Svetsaren 1/2008 - Esab

THE ESAB WELDING AND CUTTING JOURNAL VOL. 63 NO. 1 2008 

ENERGY 

OFFSHORE • LNG • WIND FARMS • GAS TURBINES 

PIPE MILLS • HYDRO CARBON REACTORS • PIPELINES 

VALVES • TANK TRUCKS • FLOWLINES

Box Information.com 

Setting new standards 

We have now gained 

OHSAS 18001 group 

certification from DNV. 

Our group Environmental, 

Health & Safety 

Management System 

was already ISO14001 

certified. This is believed 

to be the most comprehensive 

certification 

achieved by any global 

company to date. 

It includes all production 

operations, sales and 

central functions within 

ESAB at 1 July 2007. 

Our system will benefit 

our customers 

It does not matter if our customers operate in China, Germany, US, Brazil 

or Sweden. Wherever in the world you buy ESAB products, these are 

produced in accordance with the same global EHS standards where 

occupational and product health & safety always comes first. Let us show 

you what a well managed company can do for you! 

www.esab.com

Svetsaren 

ENERGY 

Articles in Svetsaren may be reproduced 

without permission, but with an 

acknowledgement to ESAB. 

Publisher 

Johan Elvander 

Editor 

Ben Altemühl 

Editorial committee 

Tony Anderson, Klaus Blome, Carl Bandhauer, 

Christophe Gregoir, Joakim Cahlin, Dan 

Erlandsson, Björn Torstensson, 

Nils Thalberg, Annika Tedeholm, 

José Roberto Domingues, Antonio Couto Plais. 

Address 

Svetsaren 

ESAB AB Central Market Communications 

Box 8004 

S-402 77 Gothenburg 

Sweden 

Dear reader, 

Energy makes the world tick. Its generation and 

supply is a significant factor in global development, 

having an intimate effect on life style and quality. The 

lack of energy availability in many parts of the world, 

the growing awareness of the necessity to manage the 

limited resources and excessive and sometimes 

wasteful human behaviour, all create a challenge for 

the future. 

The limited availability of fossil fuels and their harmful 

effect on our environment, forces us to develop 

HARALD HESPE 

renewable forms of energy and, also, to explore the still 

enormous potential savings we can make in energy consumption. The latter is an integral 

element of ESAB’s environmental management system- rewarded with the ISO 14001 

global environmental certification. 

Our energy efficiency ratio in production sites and offices (revenues/energy use), for 

example, has doubled in 10 years (1996-2006) – as a result of focused and planned 

activities - and we intend to double this again in the coming decade. Another of our 

long- term strategic objectives is to significantly increase the use of energy from 

renewable sources (now 5%). This corporate policy guides our development efforts and 

demonstrates that leading industrial enterprises can take the initiative and can change 

traditional behaviour. 

Internet address 

http://www.esab.com 

E-mail: svetsaren@esab.com 

Printed in The Netherlands by True Colours 

The exploration of fossil fuel based resources has accelerated and taken on a new path 

in commercialising previously non-economic areas. Exploration takes place in more 

remote areas, more challenging environments in terms of climate and we are exposed to 

deep sea drilling and many more difficult engineering challenges. Wind power has 

become a global priority and we see renewed worldwide investment in nuclear power 

generation. 

THE ESAB WELDING AND CUTTING JOURNAL VOL. 63 NO. 1 2008 

Lifting of the 

Tombua Landana 

platform template 

at Heerema, 

Vlissingen, 

The Netherlands. 

This issue of Svetsaren features articles and application stories that illustrate the success 

of our clients and the deep involvement of ESAB as a welding and cutting solution 

provider for the energy generating industry. 

Good reading, 

ENERGY 

OFFSHORE • LNG • WIND FARMS • GAS TURBINES 

PIPE MILLS • HYDRO CARBON REACTORS • PIPELINES 

VALVES • TANK TRUCKS • FLOWLINES 

HARALD HESPE 

MANAGING DIRECTOR ESAB MIDDLE EAST FZE

Excellence in wind 

tower welding 

Competitiveness in wind tower fabrication 

is synonymous with the application 

of productive, high quality welding 

solutions. With ESAB, you are assured of a 

partner who understands your challenges 

and responds with innovative welding and 

cutting technology. 

We design and retrofit column & boom 

stations for submerged arc welding of 

circumferential and longitudinal 

welds – including head and tailstock, 

automation and integration in existing 

production lines. These are complemented 

by welding tractors and equipment for 

special components. 

Tandem - twin technology is our latest 

development in multi-wire welding heads 

providing unsurpassed deposition rates 

and welding productivity. 

Developed specifically for your industry, 

our flux/wire combinations ensure the 

required weld quality and mechanical 

properties - be it for land-based, offshore 

or even arctic wind towers. 

Visit us at www.esab.com

Contents 

07 

15 

18 

23 

26 

32 

34 

37 

Template for monster platform challenges 

Heerema. 

ESAB low-hydrogen consumable technology 

crucial in safe and productive welding. 

Port of Marseille sees LNG storage tanks 

erected with ESAB welding technology. 

Project, awarded to a joint venture of 

Saipem and Sofregaz, sub-contracted to 

the Italian Bentini Group SpA. 

SIF Group bv at the foundation of Dutch 

wind energy 

ESAB SAW technology crucial in the 

production of piles and transition pieces 

for the Q7 North Sea wind farm. 

Zorya-Mashproekt relies on ESAB for arc 

welding of gas turbine components 

Zorya-Mashproekt is a leading Ukranian 

producer of industrial and marine gas 

turbine power plants and engines. 

Complete and reliable partner for pipe mills. 

The latest ESAB equipment and consumables 

for longitudinal welding. 

Paresa SpA construct spheres for the 

Kuwait petrochemical industry 

Part of integrated petrochemical plant for 

hydrocarbons processing. 

ESW Inconel strip cladding 

Solution to clad steel shortage for 

Maritime Industrial Services, Dubai. 

Mechanised pipeline welding in the 

Saudi desert 

Magnatech orbital welding system and 

ESAB cored wire do the job. 

41 

43 

47 

51 

Cladding of valves for petrochemical 

plants. 

Valve manufacture and repair is a growth 

industry. 

Techint and ESAB Brazil - partners in the 

construction of the PRA-1 jacket. 

Technical partnership fundamental to the 

success of the project. 

Manufacture of mobile gasoline tanks in 

AlMg5 alloy at ZAO BECEMA, Russia. 

ESAB assists in conversion from steel to 

aluminium. 

Belleli Energy SpA reactors at the heart of 

Qatar’s Pearl Gas-to-Liquids Plant. 

ESAB arc welding consumables deliver 

quality and productivity. 

High integrity flowline welding at LMI 

56 ESAB orbital TIG technology crucial. 

58 

Product News 

• New power sources for orbital welding 

• Robust and powerful MIG/MAG Power 

sources for heavy duty welding 

• Caddy - the portable solution for 

professional welding 

• New Origo welding machine for 

demanding applications 

• Reactive welding helmets 

• AUTOREX – The first, totally encapsulated, 

automatic plasma cutting centre 

• Tramtrac TM II – flexible solution for the 

repair of embedded city tramway rails. 

• New submerged arc fluxes 

• OK Tubrod 14.11 – Metal cored wire 

for high speed thin plate welding 

• VacPac gets slimmer

6 - Svetsaren no. 1 - 2008

Template for monster platform 

challenges Heerema. 

ESAB low-hydrogen consumable technology crucial in safe 

and productive welding. 

ALFRED VAN AARTSEN, HEEREMA VLISSINGEN B.V., THE NETHERLANDS AND ERIC DE MAN, ESAB NEDERLAND B.V., AMERSFOORT, THE NETHERLANDS. 

Thicker and heavier, and with 

sharper tolerances than ever 

before – this was in essence the 

challenge Heerema Vlissingen 

faced in the construction of the 

template for the Tombua Landana 

oil and gas platform. The answer 

was found in smart logistics and 

precision work, supported by 

proven welding solutions. (See 

page 14 for a description of the 

Figure 1. The tower base template TBT (grey), the tower bottom section TBS (brown) and the foundation piles. 

Tombua Landana project). 

