TPT-January-2015

Welding technology

Tube and pipe maker orders giant induction welder

bringing the benefits of induction technology to many of the world’s leading manufacturing and service companies. EFD Induction has manufacturing plants, workshops and service centres in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Corporate headquarters are in Skien, Norway.

The news is even more significant in light of the nature of the welder. Mr Runeborg explains: “In terms of physical size, the welder we built is the largest ever constructed by EFD Induction. We’ve previously built several welders of similar power output. But as for dimensions, this is the clear winner. The welder is an 1,800kW welder for large pipes, heavy-wall products.”  EFD Induction has, to date, installed thousands of heating solutions for a wide range of industrial applications,

EFD Induction, a supplier of solid-state welders, has reported a significant delivery of a 1,800kW/300kHz welder to a major tube and pipe manufacturer. “It’s great news,” said Peter Runeborg, head of sales at EFD Induction operations in Norway. “The order is from an extremely large and well-known name in the global tube manufacturing industry. We are proud that they selected EFD Induction as a partner to supply a large induction welder.” 

EFD Induction – Norway Email: knl@efdgroup.net Website: www.efd-induction.com

Increased productivity with the PERFECT ® arc welding process

PERFECT ® arc is a digital welding process newly developed by PWS GmbH. It can be used for spiral pipes as well as for longitudinally seam welded UO and JCO ® pipes. It is suitable for both arc and submerged arc welding. The benefits: compared to conventional welding procedures, PERFECT ® arc is 50 per cent faster with tack-welding and 20 per cent faster with submerged arc welding. This can mean a twofold or even threefold increase in the productivity of a spiral pipe plant, depending on its design. It also offers considerable energy savings. By controlling the power supply precisely using the digital current source, energy costs can be reduced by more than 30 per cent compared to conventional welding techniques. Some of the applications for spirally and longitudinally welded pipes include gas and oil pipelines, shipbuilding and wind turbines – particularly offshore installations. To meet the ever growing demands of these sectors, especially in terms of high pressures or improved resistance to corrosion, manufacturers are increasingly turning to pipes made from higher-strength steel grades. At the same time this also means increasing requirements with regard to the weld seams and greater cost pressure on pipe manufacturers. PERFECT ® arc now provides a solution that guarantees

high-quality weld seams, including seams on higher-strength materials, whilst delivering consistently high cost efficiency. In terms of the energy used, PERFECT ® arc offers an operating efficiency level of around 90 per cent. For plant owners this means energy costs are reduced by more than 30 per cent. At the heart of PERFECT ® arc is a purely digital current source, offering both ultra- precise control of the power supply and a superfast control intervention frequency within microseconds. Processes are controlled and managed with pinpoint precision using Perfect ® Control. This control system integrates welding control, wire feed rate control and the evaluation computer within one unit, thereby providing a closed-loop control circuit. Problems with synchronisation, such as those previously experienced with multiwire submerged arc welding for example, are thereby avoided. In addition, PERFECT ® arc allows the power supply to be precisely controlled during ignition, welding and stopping. As a result, there is less spatter when tack-welding, the seams are flush with the pipe surface during submerged arc welding, and cost savings can be made as less material is used. PERFECT ® arc from PWS is an innovative leap forward in the

Tack welding process during pipe forming

production of spirally welded and longitudinally seam welded UO and JCO ® pipes. The innovative, fully digital process offers energy savings potential, perfect weld seam quality and therefore improved pipe quality too. The process is said to be winning over customers with its significant material savings, considerably higher output and greater flexibility when it comes to fast welding process change-overs.

SMS Meer GmbH – Germany Fax: +49 2161 350 1862 Email: info@sms-meer.com Website: www.sms-meer.com

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J anuary 2015