised engineering requirements, and can clad bores up to 4m in diameter and areas of restricted access within bores as small as 20mm diameter.

One of the quench valves clad by Arc Energy Resources

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July 2013 Tube Products International