Acknowledgement 

We thank Heerema Production Manager, Harm 

Sanstra, for facilitating our visits to the Vlissingen yard. 

Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) 

Heerema is a name that requires little explanation 

– especially not for Svetsaren readers in the oil 

and gas industry. It is one of the bigger, globally 

operating players in the engineering and fabrication 

of large and complex structures for the oil 

and gas industry. It has been active in the 

offshore industry ever since oil and gas were 

discovered in the North Sea in the early 1960’s 

and enjoys a reputation for state-of-the-art 

engineering, fabrication and project management. 

HFG has yards in the Netherlands (Vlissingen and 

Zwijndrecht) and in the United Kingdom 

Svetsaren no. 1 - 2008 - 7

(Hartlepool). All are equipped with large prefabrication 

and assembly halls for indoor 

construction and are capable of handling large 

projects, simultaneously. 

HFG is part of the Heerema Group, together with 

Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) which transports, 

installs and removes offshore facilities, and 

INTEC engineering, which provides engineering 

services to the energy industry. HFG Engineering, 

a subsidiary of HFG with offices in New Orleans 

and Houston, specialises in on- and offshore 

facility designs. 

All Heerema companies operate an integrated 

management system that complies with ISO 9001: 

2000 (Quality Management Systems), ISO 14001: 

2004 (Environmental Management System) and 

OHSAS 18001: 1999 (Occupational Health and 

Safety Management System) standards. 

The Tombua Landana template 

The tower base template (TBT) has a surface area 

of forty by forty metres, is 24 metres high and 

weighs 3,000 tons. It includes 12 main foundation 

piles with a total weight of 9,500 tons. It was completed 

and shipped to Angola in December 2007. 

Figure 1 shows a sketch of the TBT. The principal 

components are the pile sleeve clusters, the rows 

and the leveling jacks. Not indicated, but 

discussed later in this article, are the lifting 

trunnions – used for dual crane lifting with one of 

HMC’s specialised barges. 

The pile sleeve clusters form the cornerstones of 

the TBT. They guide the twelve foundation piles 

which are driven through them into the sea bed. 

Crucial during installation of the 190 m long piles in 

nearly 400 m deep waters, are the open cones on 

top of the pile sleeves. They catch the foundation 

piles hanging from the crane and guide them into 

the sleeves, after which pile driving commences. 

Part of the length of all foundation piles remains 

extended above the pile sleeves. The Tower Base 

Section – the lower part of the tower – is placed 

over them and secured to the template. 

The rows are a network of heavy pipes connecting 

the four pile sleeve clusters to form a rigid 

construction. Four leveling jacks, devices to 

position the template horizontally with great 

accuracy, are attached to the central columns of 

the rows. The shim piles on the leveling jacks rest 

on leveling piles in the sea bed. Leveling is 

performed by jacking the template up or down 

relative to the shim piles. 

The entire Tombua Landana project is characterised 

by very narrow construction tolerances, the 

substructures being placed on top of each other, 

in nearly 400 m deep waters - a particularly 

unforgiving environment for any misalignment. 

Also, the TBT was subject to strict dimensional 

tolerances – up to three times more precise than 

normally required in offshore fabrication. 

Moreover, it was the first part of the tower and all 

eyes were focused on Heerema. Two Daewoo 

representatives and two representatives of 

Chevron supervised the project and carried out 

regular inspections. 

Table 1. Mechanical requirements WPQ for type I and II steels. 

Steel grades, mechanical requirements and 

preheat temperatures 

Steel grades were purchased according to the 

“General Specification 1.14 Structural steels and 

other materials”, issued by the Cabinda Gulf Oil 

Company for the projects in block 14. In this 

specification, material types are ranked I and I-X, 

II and II-X, III, IV and V. Material types I are for structural 

members and tubular joint cans which are 

fracture critical and material types II are for structural 

members and cans where failure would pose a 

threat to the structure. Material types III, IV and V 

are for non-critical components. A list of valid steel 

classifications is given for each material type. 

Heerema Vlissingen purchased various types of 

plate according to EN 10225 Grade 355 (thermomechanically 

controlled rolled) and API 2MT1 as 

rolled, covering the demands of material types 

I and II, and meeting special constructional 

requirements such as “through thickness 

properties”. All main steel was purchased from 

Dillinger Hüttewerke in Germany. 

Mechanical weld requirements are established by 

Cabinda’s General Specification 1.15 – Structural 

welding and inspection. Charpy V-notch impact 

testing of both weld metal and heat affected zone 

was required on all welding procedure qualifications, 

with notch locations at the weld centre line, fusion 

line and FL+2mm. CTOD testing of the WM and 

HAZ was required for type I and II steels with a 

thickness greater than or equal to 63 mm (2.5”), 

to be performed on the thickest steel to be 

welded while using the highest preheat and 

interpass temperature permitted by the welding 

procedure to be qualified. 

Table 1 gives an overview of CVN and CTOD 

requirements. An additional cross weld zone hardness 

requirement was set at HV10 325 maximum. 

In constructions such as these, involving thick 

material, the prevention of hydrogen induced 

cracking (cold cracking) is essential. This starts 

with the purchase of steels with limited 

hardenability. Cabinda’s General Specification 

1.14 for structural steels and other materials 

therefore specifies a maximum Pcm value of 0.23 

(extended CE formula). 

In welding, preheating, along with the use of 

low-hydrogen consumables, is essential in the 

prevention of cold cracking. Cabinda General 

Specification 1.15 refers to AWS D1.1, for 

preheat and interpass temperatures to be applied. 

CVN 

CTOD 

Steel type minimum average minimum single thickness minimum 

I 34J/-40ºC 27J/-40ºC 76mm (3”) 

0.38mm/-10ºC 

II 34J/-18ºC 27J/-18ºC 76mm (3”) 

0.38mm/-10ºC 


Table 2. Preheat and interpass procedure. 

Thickness Preheat Interpass 

good CVN properties down to -60°C and is 

CTOD tested in the AW and SR condition. It has 

a vast track record that dates back to the years 

when MMA was the standard for manual welding 

in offshore fabrication. FILARC 76S is low-hydrogen 

with low moisture absorption properties. It is 

supplied to Heerema Vlissingen in VacPac vacuum 

packaging for ultimate protection. 

Table 3. Overview of low-hydrogen consumables used for the Tombua Landana template. 

ESAB consumables EN classification AWS Classification 

FILARC PZ6125 758: T 42 6 1Ni B M 1H5 5.29: E71T-5G 

FILARC PZ6138 758: T 46 5 1 Ni P M 1 H5 5.29: E81T1-Ni1MJ H4 

OK Flux 10.47/ OK Tubrod 15.24S EN: S 46 5 AB T3Ni1 (AW) 5.23: F8A4-EC-G (AW) 

FILARC 76S 499: E 42 6 Mn1Ni B 32 H5 5.5: E7018-G 

Major welding applications in the 

pile sleeve cluster 

Figure 3 shows the fabrication of a pile sleeve 

cluster. Its main components are indicated. The 

pile sleeve - the part which guides the foundation 

piles - has been pre-fabricated by Sif Group bv, in 

Roermond, along with the foundation piles themselves. 

Also the parts of the conical “pile catcher” 

allowing the use of SAW - mostly circumferential 

welds - are already attached during pre-fabrication. 

Heerema Vlissingen completes the catchers with 

stiffener plates (Figure 4). This involves a vast 

amount of full penetration butt welds, as well as 

fillet welds, all performed with manual FCAW, using 

FILARC PZ6138. Where possible, root passes are 

deposited on ceramic weld metal support. 

The welds connecting the pile sleeve to the shear 

plate involve a symmetrical double-sided K-joint in 

51 mm thickness (openings angle 40 degrees, 

root gap 5mm, root face 1mm), welded with the 

SAW process, using the OK Flux 10.47/OK 

Tubrod 15.24S flux/wire combination and ESAB 

A2 welding tractors. The root pass of these full-penetration 

welds is done with PZ6125, on ceramic 

backing, whereas sufficient thickness for the SAW 

process is obtained by a hot pass with PZ6138. In 

this stage, the construction can still be turned on 

roller beds, aided by contra weights, in order to use 

the productive SAW process on both sides. 

