IMPROVING WELDER SAFETY

Opening a dialogue among management, welders, and protective-equipment suppliers is a wise idea for keeping pace with ever-changing workers environments. There is a significant need for welding professionals to expand their safety dialogues, particularly with regard to personal protective equipment (PPE). In order for this to occur, it is essential that the nature of these conversations and engagements be improved. Two approaches must take place for success. First, the mindset of the welders needs to be grounded in both individual and shared accountability. There should be the individual commitment of, “I will work safely,” plus a team commitment of, “we will work safely.” an individual must feel responsible to their teams and be empowered to take active roles in promoting safety. In this way, welders can internalize safety-oriented mindsets and ensure safer work practices are followed by all workers every day.
Second, welders should be active participants in the safety-mitigation process and conversations. This engagement needs to emphasize their understanding of the factors that influence their decisions that could lead to injuries, as well as thoughtful dialogue about how to make critical safety decisions. The openness and accountability that results ensure stronger dialogue as welders identify and address safety gaps in PPE. Through the expansion of safety dialogues, the welders will be better equipped to develop innovative risk mitigation solutions, being more adaptive as workplace environments change, and, most importantly, show an improved ability, to proactively avoid situations that could result in an injury.
The openness and accountability that results ensure stronger dialogue as welders identify and address safety gaps in PPE. Through the expansion of safety dialogues, the welders will be better equipped to develop innovative risk mitigation solutions, being more adaptive as workplace environments change, and, most importantly, show an improved ability to proactively avoid situations that could result in an injury.

KEEPING PPE SUPPLIERS IN THE LOOP
In order to talk to the workers and managers about improvements and advantages & disadvantages to safety and PPE gaps, welders should also discuss with their issues and problems with safety product manufacturers to help them identify ways to eliminate injuries or fatalities due to gaps in current safety methods and PPE. This collaborative dialogue not only benefits welders by having their voices and concerns heard but also helps PPE suppliers provide better equipment based on welders need and experiences.

OBSERVING WORK PRACTICES
To make an upgrade to the present PPE available, it's important that welders have a strong understanding of the factors influencing their work practices and performance. The attention of work practices helps determine that professionals are wearing welding helmets and types of PPE properly, and the ways in which welders are interacting with PPE on a daily basis being used correctly. When observing the workers using welding helmets with auto-darkening filter technology, the focus should be on whether workers are lifting their helmets up and down or removing their helmets totally. Safety managers should begin dialogues with these workers to learn their reasons for not using the PPE appropriately and find ways to encourage them to use PPE correctly. Proper fit, critical to workers acceptance, is one of the biggest factors affecting PPE usage. Workers are most likely to comply with PPE protocols when the equipment is more comfortable to wear.

DISCUSSING COMPLIANCE
Observing work practices can lead to improvements in workplace safety enforcement, policies, and standards, and draw workers attention to the hazards present in the workplace. The findings have helped not only welding professionals but also benefited safety product manufacturers. Instructions help employers, workers, and safety managers evaluate their use of PPE during operations involving isocyanates, utilize effective wipe sampling evaluation methods, and implement proper housekeeping measures, including cleaning frequency and methods assessment. In response to the new instructions, safety managers and welders serving the automotive, aviation, and metal-manufacturing are discussing the various ways to address and mitigate the impact of isocyanates in the workplace in collaboration with safety product manufacturers.

FOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK
As part of this movement toward more innovative safety solutions, welding professionals should ensure they are asking the right questions in order to understand their particular safety needs. Here are four questions that should be asked.

What welding applications am I doing?                                                 
 A welder could be doing multiple types of welding, or more specific type of welding, such as arc welding, resistance welding, solid-state welding, etc. The various welding applications require different PPE to ensure the welder is fully protected from injuries. Welders should have the opportunities to openly discuss the various welding applications to determine the PPE that is most appropriate for their particular work tasks. These discussions will likely help determine the area of improvement to current PPE.

