Fossil Fuel Power Generation Industry

Orbital weld heads deliver code welds and higher productivity even with tight radial clearances

Our orbital welding systems have long been used in the fossil fuel power generation industry. Pipe and tube welding in the electric power generation industry has greatly influenced the development of automated orbital pipe welding. A common consideration at power plants is that welds must be made in areas with limited space – tight axial and radial clearance for both initial construction and subsequent maintenance. Magnatech's engineering staff has met these challenges with compact weld heads for multipass welding – capable of operation in the rugged environment of a power plant during a maintenance outage.

  • Our compact orbital weld heads are used in fabrication of tubular superheaters, reheaters, and economizer assemblies.
  • Weld Heads are designed to withstand multipass welding on tube and pipe materials requiring high preheat temperatures.
  • Magnatech is the first to provide Autoprogram Generation for multipass pipe welding.
  • Position-based programming allows up to five continuous passes to be welded – no need to stop after each pass.


    Magnatech has proven solutions for component fabrication, construction, and power plant maintenance ranging from small diameter boiler tube welding to heavy wall diameter headers. We provide technical specialists for field training at the fab shop or job site.

Applications

Heat Exchanger Manufacturing


Equipment Used

D-HEAD MODEL 420

PIPEMASTER 516 POWER SUPPLY

Challenge

Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd. (BHEL) is an integrated power plant equipment manufacturer. 75% of the total power generated in India is produced by equipment from BHEL. The Trichy plant makes thousands of welds yearly on superheater, reheat and economizer tubular coil assemblies, (typical size range 25 - 75 mm OD, W.T. 4-12 mm). The tubing is bent into serpentine coils, and welds to join coils must be made with tight radial clearances between tubes. All welds must be made to ASME B31.1 code and 100% radiographic inspection is required. The combination of restricted welder access and high quality caused BHEL to investigate mechanized welding.

Solution

BHEL purchased Magnatech D-Heads to weld in the restricted spacing.
Today BHEL has twelve systems in continuous operation.

Heavy-Wall Power Piping


Equipment Used

PIPELINER II WELD HEAD

MPS-4000 POWER SUPPLY

Challenge

A contractor, Slattery Skanska, had to weld 40,000 linear feet of 2.5" - 42" OD, up to 2" wall P-22 and P-91 pipe. Unit 40 was a new 250 mw combined cycle plant. Work was done in an exposed location during winter. P-91 requires a 450 - 500°F (230 - 260°C) preheat, significantly impacting manual welding productivity. Location: Ravenswood Unit 40 Power Plant, Long Island City, NY.

Solution

Slattery Skanska used the Pipeliner II FCAW system which can deposit 7 lbs/hr of metal - 14 times higher than conventional manual stick (SMAW), with negligible repair rates. Productivity was further improved by allowing the welder to operate the equipment at a comfortable distance from the hot pipe.

George Ryder, Welding Superintendent, "You really have been a great help to Skanska and we appreciate all your support. It's a pleasure to deal with such a great company."

Fossil Fuel Power Plant Maintenance


Equipment Used

D-HEAD MODEL 420

PIPEMASTER 515 POWER SUPPLY

Challenge

APComPower (Alstom) was awarded a contract to repair and refurbish a reheater at the Mt. Storm Power Station, involving welding old tube material to new, with tight clearances between boiler tubes. Mt. Storm is the largest coal-fired plant managed by Dominion and generates 1,600 MW.

Solution

The low profile D-Head made the multipass 2G welds, easily handling the tight radial clearance. All welds met radiographic inspection.