Turning the construction is no longer possible 

when two pile sleeve-shear plate pairs – grit 

pile sleeve 

catcher 

shear plate 

lower yoke plate 

upper yoke plate 

main leg 

Figure 3. Fabrication of a pile sleeve cluster. 


Figure 4. FCAW of the sleeves – the part that catches 

the foundation pile. 

Figure 5. Submerged arc welding of a sheer plate onto 

a pile sleeve. 

Figure 6. Lay-out of a row on the factory floor before 

welding – a precision job. 

blasted and painted - are connected to the main 

leg. Here a combination of SAW for the downhand 

side and FCAW for the overhead side is 

used (root FCAW on backing). The preparation is a 

2/3 –1/3 K-joint, so that the larger part of the joint 

volume can be welded in the downhand position 

with the productive SAW process. The 1/3 side is 

completed in the overhead position, using 

FILARC PZ6138 rutile cored-wire. 

When the shear plate of the third, and last pile 

sleeve in a cluster, is connected to the main leg, 

the joint position is horizontal-vertical. The joint 

preparation is again a symmetrical K-joint welded 

completely with the FCAW process, using FILARC 

PZ6138. 

The upper and lower yoke plates are connected 

by means of manual FCAW. It concerns full 

penetration X- and K-welds with all welding 

positions occurring. Again PZ6138 is the main 

consumable (roots on ceramic backing). 

TKY-joints in rows 

The rows - a network of heavy pipes connecting 

the four pile sleeve clusters – are pre-fabricated 

both indoors and outdoors. Their lay-out on the 

factory floor (Figure 6 ) exemplifies the great 

dimensional precision required. 

The two columns on the left and right are not part 

of the structure. They have the same dimensions 

as the main legs of the pile sleeve clusters and 

precisely set the dimensions of the row, before 

(tack) welding. Permittable deviations here are as 

narrow as ± 1/4” (6 mm) horizontally and 

± 1/8” (3 mm) vertically, requiring extreme 

accuracy. It is a procedure of virtually endless 

dimensional control. The same procedure is 

repeated during erection of the template 

(Figure 7), before rows are finally connected to the 

legs in the pile sleeve clusters. 

Figure 7. Erection of the template. All rows are first carefully positioned within the tolerances – with the help of temporary 

columns (left) – before they are attached to the docking pins in the pile sleeve cluster (cluster visible in the background). 

All nodes (TKY-joints) are welded in the positions 

as they occur in figure 7 with FCAW using PZ6125 

for the root and PZ6138 for filling. Figure 8 shows 

the FCAW welding on a special TKY-joint – the 

lifting trunniuns. These are used to attach the lifting 

cables onto the template during installation. Part of 

it is welded with SAW with OK Flux 10.47/OK 

Tubrod 15.24S (Figure 9). 


Figure 8. FCAW of a lifting trunnion. 

Figure 9. SAW on a lifting trunnion. 

Foundation piles 

The foundation piles are pre-fabricated by Sif 

Group bv, arriving in 83-93 m lengths. To achieve 

their final length of 170 –190 m, they need to be 

welded together (Figure 10 and 11). This is again 

done by FCAW with PZ6138, but here it is 

mechanised welding with ESAB Railtrac equipment. 

The joint configuration is adapted to this 

method -an unsymmetrical X-joint with most of 

the weld volume on the outside. The inside part is 

welded manually, vertically-up. The root pass is 

deposited on ceramic backing. After removal of 

the fit-up plates, the majority of the weld volume 

is mechanised welded from the outside, verticallyup 

from 6 to 12 ‘o clock, mostly with a slight 

weaving motion. Welding parameters are adapted 

to the several clock positions by the operators. 

Dimensional control and weld finish 

Normal offshore fabrication, eg, a jacket on top of 

which the deck and operational facilities are placed, 

is naturally, subject to strict dimensions, but it is 

more forgiving than in the case of the Tombua 

Landana project. The fact is that three 

substructures, fabricated by three different yards, 

are stacked on top of each other in almost 400 m 

deep waters - and simply have to fit. This places 

extremely high demands on the dimensional control 

– roughly 3 times as high as normally required. 

This is as equally valid for the fabrication of the 

TBT’s components – the pile sleeve clusters and 

the rows – as it is for the assembly of the super 

structure. To exemplify the dimensional control 

and its implications for welding, we return to the 

fabrication of the pile sleeve clusters, shown in 

Figure 12. 

This image shows the completed pile sleeve cluster 

and the nominal distances between the centre 

lines of the pile sleeves and the centre line of the 

main leg (5172.5 and 5173 mm). The maximum 

acceptable tolerance on these distances is 3 mm. 

A similar small tolerance is valid on the distances 

between the pile sleeves themselves, in the X and 

Y directions and on the mutual distances into the 

Z direction. This dimensional control is the key 

requirement, and everything else is subject to it. 

Ideally, the pre-fabricated yoke plates, including 

K-bevel, fit exactly, so that there is a constant 

root gap between the pile sleeves/main leg and 

Figure 10. Welding tents made from shrink foil protect the weld area from wind and rain. 

the yoke plate’s K-bevel. In practice, this is 

extremely difficult to achieve. Practically always, the 

root gap appears to be more or less eccentric. This 

must be corrected by grinding on the narrow side 

and buttering & grinding on the wider side 

– an extremely time consuming exercise. 

Measuring was performed by three parties; 

Heerema Vlissingen, Passe-Partout (independent 

contractor) and Chevron, who worked 

independently according to agreed measuring 

principles. Chevron were responsible for final 

measuring and reporting. 

Another time-consuming aspect was Class C and 

Class A grinding of weld surfaces. Grinding is 

done with an aluminium oxide based disc. 

Class C grinding is required for the TKY joints 

between the braces and the dummy leg (middle 

of the row) and between the braces and the main 

leg of the pile sleeve cluster. It is performed to 

correct excessive convexity, notches or undercut 

at the toes of the weld. The grinding of the toes 

of the cap must be performed to the point where 

a 1 mm diameter wire cannot pass between the 

disc and the plate (Figure 13). 

Class A grinding is performed on the welds connecting 

the lower yoke plates to the main legs of 

the pile sleeve clusters – at both sides of the 

K-joint. Class A means that weld profile is ground 

back to the theoretical radius. This is checked by 

using a template with a 45 mm radius, with a gap 


Figure 11. Vertically-up welding with ESAB Railtrac and 

FILARC PZ6138. 

Figure 12. Pile sleeve cluster dimensional control. 

the size of a paperclip not being allowed. The 

total length to be ground per weld was 2 x 11.5 

m for each of the four main legs. 

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 approved world-wide. 

OHSAS 18001 is the latest approval obtained by 

ESAB, see page 2. 

Conclusion 

The Tombua Landana template was one of the 

most challenging projects ever undertaken by 

Heerema Vlissingen. It required a carefully 

planned factory lay-out and a level of precision 

not before experienced. The company finished 

the project within the agreed delivery term and, 

by the publication date of this Svetsaren, its sister 

company, HMC, will be involved in sea 

transportation and installation of the 474 m tall 

Tombua Landana oil and gas platform. 

The final words of this article should be 

addressed to the welders of Heerema Vlissingen 

who did such a tremendous job, notwithstanding 

the high preheat and interpass temperatures and 

overall tough working conditions. 

Figure 13. Class C grinding on TKY-joints to correct 

convexity, notches or undercut at the toes of the weld. 

Safety was essential. To step up its performance 

beyond already tough levels, Heerema Vlissingen 

took part in Chevron’s safety programme 

– Incident and Injury Free (IIF) – in which Chevron 

gave workshops and training to the yard personnel 

aiming at individual development. 

For its welding solutions, Heerema Vlissingen 

relied on low-hydrogen consumable technology 

from ESAB – a supplier that meets Heerema 

Vlissingen’s demands in any respect, including 

quality management systems, environmental 

management systems and occupational 

management systems. Like Heerema, ESAB is 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: 

ALFRED VAN AARTSEN, EWE, IS WELDING ENGINEER AT 

HEEREMA VLISSINGEN B.V., THE NETHERLANDS. 

ERIC DE MAN, EWE, IS PRODUCT MANAGER 

CONSUMABLES AND KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER AT 

ESAB B.V., AMERSFOORT, THE NETHERLANDS. 