What are the lighting conditions in my work area?                         
The lighting conditions during a work task or in a specific work area (e.g. Ambient light, indoor vs outdoor lighting etc.) will have a significant impact on PPE selection. For example, lighting conditions are particularly important to determine the appropriate protective eyewear. Proper illumination when welding is also essential for the optimization of safety, comfort, and productivity. This is another occasion where welders can discuss ways to improve visibility without compromising vision protection and safety.

What else am I exposed to beyond physical environmental exposures?
 By asking this question, a welder can ensure he or she is taking all necessary precautions to identify and mitigate potentially harmful workplace exposures. For example, welders can experience occupational exposure to manganese in certain welding fumes. Exposure manganese may be harmful, especially while working in confined spaces such as storage tanks, pipeline, or airplane compartments. To minimize exposure, air-purification and welding-fume extraction systems can be implemented. By discussing  these possible solutions, there can be more effective strategies developed to reduce the impact or chance of exposure.

What additional ways can I protect myself and those around me by using proper PPE?                 This is an important question to ask before beginning any welding application, as well as when observing others working. By taking time to assess the PPE needed to be worn and the associated safe work practices, a welder is empowered and held accountable to identify any potential safety gaps in the workplace and adjust his or her PPE accordingly. This shift in thinking ensures safer actions are being taken. The promotion of this mindset also catalyzes the conversation between safety managers and workers and guides safety product manufacturers to develop improved PPE.

WELDING IN HEAVY INDUSTRIES

Rapid technological developments & economies of scale in process plant industries has led to severe operating temperature and pressure conditions for reactors, pressure vessels, and heat exchangers. In the same way, all upcoming plants and equipment for nuclear, defense and aerospace industries are also getting bigger and more complex. To cope up with this trend, new generation materials are being developed worldwide, design aspects are becoming increasingly complex with very stringent quality and safety requirements. In addition, the delivery time is being squeezed to minimize the project cost. All these developments continuously pose new challenges to the welding technologists connected with heavy engineering industries worldwide.

Till the advent of the new century, Indian heavy engineering industries were mainly engaged in catering to the needs of domestic customers for equipment and accessories. In fact, many of the Indian customers were insisting Indian heavy engineering companies have a tie-up with international companies as a pre-request for qualification as a bidder. Similarly, international customers were not comfortable with Indian suppliers as far as supply of critical equipment was concerned. Some of the Indian heavy engineering industries took this up as a challenge to demonstrate that they were as good if not better then foreign fabricators.

Developments In Materials And Weldability

There is continuous development of materials for all the industries to improve process efficiency, reduce the weight of equipment, improve plant life and reduce plant maintenance/ shut down. Designers are coming up with a newer variety of materials thereby posing challenges in front of manufacturing industry to come up with suitable technology for processing the same.

Creep Resistant Cr-Mo Materials- Conventionally, creep resistant 2.25 Cr-1Mo material is very widely used in Refinery & Fertilizer applications up to 450⁰ C. Increase in temperature and pressure conditions and also susceptibility to hydrogen attack in such environment called for improved materials. Thus in the late 90's steelmakers came out with never variety of 2.25 Cr-1Mo material, known as vanadium modified 2.25 Cr-1Mo material. Use of these high strength materials helps in substantial reduction in vessel weight due to thickness reduction. Typically, changing the material from conventional 2.25 Cr-1Mo steel to 2.25 Cr-1Mo-0.25V steel will result in nearly 30% reduction in weight in a typical 1000MT reactor. This is a huge saving and as a result, all designers are changing over this new generation material to take advantage of this benefit.

Development In Welding Technology & Automation

Welding is one of the important operations in fabrications. Recent developments in design and operation have put a lot of challenges in front of welding engineers which has led to many innovations such as the introduction of new processes/ variants of processes, new techniques, mechanization and several others.

