Previous Projects

A client requested a demonstration of 317L orbital welding during a turnaround replacement of full coils inside a problematic fired heater. The program was developed, coupons welded, WPS registered, and a custom tool was designed and manufactured to allow a J-bevel on a return bend fitting inside the heater. 

The demonstration of the custom tool and orbital welding was a success, providing a perfectly uniform weld that exceeded all client specifications and applicable codes. The final result was a weld with a flush root penetration that promotes uniform flow of product through the return bend which prevents both carbon coke build-up and erosion.

A group of water tube boilers were all experiencing a high failure rate of external tubes at the target end due to unexpected heat flux conditions. These tubes were being repaired on an as-needed basis at an extremely high cost due to contractor emergency mobilization premiums, loss of steam to the facility, and having to perform window welds. The client requested an investigation into orbital welding for the next planned outage.

The welding program was developed, tube replacement procedure created, welders were trained, and WPS registered. The previous method of window welding allowed one tube to be welded per 12 hour shift per welder due to the difficulty of the weld and increased NDE requirements. The use of orbital welding allowed one tube to be fully welded from root to cap in less than 20 minutes with a much higher quality result. 

With the reduced welding time, the client elected to rebuild each boiler's superheater bank as well. This was also performed with orbital welding, allowing a weld to be placed at a location that usually would not facilitate even a window weld due to access restrictions.