Tombua Landana project 

This huge oil and gas platform is due to be operational by the third quarter of 2009 in the Tombua 

and Landana deep water development areas, off the coast of Angola. The main contractor is Daewoo 

Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, on behalf of Cabinda Oil Company and its partners. It is the production 

centre in the development of the oil and gas reserves in block 14, in Angolan waters. 

The Tombua Landana development follows the installation of the Benguela Belize-platform, an integrated 

drilling and production platform for the development of the Benguela and Belize fields. It was the industry’s 

first application of compliant piled tower structural technology outside the Gulf of Mexico. At 512 m, it is 

among the world’s tallest man-made structures. 

The Tombua Landana project involves the construction of the drilling and production platform, a subsea 

centre of water injectors and producers and the installation and tie-in of two export pipelines that will 

connect the Tombua Landana drilling and production platform to the Benguela-Belize oil and gas pipeline 

transportation system. 

The Tombua Landana platform stands 474 m tall, nearly as high as her twin-sister in block 14. The 

platform engineering, fabrication and installation has been contracted to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine 

Engineering (DSME). DSME will build the the topside in Okpo, Korea and has subcontracted the tower top 

section (TTS) to Gulf Island Fabricators, the tower bottom section (TBS) to Gulf Marine Fabricators (USA); 

and the tower base template (TBT) to Heerema Vlissingen, The Netherlands. 

Transport of all substructures to Angola and installation has been subcontracted to Heerema Marine 

Contractors, a sister company of Heerema Vlissingen. 

Project Scope 

Landana North via 

Lobito Subsea 

Center C 

(3) Producers 

(3) Water Injectors 

18” TL OIL EXPORT 

PIPELINE 

Benguela Belize 

Platform 

14” TL GAS 

EXPORT PIPELINE 

16” BBLT GAS 

EXPORT PIPELINE 

T-L Drilling 

& Production 

Platform 

30 wells 

130 MBOPD Tombua South 

Subsea Center 

(6) Producers 

(4) Water Injectors 

Malongo 

Terminal 

East Kokongo 

Nemba 

T-L 

Project 

Scope 

Tower Top Section (TTS) 

6,700 t 

Images on project description page 

(+map to be added) 

Tower Bottom Section (TBS) 

29,200 t 

Tower Base Template (TBT) 

3,000 t 

Taipei 101 

1667ft (508m) 

Petronas Towers 

1483ft (452m) 

Wells Fargo 

994ft (303m) 

Bank of America 

781ft (238m) 

The Gherkin 

591ft (180m) 

Tombua Landana 

1554ft (474m) 


Port of Marseille sees LNG storage 

tanks erected with ESAB welding 

technology. 

BRUNO MALAGOLI, ESAB SPA., MESERO, ITALY. 

Gas de France completed the expansion of 

their LNG receiving and distribution terminal in 

Fos Cavaou, near Marseille, in mid-2007. The 

project, awarded to a joint venture of Saipem 

and Sofregaz, comprised the engineering, 

procurement and construction of the overall 

terminal facilities, including three 110,000m 3 

LNG storage tanks, sub-contracted to the 

Italian Bentini Group SpA. whom relied on 

ESAB LNG welding technology. 

The Bentini SpA Group 

Established in the 1950s, the Bentini Group SpA, 

based in Faenza, Italy, expanded rapidly during 

post-war reconstruction, operating abroad as 

from 1976, and enjoying continuous growth and 

diversification in the civil and industrial 

plant-engineering sector, both as a main and sub 

contractor. It has a turnover of 150 million Euros 

and over 1200 employees, operating in France, 

Algeria, Libya and Nigeria. In Algeria, it has two 

daughter companies; Gepco SpA, a general 

contractor in the oil and gas industry, and Benco 

SpA, a general construction contractor. 

LNG tanks 

The project consisted of three cryogenic tanks, 

each with a capacity 110,000m 3 . They are 

cylindrical in shape with a diameter of 80m and 

an overall height of 37m. The maximum liquid 

level inside the tank is 24m. The inner wall (in 

contact with the liquid gas) is constructed from 

X8Ni9 steel (EN 10028-4) - a 9% nickel steel, 


typically for cryogenic applications down to 

-196°C. Here the liquefied natural gas, arriving in 

LNG tankers, is stored and held at a temperature 

of -163°C at a pressure slightly above atmospheric. 

For distribution, the LNG is re-gasified by heat 

exchange with sea water, odorised and transported 

through the pipeline network at a pressure of 

70-100 bar. 

The thickness of the tank bottom plates is 6mm, 

and the stringer plate 10mm. The metal plates for 

the primary tank - in contact with the liquid - vary 

in thickness from 16.6mm (at the bottom) to 

12mm (at the top), compensating for the 

hydrostatic pressure from the stored liquid, which 

increases gradually towards the bottom. Figure 1, 

representing the tank cross section, gives an idea 

of the complexity and types of materials involved 

in the construction. 

Materials and welding 

The main component is the primary tank 

designed to contain the liquid natural gas. The 

primary tank is surrounded by a corner protection 

system - lower in height and designed to offer 

additional safety in the case of liquid leakage from 

the primary tank. These components are made 

from 9%Ni steel, resistant to temperatures down 

to -196°C (coloured red in Figure 1). Further protection, 

known as the vapour barrier and covering 

the whole tank internally, is made of carbon steel 

plates and serves to hold the gas in equilibrium 

with the liquid. 

According to Bentini’s Welding Engineer in 

charge, Mr. Emanuele Ceroni, “The welding was 

of vital importance – from the initial welding 

process qualifications right through to the on-site 

management and monitoring of the human 

resources - due to the importance of the 

construction and the potentially associated risks. 

The welding processes used for construction of 

the tank are MMA, SAW and semi-automatic 

GMAW. The latter process was used for welding 

the suspended aluminium roof with ESAB OK 

Autrod 5183 wire. For the vertical joints of the 

carbon steel vapour barrier, about 7500m for 

each tank, Saipem had proposed uphill MMA. 

The two phases in construction of the suspended 

roof and vapour barrier did not overlap. I, therefore, 

had the idea to also use the semi-automatic 

Figure 1. Cross section of the LNG storage tank. 

GMAW process for the vapour barrier, where it 

involved a fillet weld. After obtaining approval from 

Saipem we searched for the right consumable. 

ESAB advised us to use the vertical downhill 

technique with 1.2mm diameter Tubrod 14.12 

wire. In production, this wire allows an appreciable 

increase in productivity and consequent saving of 

time, as well as limited deformation.” 

As previously mentioned, various materials are 

involved in the construction, starting with the 

most strategic component, X8Ni9 steel (EN 

10028-4), with 9% nickel. It is steel typically used 

for cryogenic applications and has been widely 

used in this type of plant. However, as it is highly 

sensitive to magnetic fields, it could create 

potential problems associated with welding. This is 

the reason why the ESAB OK 92.55 electrode was 

chosen as it can also be used with AC to minimise 

the risk of magnetic arc blow. Most of the welding 

of the 9% nickel steel was done with these electrodes 

at a consumption of around 32 tons. 

1 – Piping from 114.3 to 762.0mm 

(mat. EN 10028-7 X2CrNi 18/9) 

2 – Compression ring 

(mat. EN 10028-3 P 355 NL1) 

3 – Outer reinforced concrete wall 

4 – Carbon steel vapour barrier 

(mat. EN 10028-3 P 275 NL1) 

5 – Main tank (mat. EN 10028-4 X8Ni9) 

6 – Insulation with perlite 

7 – Corner protection system 

(mat. EN 10028-4 X8Ni9) 

8 – Resilient blanket 

9 – Bottom, carbon steel vapour barrier 

(mat. EN 10028-3 P 275 NL1) 

10 – Bottom, secondary tank 

(mat. EN 10028-4 X8Ni9) 

11 – Bottom, primary tank 

(mat. EN 10028-4 X8Ni9) 

12 – Foundation 

13 – Suspended aluminium roof 

(mat. ASTM B 209 ALLOY 5083) 

14 – Stringer plate 

(mat. EN 10028-4 X8Ni9) 

A smaller quantity of wire and flux was used for 

submerged arc welding of the bottom plate with a 

suitable tractor and for circumferential welding 

with the ESAB Circomatic system, using 

ERNiCrMo-4 wire. 