Quality and on-time delivery of equipment are the two most important requirements in today's globalized world. Therefore, fabricators are working towards more and more mechanization of welding operations. Some examples of mechanization of welding carried out by Indian Heavy engineering industries are:

Narrow Gap Saw: Most of the reactors and vessels manufactured nowadays are heavy wall thickness (>100mm). While welding of high thickness welds in such equipment, adoption of Narrow Gap SAW technique provides great advantages in terms of reduction in welding consumables and cycle time. In NG SAW, the sidewalls are nearly vertical (with 0.5⁰ angle) and the top opening of the groove is as low as only 28~30mm irrespective of thickness. It is very important to get the welding operation 'first time right' since it is extremely difficult to carry out post weld repairs. Use of contractor non-contact type seam tracking devices and turning rollers with drift control is mandatory for successful welding of such joint. This technique has been successfully applied in welding high thickness Carbon, Cr-Mo and Stainless Steels. Narrow Gap Tandem SAWis one of the process variations of SAW, wherein two (or more) wires are fed from separate welding heads and power sources into the same weld puddle. Use of two wire Tandem SAW increases the productivity by about 90% and is regularly used by fabricators. Capability to weld up to 800 mm thick joints have been demonstrated by Indian fabricators.

Weld Overlay by ESW/SAW: for equipment operating with fluid which is corrosive, normally, inside surface of C-Mn or low alloy steel is cladded/ weld overlaid with corrosion resistant material. A typical reactor requires nearly 25MT of weld overlay (assuming 4.5mm thick weld overlay) to cover the entire inside surface of shell courses and heads. The requires development of high deposition welding techniques like Electro Slag Welding (ESW) or Submerged Arc Welding(SAW) using strip electrode. Welding is carried out by using strips of up to 120mm wide and 0.5mm thick, which results in deposition of 42 Kg/arc-hr. ESW overlay of stainless steel and nickel alloys are regularly carried out by Indian fabricators.

Weld Overlay of Nozzle Pipe/ Fittings by Mechanized Processes: all nozzle attachments in a clad/ overlayed reactor call for weld overlay on the inside surface as well as on the faces. Special welding torches to carry out weld overlay by mechanized FCAW, GTAW or Thin-wire SAW (1.2mm/1.6mm dia) inside nozzle pipes, forgings, and 90⁰ elbows. Weld overlay has been carried out successfully on nozzles with a very small bore (as low as 25mm) and extra length (as high as 400mm) wear resistant overlay operations have also been carried out on OD of bars by Plasma Transferred Arc Welding(PTAW) Process.

Development In Quality Control & Assurance of Welded Constructions

Each weld joint of a vessel calls for stringent inspection and testing requirements as per the requirement of manufacturing code, customer specifications, and other applicable standards. The test generally includes Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) like Radiography (RT) Ultrasonic Test (UT), Magnetic Particle Test (MPT), & Penetrant Test (PT) in addition to the thorough visual examination. Out of these tests, RT & UT are given maximum importance. Due to the higher wall thickness of the vessels, RT is being preferably done using a high power Linear Accelerator (LINAC). On the other hand, Micro focal anode X-ray is being used for detection of a flaw in Tube to Tubesheet joints for critical nuclear applications.The concept in NDT has shifted from 'only flaw detection' to 'flaw detection, characterization and flaw sizing'. There is a huge advancement in UT technology over the last few years. His resolution UT including Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD) has become a mandatory requirement for all critical reactor weld joints. Stringent requirements of nuclear and aerospace projects have taken capabilities in carrying out various NDT to its zenith.

Significant changes have taken place over the years in welding and allied areas in heavy industries in India. From making simple equipment with basics materials to fabricating the most complex ones involving stringent quality requirement, the Indian heavy engineering industry has envolved a lot. The industry has become mature and can compete globally for various orders, due to its demonstration capabilities in welding and allied fields.

BEST GRINDING PRACTICES FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE

Grinding is an internal part of many welding and fabrication applications. The grinding removes material, blend welds, shapes workpieces, and help prepare and clean surfaces, which can have a significant impact on the productivity, quality, and efficiency of welding jobs. Increasing the overall value of the labor put into a process can be done in two ways. The first is to ensure the product being used is right for the given application, which will improve productivity. Keeping the factors in mind, there are some product options, simple tips, and best practices that can help extend the life of the product and improve overall productivity.

SELECTING FROM A RANGE OF OPTIONS
Grinding all day is tough job and users are often looking for options to extend product life or increase grind rate, or combination of both. When demanding jobs must be done quickly and correctly, choosing the right product for the application can make a tremendous difference for the operator and the performance.

