TPT May 2011

T echnology U pdate

API standards with seam annealing

EMMEDI seam annealing equipment is based on IGBT technology, and it normalises the welding zone (which has a modified metallurgic structure, like grain coarsening) generated during the induction welding process in order to comply with the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) requirements. The metallurgical modified area named Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) can generate failures in flattening and flaring tests, if it is not treated correctly. Therefore, the HAZ needs to be normalised in order to remove the unwanted martensite and thus to regenerate the metallurgic structure of that area. Emmedi’s new seam annealing equipment is furnished with inductors with a 40mm width including the new flux- concentrators that ensure performance VEM SpA, an ISO 9001 certified company through the British Standards Institution (BSI), has become a world leader in the supply of innovative continuous winding technology and engineering services, specialising in the continuous filament winding of GRP/GRE pipes. VEM focuses not only on aspects which ensure the highest level of quality and competitiveness for its clients in terms of finished product, but also on technology which withstands the test of time. In so doing, they are able to overcome current and future environmental impact limitations. VEM SpA’s constant investment in R&D lately has lead to innovations in areas such as: styrene emission control, reduction and recovery, raw material and finished product waste cutback, recycling and reduction in energy consumption. Some of VEM SpA’s innovative applications in pipeline manufacturing are: online pipe diameter measurement device, innovation in mass flow meters and temperature control system of resin and sand, sand and resin premixing system and IR curing stations with optimised wavelengths. The range of services supplied by VEM SpA covers all phases of an industrial execution, from the system analysis to

(process temperature 950 to 980°C at 1 to 3kHz as typical working frequency). In addition, the manual or automatic seam tracking system keeps on track the inductor on the HAZ in tilted conditions (±15° respect the vertical axis) of the bonding line, and the smart process control system enables control of both equipment and process. The smart control desk is equipped with a touch screen industrial PC from where operators can download production data and store recipes. The seam annealing equipment also features pyrometers at each seam head, which are the process temperature/power guards of the medium frequency IGBT converters. The pyrometers are connected to converters by the Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controller (PIDC) feature, so the process is always guaranteed.The analogic signal coming from the pyrometer (which reads

the temperature of the pipe) is compared to the previous value read-and-stored by the specific software of the PLC, which determines if there is an incremental or decremental tendency of the temperature of the pipe. The PLC determines, through the PIDC analysis, an increment or decrement of the discrete predeterminate values of the MF voltage/power of the converter and it takes a voltage/power correction of the MF in order to guarantee the process temperature. If the HAZ of the pipe cannot reach the process temperature within the set range, the PIDC stops production only after several attempts of correcting the MF voltage/power. Saet Group – Italy Fax: +39 011 99 74 328

Email: info@saetgroup.com Website: www.saetgroup.com

Continuous filament winding lines

the engineering, up to the construction and start-up on site. VEM offers theoretical and practical training to the customer’s personnel and after-sale skilled assistance, making VEM Spa one of the

most competitive companies operating in the field of GRP production plants. VEM SpA – Italy Website: www.vem.eu

VEM’s continuous winding technology

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M ay 2011

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