In construction, carbon steel was used for the 

metal plates of the outer lining, P275NL1 steel 

(EN 10028-3) for the base and S 275 J2G3 (EN 

10025) for the entire roof structure. Also, part of 

the piping was made of ASTM A106 Gr. B steel. 

A total of 21 tons of ESAB Citobasico electrodes, 

2600kg of ESAB OK Tubrod 14.12 cored wire 

and modest quantities of OK Tigrod 12.60 for 

certain TIG welding operations were used. 

In addition, a high quantity of stainless steel 

piping in X2CrNi 18/9 (EN 10028-7) was welded 

with ESAB OK 61.35. ESAB OK 67.60 (309L) 

electrodes were used for the dissimilar joints 

between stainless steel and carbon steel, as well 

as for the joints between pipes and metal plates 


of the roof, involving an overall consumption of 

approximately 7-8000kg, in addition to 1400kg of 

ESAB OK Tigrod 16.10 rods. 

Finally, the suspended aluminium roof (Figure 1), 

made of ASTM B209 alloy 5083, was welded 

with the GMAW process using 1.2mm and 

2.4mm ESAB OK Autrod 5183 wire, total 

consumption being1500kg. 

Co-operation 

“Our relationship with ESAB is excellent”, says 

Emanuele Ceroni. “Throughout the project, we 

received full support in terms of presence, 

assistance, advice, competence and innovation, 

as in the case of the OK Tubrod 14.12 wire. 

ESAB lives up to its image in quality, supply 

and service.” 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

NAAM BRUNO FUNCTIE. MALAGOLI IS PRODUCT MANAGER 

CONSUMABLES AT ESAB SPA., MESERO, ITALY. 


SIF Group bv at the foundation of 

Dutch wind energy 

ESAB SAW technology crucial in the production of piles and 

transition pieces for the Q7 North Sea wind farm. 

ERIC DE MAN ESAB NEDERLAND B.V. THE NETHERLANDS AND WILLIAM LAFLEUR SIF GROUP BV THE NETHERLANDS 

Q7 is the largest offshore wind farm 

in the Dutch sector of the North Sea 

and a step forward in the 

Netherlands’ renewable energy 

policy to boost wind energy 

production to 2750 MW by 2020. 

Sif Group bv manufactured the 

foundation piles and the transition 

pieces. 

Source: Offshore Windpark Q7 


Figure 1. One of the monopiles being driven into the sea bed. The piles are 50 or 54 m in length and the water 

depth is 19-24 m. Source: Offshore Windpark Q7. 

Figure 2. Positioning of a transition piece onto a monopile. 

The transition piece reaches 15 m above sea level. 

Acknowledgement. 

We thank the management of Sif Group bv for 

facilitating our visit to the production site. 

The Q7 project 

The Q7 offshore wind farm has been built some 

23 km offshore from IJmuiden, in block Q7 of the 

Dutch continental shelf. It is unique in the sense 

that it is the world’s first located at such a distance 

from the coast (outside the 12-mile zone) 

and in deeper waters than ever before (19-24m). 

This was one of the reasons why its owners, 

sustainable energy group Econcern, and energy 

company ENECO Energie, selected the proven 

technology of the Vestas V-80 2.0 MW turbines. 

The project comprises 60 wind turbines with a 

total capacity of 120 MW. 

Under the Kyoto Protocol, The Netherlands 

agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in 

the period 2008-2012, by 6% relative to the 1990 

levels. The Q7 project will contribute a reduction 

of 225,000 tonnes of CO 2 

emission, annualy. 

Van Oord, an international dredging and marine 

contractor, was responsible for the installation of 

the wind farm; offshore erections starting in May 

2007. 

The foundation piles (monopiles), 54 m long with a 

diameter of 4 m and 320 tons in weight, were 

driven into the sea-bed for over half their length. 

The transition pieces, weighing 115-tons and 

reaching 15 m above sea level, were placed onto 

the foundations using Jumping Jack, a 

specially designed vessel (Figures 1 & 2). 

The masts (105 tonnes), and the turbines (65 

tonnes), are produced by Vestas and shipped to 

IJmuiden for erection. Sea Energy – another 

dedicated offshore construction vessel 

– transported two wind towers and two turbines 

at a time to Q7 for installation. 

To minimise turbine interaction, guidelines 

stipulate that the turbines must be separated by a 

distance of at least 5 times their rotor diameter 

(5 x 80m). The Q7 turbines are placed apart at a 

distance of 550m. 

Van Oord was also responsible for the installation 

of a 520 ton transformer substation on a 

monopile in the middle of Q7 - the first offshore. 

Q7 will be fully operational in March 2008. 

Sif Group bv 

Sif Group bv, located in Roermond, The 

Netherlands, specialises in the manufacture of 

heavy tubular structures for the offshore oil and 

gas industry, offshore windfarm foundations, 

harbour and jetty facilities, and pressure vessel 

shells and cones. The company has vast 

experience in welding, heat treatment and nondestructive 

and destructive testing of fine grained 

high strength structural steels commonly used in 

these industries. Sif Group bv is located on the 

river Maas with its own docking facilities and direct 

connections to strategically located main ports, 

such as Rotterdam and Antwerp, enabling them to 

ship structures of any dimension and weight, up to 

800 tons, using coasters or their own river barges. 

Anticipating the boom in offshore wind farms, Sif 

Group bv invested heavily in a new yard lay-out, a 

new production hall for foundation piles and 


(+ flange) and the monopiles. The design temperature 

of the transition piece was -10°C (above 

LAT - Lowest Anticipated Tide) and 0° (below 

LAT) for the monopiles, whereas the lowest CVN 

test temperature was -50°C, valid for the thickest 

wall sections of the transition pieces. The 

construction was subject to GL Rules & 

Regulations IV Part 2: Regulations for the 

certification of Offshore Wind Energy Conversion 

Systems Edition 1999. 

Figure 3. Monopile under construction. Note the longitudinal en circumferential welds. 

modern production lines - a process that is still 

ongoing. This policy has been extremely successful, 

judging by the impressive list of offshore wind 

farms in Western Europe in which the company 

has been involved. More than 80% of the installed 

offshore wind farms rely on steel foundations 

fabricated by Sif Group bv, amongst them the 

Horns Rev project in Denmark (the second largest 

farm to date) and the Q7 project. 

Sif Group bv maintains an effective quality 

management system certified in accordance with 

the ISO 9001: 2000 standard and with the 

implementation of EN-ISO 3834-2 comprehensive 

quality requirements for welding. Additional 

international approvals and authorisations include: 

• Structural tubulars: API Spec. 2B 

• Pressure vessel parts: ASME U stamp, ASME 

U2 stamp, ASME S stamp, PED 97/23 

• Dynamically loaded Steel Structures: 

DIN 18800-7 Class E – Ü stamp. 

Dimensions, material grades and mechanical 

requirements. 

The challenging Q7 project involved the manufacture 

of 61 mono piles and 61 transition pieces 

(60 for the wind farm and one for the transformer 

station). Both are tubular structures; the monopiles 

are straight and the transition pieces slightly conical. 

Figure 3 shows a monopile under construction. 

The principal weld connections, the longitudinal 

and circumferential welds are clearly visible. The 

individual cans are 3–3.5m in length and 4m in 

diameter with the longitudinal welds staggered at 

180° intervals from can to can. The wall thickness 

varies over the length of the monopile, from 45mm 

for the thinnest section, to 86mm. Transitions 

between differing wall thickness were smoothed by 

chamfering (1:5) and/or weld build-up. 

Table 1 gives an overview of steel grades and 

CVN impact requirements for the several thickness 

ranges, both for the transition pieces 

Sif fabrication of monopiles and transition 

pieces. 

The production line starts with beveling by flame cutting 

or machining and subsequent cold rolling of 

plates to a ring section. With two bending machines, 

Sif Group bv can roll plate with a thickness of 

20-150mm to shells with a diameter of 0.6 to 8m 

and a maximum width of 4.2m (Figure 4). The rolling 

process is performed in several steps to achieve the 

specified dimensions and roundness; also to facilitate 

perfect alignment for high productivity welding. 