Grinding wheels and combination wheels are available in different performance tiers and compositions. Typically, those tiers are marketed as high performance (best), performance (better), and value (good) tiers. Within these general categories is a long list of specialty products, such as those designed not to contaminated stainless steel. Users need to think carefully about tools they use, the applications, the materials, the desired result, and their cost expectations so they can make the choice that is right for them.

Bonded abrasives- grinding and combination wheels for the purpose of this article- rely on a composition of the grain type, grain size, fiberglass, and bonding agents (resins and additive fillers) to determine performance via a given material.

Wheels come in a variety of grain types, including aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, zirconia alumina, ceramic alumina, and the combination of these materials. Bonded abrasive products made from different types of aluminum oxide are the most popular in the market and are good for many general purpose applications. Products made with a combination of ceramic and zirconia alumina, are higher priced in the market but will typically provide a better combination of overall life and material removal. This makes them a good choice for materials such as armored steel, structural steel, cast iron, and inconel.

Some bonded abrasive wheels developed for high performance feature a fiberglass layer that is cut back, which means the fiberglass layer on the face of the wheel is trimmed back. This exposes the grains to more aggressive grinding action at the initial point of contact. When the jobs call for grinding and cutting, a combination wheel is likely the best choice. Do some homework before buying one, though, because not all combination wheels are created equal. Understand how many layers of fiberglass are on the wheel and where they are located. Also, ask if the wheel is rated for cutting and grinding or just light grinding. Many products will not hold up to a true 50/50 combination of both, so pick the one that best fits the application needs. These are just some of the considerations in choosing the right combo wheel.

BEST RESULT FOR THE GRINDING PRACTICES
The type of product used can impact results in grinding applications. In addition, how the grinding wheel is used can also dramatically alter the results. Keep in mind some key tips and best practices to optimize outcomes in grinding.

Start with a pull-back motion: when beginning the grinding process, start with a pull-back motion rather than a push. This automatically sets the operator more level, so he or she is not digging into the materials as much. Starting with a pushing motion could result in digging into the material too much, especially if the work surface is uneven, which could require a costly and time- consuming repair.

Know the material: when grinding and cutting on general purpose steels, many product options will work, so try different products and see which one provides the best overall cost and performance value. When grinding stainless steel, look for a wheel labeled as INOX, which means its contaminant free and won't leave debris that may rust on the surface. This provides good performance and worry-free grinding on stainless steel.

Use optimal angle and pressure: typically, a grinding wheel should be used at a 15- to 35-degree angle to the work surface for the best performance. Pressure and how its applied is also important. The user should hold the grinder in a tight fixed position and use his or her body during the grinding motion instead of just the arms extending out, or so-called alligator arms. This allows for consistent pressure all the way through the grind and also helps avoid overworking the user's arms.

Match the size: when selecting the wheel size and material best suited for an application and the tool, operators can rely on manufacturer recommendations, product descriptions, and product rev/min rating to help make the choice. It's important to match the size and rev/min rating of the tool to the size and rev/min rating of the wheel for safe and effective usage. Always make sure the grinding wheel fits on the tool with the guard installed, and never remove the guard to put a larger diameter wheel on a tool.

Improving the productivity of the process and maximizing the labor put into that process can be done in several ways. These include changing the type of the product used and changing how a product is used. Knowing what product options are available and understanding they're intended use is an important part of getting the best results. Keeping these considerations in mind when selecting a bonded abrasive grinding wheel can help ensure the product is best suited for the application.

WHAT DOES A PIPING DESIGNER NEED TO KNOW?

Piping Designer the document refers and responsible for the overall plant layout, plot plan, equipment location, pipe routing, developments of the CAD models and the piping isometrics.

PIPE FITTINGS, FLANGES, AND VALVES
All designers know and understand the broad spectrum of items that make up the vocabulary of the piping language. This includes the many types of fittings, many different schedules, the wide variety of common piping materials, the flange class rating and the types function of the different value designs.