Tubular structures, in general, and monopiles, in 

particular, are straightforward constructions with 

heavy longitudinal and circumferential welds. SAW 

makes up more than 90% of all welding. Serial 

production depends on an efficient factory lay-out 

where fabrication is performed in a logical 

sequence, minimizing internal transportation of 

components. Factory lay-out is also important to 

achieve the full production potential offered by the 

Table 1. Material grades, thickness and impact requirements 

Application Thickness Structural 

Category 

Material 

grade specified 

Test 

temperature 

Impact energy 

energy requirements 

Transition shell 

T< 45 primary S355J2G3- -30°C 34J av. (L) 

Td = -10°C 

EN10025 

24J av. (T) 

45

equipment and the welding heads getting 

jammed by weld metal shrink (longitudinal welds) 

Submerged arc welding 

Another constant factor is the wire/flux combination. 

Sif Group bv generally uses ESAB OK Autrod 

12.32 solid wire for medium and high strength 

steels (EN756: S3Si) combined with a high basic 

flux (EN760: SA FB 1 55 AC H5). 

The combination yields good impact properties 

down to -60° and is ideal for the various 

multi-wire SAW processes applied by Sif Group bv. 

Essential is the good slag release, mostly selfdetaching, 

in the first runs of the narrow gap joints. 

Figure 5. Semi-narrow gap joint used for external longitudinal 

and circumferential joints. 

Figure 4. Rolling plates to shells; the first fabrication step 

in the production of monopiles. 

submerged arc welding process. 

Joint preparation is basically the same for all 

welds, with only the semi-narrow gap varying in 

depth, dependent on the wall thickness. It is similar 

for all heavy tubular constructions produced by 

Sif Group bv, be it monopiles, foundation piles for 

oil rigs, jacket legs or other components for the oil 

and gas industry. It makes production predictable, 

ensures reproducible weld quality and reduces 

the start-up times from project to project. 

The semi-narrow gap joints produced through the 

milling process are geometrically exact, smooth, 

even, and burr-free, their quality surpassing that 

of back-gouged joints. Furthermore it has the 

advantage that the root of the internal welds can 

be taken out, together with any weld imperfections, 

in this critical area of the joint (Figure 5) 

Narrow gap welding, of course, has the 

advantage of a reduced weld volume and, thereby, 

a shorter welding time per joint and reduced weld 

metal consumption. The option for a semi-narrow 

gap, with an included angle of 13°, was made to 

avoid access problems for the multi wire SAW 

OK Autrod 12.32 is supplied on specially 

designed bulk spools with 350 or 700kg of wire 

– known as spiders - designed to fulfill the specific 

Sif Group demands and only supplied to them 

(Figure 6). They are colour-coded, separating 

them from occasional other wire qualities supplied 

on spider, and wrapped in a protective foil that 

can remain on the spools without hindering the 

wire pay-off. The wire is spooled to discharge in 

the direction needed for the multi-wire SAW 

systems. The specification of OK Autrod 12.32 is 

very narrow in regard to chemical composition 

and surface condition - to fulfill offshore 

requirements. 

The special production line for the manufacture of 

wind turbine foundations consists of several multiwire 

submerged arc welding stations, most 

equipped with ESAB welding components and 

high duty LAF/TAF power sources. Sometimes 

ESAB and Sif Group BV cooperate in retrofitting 

existing column and boom-type stations or the 

provision of complete new automatic solutions. 

A recent example was a customer-designed SAW 

installation for welding of internal stiffener rings in 

tubular constructions. 

The portal welders, where the larger piles are 

completed, are huge and highly efficient (Figure 8). 

Circumferential welds are simultaneously welded 

by an operator controlled multi-wire station, the 

deposition rates thus achieved being impressive. 

The system is equipped with PLC controls and 

optical sensors, which monitor and control the 

entire welding process and guarantee a consistent 

and high weld quality. The operator starts the 

Figure 6. OK Autrod 12.32 supplied on customer 

designed spindles. 

Figure 7. Macro of a typical weld cross section in 70mm 

plate. 


Table 2. Weld metal properties at -50°C in 70mm plate from a WPS comparable to the weld of figure 5. 

Cv-impact energy [J] 

Average 

1st welded side V-joint, SAW-twin 2 mm subsurface 111J 94J 90J 98J 

2nd welded side U-joint, SAW-triple 2 mm subsurface 110J 102J 104J 105J 

Root area 50 mm depth 112J 154J 150J 139J 

welding process manually and the system 

automatically completes the full welding sequence, 

including the positioning of split beads across the 

width of the joint. If necessary, the operator can 

change to manual control at any time. 

Figure 7 shows an example of an absolutely 

flawless heavy weld obtained in this manner. Weld 

metal properties at -50°C, from a related welding 

procedure qualification for Q7 in 70mm plate 

thickness, are given in table 2. 

Sif Group bv is particularly impressed with the 

performance of the ESAB wire feeders on the 

narrow gap equipment and the LAF 1250 and 

TAF 1250 power sources. The installation 

operates 24 hours a day, with minimal 

maintenance, and has not given a single problem 

over a period of 2 years. 

Figuur 8. Portal welder for circumferential welding, in operation. 

Sif Group bv Reference list of windfarm projects. 

• 1994 Medemblik, Netherlands 4 Monopiles Ø 3.500x35x28.000mm Weight 346 ton 

• 2002 Horns Rev, Denmark 80 Monopiles ø 4.000x50x58.000mm Weight 11.080 ton 

80 Transitions ø 4.240x35x15.000mm Weight 5.325 ton 

• 2003 North Hoyle, United Kingdom 30 Monopiles ø 4.000x30:70x58.000mm Weight 8.508 ton 


• 2003 Arklow, Ireland 7 Monopiles ø 5.000x50x45.000mm Weight 1.931 ton 

7 Transitions ø 5.390x45x15.150mm Weight 929 ton 

A bright future in wind energy 

By timely investment in new welding technology 

and production facilities, Sif Group bv has been 

able to gain a strong foothold in the Western 

European offshore wind energy market and made 

a major contribution to the generation of clean 

energy. The project list at the end of this article 

highlights the company’s reputation as a reliable 

partner for large wind energy projects. With many 

new wind energy projects anticipated, the future 

looks bright. Partnered with ESAB for welding 

technology, the company can be assured of a 

supplier that understands its needs and can 

respond to its specific requirements. 

• 2004 Kentish Flat, United Kingdom 30 Monopiles ø 4.300x50x37.000mm Weight 5.013 ton 


• 2005 Barrow, United Kingdom 30 Monopiles ø 4.750x45:75x51.000mm Weight 11.320 ton 


• 2006 Burbo, United Kingdom 25 Monopiles ø 4.700x45:75x37.000mm Weight 5.307 ton 

25 Transitions ø 5.390x45:67x22.350mm Weight 3.994 ton 

• 2006 Beatrice, United Kingdom 2 sets Central Pipe, Legs & Pilesleeves Weight 832 ton 

8 Piles ø 1.869x60/80x42.500mm Weight 935 ton 

• 2006 Onshore Tripod Multibrid, Germany 1 Main column ø 6.000x35:75x26.000mm Weight 203 ton 

3 Pileguides ø 2.900x40:65 x 9.000mm Weight 102 ton 

• 2006 Q7, The Netherlands 61 Monopiles ø 4.000x35:79x54.000mm Weight 18.700 ton 

61 Transitions ø 4.200x35:57x19.000mm Weight 5.340 ton 

• 2007 Lynn & Inner Dowsing, UK 54 Monopiles Ø 4.740x50/75x36.000mm Weight 12.100 ton 

54 Transitions Ø 5.100x45/67x22.050mm Weight 9.100 ton 


ERIC DE MAN, BSC, EWE, IS PRODUCT MANAGER 

CONSUMABLES AND KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER AT 

ESAB NEDERLAND B.V., AMERSFOORT, THE 

NETHERLANDS. 

WILLIAM LAFLEUR, BSC, EWE, IS MATERIAL & 

WELDING ENGINEER AT SIF GROUP BV, ROERMOND, 

THE NETHERLANDS. 


Zorya-Mashproekt relies on ESAB for 

arc welding of gas turbine components 

YURIY BUTENKO, SE RPCGTI ZORYA-MASHPROEKT, NIKOLAEV, UKRAINE AND ALEXEY BELIKOV, ESAB RUSSIA, MOSCOW, RUSSIA. 

The Zorya-Mashproekt Gas Turbine 

Building Research and Production 

Complex is a leading Ukranian producer 

of industrial gas turbines 

and marine gas turbine power 

plants and engines. Although, 

today, naval demand is far from 

exhausted, particular emphasis is 

placed on the production of civil 

equipment. In the wake of associated 

technical developments, the 

company recently invested in 

state-of-the-art ESAB arc welding 

systems. 

The Zorya-Mashproekt Gas Turbine Building 

Research and Production Complex was founded 

in the early 1950s in Nikolaev, Ukraine, for the 

development and production of gas turbine 

equipment and reducers for vessels of the USSR 

Navy. In the 1970s, the company was assigned to 

develop and manufacture gas turbines for use in 

compressor stations on trunk gas lines and in 

mobile and stationary power plants. Over more 

than half a century, Zorya-Mashproekt has produced 

four generations of gas-turbine engines, 

used in around 500 battleships and commercial 

vessels. Twenty-four power plants, with a total 

capacity of 1120 MW, and over 500 gas compressor 

units, with a total capacity of more than 

6000 MW, are equipped with the company’s gas 

turbines. 

Today, Zorya-Mashproekt products compete with 

leading fabricators around the world, the main 

products being engines based on the DO71, 

DO90 and DO80 gas turbines with a capacity of 

6, 16 and 25 MW respectively. A new engine, 

DN70, with a capacity of 10 MW and an efficiency 

of 35%, is under development. It will replace 

technically outdated and less efficient turbines. 

Another development, demanded by the power 

generation industry, is a one-shaft engine with a 

capacity of 45-60 MW. 

ESAB assessment and advice 

Various steels and alloys are used in modern gas 

turbines, for example, CMn steels, low-alloyed 

steels, austenitic and martensitic stainless steels, 

high-alloyed steels and nickel-base alloys. Some 

components are made of titanium (eg, turbine 

fans). When producing turbine parts, minimum 

weight and maximum material utilisation are 

Figure. 1. Zorya-Mashproekt’s DN-80 25MW gas turbine. 


Figure. 2. Welding with one of the automatic TIG stations. 

important factors. Most parts are manufactured 

using welding technologies and the welded joint 

is often the crucial element defining the operational 

capability of the part. Also, with the limited 

weldability of some of the materials used, the 

most important consideration for the welding 

specialist is the selection of the appropriate and 

most efficient welding process, equipment and 

consumables. 

Electron-beam welding is the principal welding 

process used in the fabrication of gas-turbine 

engines. It is performed under vacuum, which 

protects the weld pool and facilitates weld metal 

strength, deformation being minimal due to the 

highly concentrated heat source. However, for many 

components, arc welding processes are preferred. 

Co-operation with ESAB began in 1995, when 

company management set the task of increasing 

production output and reducing welding costs. 

ESAB specialists carried out a technical audit of 

the welding methods used in production. Its 

conclusion was that, without up-to-date arc 

welding technologies - MMA and manual TIG 

welding being the main arc welding processes – 

results were high weld metal consumption and 

unnecessarily low overall productivity. 

Also, repair rates were high because the superior 

weld quality standard was hard to meet - even by 

qualified welders. 

The audit resulted in a recommendation for 

investment in programmable automatic TIG 

systems, programmable pulse inverter power 

sources and the replacement of MMA welding by 

MIG/MAG and cored wire welding (FCAW), 

wherever possible. In response to this, Zorya- 

Mashproekt acquired two ESAB automatic TIG 

systems, consisting of a MKR-300 column & 

boom, A 25 TIG welding head and A2 Minimaster 

GMAW head, PEG1 control unit, AristoMig 500 

power source (today named AristoMig 5000i) and 

PEMA-1500 positioners. For manual welding, the 

company bought various AristoMig 500 

multi-process inverters with U8 control unit – one 

machine covering MMA, TIG, MIG/MAG and FCAW. 

Automatic TIG 

Automatic TIG welding is used for the circumferential 

and longitudinal welds in gas turbine 

bodies in 3-8 mm thick austenitic or martensitic 

stainless steel or nickel-base alloys. It involves 

pulsed TIG welding of I-joints without a root gap, 

onto a copper backing bar, and without filler 

material addition. Plate thicknesses up to 3 mm 

are welded one-sided and, above 3 mm, two-sided. 

Argon is both shielding and backing gas – the 

latter flowing into the root area through holes in 

the backing bar. Special devices ensure tight 

clamping of the weld edges onto the backing bar. 

Welding parameters and sequence are pre-programmed 

in the control unit, for the various materials 

and plate thicknesses. Table 1 gives an 

example of actual parameter settings and Figure 

3 shows a weld deposited with these parameters. 

This method has a number of advantages, in 

addition to a dramatic increase in productivity. 

By fully controlling the arc, the quality and 

Table 1. Parameters for automatic pulse TIG welding of 

steel (347) with 3 mm wall thickness. 

No Parameters of welding mode Value 

1. Pulse current, A 210 

2. Background current, A 40 

3. Pulse duration, sec. 0.40 

4. Inter-pulse time, sec. 0.42 

5. Upslope, sec. 0.1 

6. Downslope, sec. 0.8 

7. Gas pre-flow, sec. 1.0 

8. Gas post-flow, sec. 5.0 

9. Travel speed, cm/min 18 

10. 

Consumption of argon for gas 

shielding, l/min. 

11. 

Consumption of argon for gas 

backing, l/min. 

4 

12. Arc length, mm 2 

13. 

Diameter of tungsten electrode, 

mm. 

8 

4.0 

Table 2. Consumables classifications. 

EN 

SFA/AWS 

FILARC PZ6166 12073: T 13 4 M A5.9: EC410NiMo 

OK Tubrod 14.31 12073: T 19 12 3 L R M 3 A5.22: E316LT0-1, E316LT0-4 

OK 68.25 1600: E 13 4 B 4 2 A5.4: E410NiMo-15 

OK 63.30 1600: E 19 12 3 L R 12 A5.4: E316L-17 

Figure. 3. Appearance of a weld deposited by automatic TIG welding with the 

parameters of Table 1. 


25 ±2° 25 ±2° 

4 +1 

ring 

copper backing bar 

Figure 4. Joint preparation of a ring for the outlet part of 

a turbine. 

Figure 5. Flux-cored arc welding of an outlet ring, using FILARC PZ6166 and the AristoMig 500 inverter power source. 

appearance of the weld become consistent and 

repeatable. Also, the lower heat input from pulse 

welding gives lower welding stresses and 

consequently lower deformation, as well as a 

reduced risk of hot cracking in sensitive materials. 

As mentioned, the method allows welding without a 

root gap and without filler materials, but it places high 

requirements on the preparation of the weld edges: 

• the cut, achieved by laser cutting, must be 

exactly perpendicular to the surface; 

• after cutting, machining of the edges is required 

to a depth of 0.5 mm to remove the oxide film; 

• the joint area must be cleaned to metal shine 

(10-15 mm from both edges); 

• the plate edges must be square along the full 

length, without edge rounding and bevels; 

• the root gap may not exceed 0.2 mm; 

• the displacement and thickness variation of the 

plate edges may not exceed 10% of the 

nominal thickness; 

• run-on and run-off plates must be of the same 

material and thickness as the base metal. 

• the axis of the joint should coincide with the 

axis of the forming groove. 

Cored wire welding 

Flux- and metal-cored wires are widely used for 

manual and mechanised welding. FILARC 

PZ6166 metal-cored wire, sometimes combined 

with the MMA electrode OK 68.25, is used for 

components in martensitic stainless steel. For 

austenitic 18Cr-9Ni grades, the company uses 

OK Tubrod 14.31 rutile flux-cored wire and the 

MMA electrode OK 63.30 (Table 2). 

An example of cored wire welding with FILARC 

PZ6166 are the rings for the turbine outlet. These 

are in martensitic stainless steel 20-13 (410) with 

14-20 mm wall thickness, a diameter 600-800 

mm and a height up to 250 mm. After having 

rolled a bar to a ring, the ring is closed by manual 

welding in the downhand position. 