RELATIONSHIPS OF OTHER ENGINEERING GROUPS
All designers need to know and understand the relationships, activities, and contributions of other engineering groups on the total project. It includes Civil, Structural mechanical equipment, vessels, and tanks, Electrical and instruments/ control systems. These groups have responsibility for contributing piping success.

PIPING EXECUTION
All piping designer must understand how the piping design development is progressed successfully and is linked with P&ID, equipment layout, equipment vendor drawings, instrument vendor drawings, stress analysis and heat treatment, hydro testing and air testing, NDE examinations and pipe support.

PROCESS DOCUMENTS
Process engineering team prepared two major documents. These are PFD and P&ID. PFD is prepared by more experienced piping designer early in the project for plot plan development before availability of P& ID. P & ID's are used for all levels of piping activities, the design of the lines and possible to field follow up.

PROCESS VARIABLES
All designers must know and understand the four process variables Temperature, Pressure, level and flow. The instrumentation used to control or measure these variables.

PROCESS PLANT EQUIPMENT
All designers need to know and understand the type of types of equipment and list of piping related issues for each type of equipment. They must know which type of equipment has the nozzles fixed by the manufacturer and which type of types of equipment need to have the nozzle located properly. The designer also can understand the operational, maintenance, and construction/ installation issues for each type of equipment.

EQUIPMENTS OPERATION AND INTERNALS
All piping designer must understand the equipment process function and equipment internals. In order to orientation process and instruments nozzles/ connections and locate manhole, platform, ladder with cage and staircase access.

EQUIPMENT PIPING
All piping designer must understand the proper installation of pumps, compressions, heat exchanges, filters or any special equipments on a specific piping project.

ALLOCABLE PIPING SPANS
All piping designers can understand the span capabilities of pipe (for a different schedule) for a wide variety of common piping materials. When a new project introduces new materials and reduced the span options.

EXPANSION OF PIPE
All piping designers must understand all piping system as in alive. It has a temperature causes grow and move.

ROUTING FOR FLEXIBILITY
All piping designers must understand how to route the pipe for flexibility. It means that do not travel a pipe in a straight line from the origin to terminate.

WEIGHT AND LOADS ( line loads & dead loads)
All piping designers must understand the effect of weight and loading. They must recognize the concentrated load on the piping system weight and fluid weight.

STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS
All piping designers must understand the standards specifications of piping materials. The designer must be an intimate knowledge of the primary standards and specifications they will use.

VESSEL PIPING
All piping designers must understand the connecting members, supporting and guiding of pipe attached to the vessels and tanks. Nozzles loading and nozzles orientation are important and do have limitations.

RACK PIPING
All piping designers can understand that there is the logical or clear approach for the placements of pipe in a rack and be setting a rack elevation. In a pipe, the rack has multi decks are available. Another good guideline is obtained from the rack piping, process lines on the lower deck and utility lines on the upper deek. The spacing of the line is kept in a proper manner.

EXPANSION LOOPS
All piping designers must understand the methods of sizing loops in the pipe rack. The expansion loops are commonly used various sizes, schedules, and materials.

DESIGN PRODUCTION METHOD
All piping designers able to make all piping documents (sketches, layout, detailed piping plan, piping isometrics) by using different methods. The designer must be able to get to the site and make proper, intelligent and understandable piping sketch in front of a client. After that produce a final drawing with detailed measurements and make a wide range of electronic 2D or 3D design tools.

FABRICATION AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS
All piping designers must be able to understand about the shop fabrication like spool fabrication modularisation and field erection methods and able to vigilant in shop and field materials splits, shipping box sizes, field welds, and fit-up welds.

HEAT TRAINING
All piping designers must understand the different type heat tracing of line pipe ( jacketing, tracer tubing or electric)

DELIVERABLES
All piping designers must understand the deliverables like plot plans, key plans, piping plans and sections and isometrics.

DRAWING CONTENTS
All piping designers must understand about their drawing contents dimensioning practices. It needs to clear communications to construction personnel.
The team piping designer refers that the person responsible for the overall plant layout, plot plan, equipments location, pipe routing, development of the CAD models and piping isometrics. It does not refer piping materials and stress engineer. They are involved in the design of a piping system.