Welding is carried out with FILARC PZ6116 - 

1.2 mm, using the AristoMig 500 inverter power 

source. The 98%Ar/2%CO 2 

shielding gas gives a 

good weldability and limited burn-off of alloying 

elements, while leaving behind a relatively clean 

weld. The joint preparation is shown in Figure 4. 

The component is pre-heated to 200-220°C. 

The weld is started and finished on run-on and 

run-off plates with the same joint preparation and 

connected to the ring by strong tack welds. The 

root pass is welded onto a copper backing bar 

and the joined is filled with 5-8 passes, depending 

on the thickness. Each deposited stringer 

bead must be clear of oxides and the, usually 

small, amount of slag. The deep and wide penetration 

provided by PZ 6166 reduces the risk of 

lack of penetration and slag inclusions. 

The welding parameters used are: 

• stick-out length 15 mm 

• welding current 250 A 

• arc voltage 30 V 

• wire feed speed 11 m/min. 

These parameters provide a deposition rate of 

about 4.5 kg/h, increasing productivity considerably 

when compared with previously used MMA. 

Stable processes, consistent quality, 

increased productivity 

During the implementation phase, ESAB demo 

welders trained Zorya Mashproekt welders to 

operate the new systems and apply the welding 

methods. The welding processes are stable 

and problem-free. Inspection of the welded joints 

visually, by measurement and by x-ray, consistently 

reveals extremely low defect rates. ESAB welding 

technology has enabled Zorya Mashproekt to 

increase overall welding productivity, improve 

quality and simplify operations for welders. This 

positive experience has led the company to order 

new ESAB equipment, year on year, in particular 

AristoMig 500 inverter power sources. 


YURIY BUTENKO IS CHIEF WELDING SPECIALIST AT SE 

RPCGTI ZORYA-MASHPROEKT, NIKOLAEV, UKRAINE, 

A POSITION HAS HELD SINCE 1995. ALEXEY BELIKOV , 

HAS BEEN PRODUCT MANAGER AT ESAB RUSSIA IN 

MOSCOW, SINCE 1994. 



A complete and reliable partner 

for pipe mills. 

The latest ESAB equipment and consumables 

for longitudinal welding. 

EGBERT SCHOFER, ESAB AB, LAXÅ, SWEDEN AND MARTIN GEHRING, ESAB AB, GOTHENBURG SWEDEN. 

The demand for SAW-welded 

pipes has grown steadily over 

many years, with a significant 

increase in both 2006 and 2007. 

Worldwide, more than 150 pipe 

mills produce an estimated 

30,000,000 tonnes of SAW welded 

pipes. When this production is split 

between longitudinal and spiral 

welded pipes, we see a ratio of 

around 57/43%. ESAB is an established, 

reliable partner in the pipe 

mill segment, offering flux and wire 

as well as equipment components 

and controls. 

When it comes to welding equipment for the pipe 

mill industry, ESAB is known to have delivered 

hundreds of highly efficient power sources, 

very strong wire feeders, special internal and 

external welding heads and customised process 

controllers. ESAB is particularly strong in the 

retrofit business, boosting the productivity of 

existing lines by increasing the amount of wires, 

both internally and externally, and also by 

exchanging old controls for new process 

controllers, including data logging and interface to 

local network systems. 

Nevertheless, ESAB has never attempted to offer 

complete production lines. The company’s aim is 

clearly to stay in welding – ESAB’s core business. 

However, the drastically increased demand in 

SAW pipe welding, and our customers’ desire to 

reduce the number of suppliers, has made ESAB 

strengthen its focus on the segment and extend 

its range of products with, for example, 

specialised internal booms and advanced return 

current systems. 

Here, a number of new products are highlighted. 

They have been supplied exclusively to key 

customers for longitudinal pipe welding 

applications - although their benefits are equally 

valid for spiral welding. 

Continuous tack welding equipment 

Once rough formed, pipe coming out of the forming 

machine, can be tack welded by ESAB’s 

continuous tack welding equipment. The tack 

welding process itself is GMAW with solid wire of 3 

or 4mm diameter under CO 2 

or a mixture of CO 2 

with some 5-10% argon. To enable speeds up to 

6m/min, it uses a powerful ESAB type LAF 1600 

rectifier. This highly efficient power source has a 

secondary output of 1600A with 44V at 100% 

duty cycle and can be used for high efficiency 

GMAW and SAW- welding processes. 

The welding head is the well proven A6 S Arc 

Master, mounted on a heavy duty cross slide, 

enabling adaptation to different pipe diameters as 

well as the positioning of the welding head in the 

middle of the weld preparation (Figure 1). 

The SAW wire contact equipment has durable, 

spring loaded contact jaws and an extra gas 

nozzle in front of the contact equipment. Together 

with a wire straightness device at the in feeding 

side of the motor, this set-up has the great 

advantage of the most reliable wire contact 

combined with a spatter protected gas nozzle. 

The front mounted laser sensor guides the welding 

head via the cross slide and is also protected 

with a spatter shield. ESAB`s PEH digital process 

controller steers and controls the welding process 

under given welding parameters. Up to 10 

different welding process parameters can be 

stored for different pipe dimensions, if needed. 

Internal boom 

The internal boom has to fulfil many requirements. 

It needs to carry the welding head, including laser, 

video system, all current cables, flux support and 

suction hose, control cables and other parts. It 

requires the boom to be stable but, at the same 

time, as small as possible to also fit smaller pipes 

in 20” dimension. In the past, the maximum 

length was seldom more than 12m, plus run on 

and run off plates. Today, we sometimes need up 

to 18 or even 24m booms (spiral welding), 

Photo courtesy NOKSEL company 


Figure 1. GMAW tack welding head, including PEH 

Control on swivelling arm and laser tracking system. 

without increasing the minimum pipe diameter to 

be welded. It is, therefore, not easy to fulfil a 

stable weld over a long distance. 

ESAB`s solution is of a rigid, pre-stressed design 

to be linearly accurate over long distances (Figure 

2). The rear part of the boom is a steel frame that 

is bolted to the concrete floor. The rear end of the 

boom has a pivot point in the frame and can be 

tilted by an hydraulic cylinder, to secure feeding-in 

of the pipes without danger of collision. For height 

positioning, the boom can be moved vertically to 

adapt to different pipe diameters, having in mind 

fixed carriages in height for the pipes. 

Four steel wire brushes press on the inside surface 

of the pipe for voltage pick-up and for stabilisation. 

The voltage pick-up brushes are quite important to 

get the right voltage signal back to the process 

controller, to fulfil the demands of the given WPS. 

This is believed to be a unique technique to correct 

the voltage losses over the long distance to the 

welding head. The stabilisation of the boom is a 

further effect to keep the weld pool stable. 

Due to the high torque of ESAB’s VEC wire feeding 

motors, the decision was taken to position the wire 

feeding equipments at the end of the boom, while 

pushing the wire into the boom. This is different 

from most solutions in the market, but advantageous 

from a customers’ point of view. There is 

more space at the welding head for the positioning 

of the other components. and less weight at the 

welding head side. Wire straightness devices and 

wire feed motors are easily reachable and any 

service or exchange of feeding or guiding rolls is 

fast. There is also no temperature effect on the 

wire feeders and the inbuilt tachometer controls. 

Figure 2. Internal boom (18m) with welding head for longitudinal pipe welding. 

Internal welding head 

ESAB has developed internal welding heads 

designed for up to 4 wires. As previously 

mentioned, many different components had to be 

integrated. The welding head itself is connected 

with the internal boom via a small cross slide, to 

always be guided in the middle of the weld 

preparation. A laser sensor controls the welding 

head via the cross slide. If a sideways movement 

outside the limit of the cross slide is necessary, a 

signal is transferred to the pipe carriage to turn 

the pipe accordingly. The welding process is 

supervised on an external monitor via a video 

camera. Also, the laser signal is distributed on the 

control panel. The wires are smoothly guided via 

wire liners into the contact equipment of the 

welding head (Figure 3). The contact equipment is 

built up with spring-loaded contact jaws and fixed 

spacers between the different wires. The spacers 

have a fixed angle, so that the wires have a defined 

fixed position for a given welding procedure. If a 

different set up of the wires is needed when 

changing pipe dimensions and accordingly the 

WPS, the spacers can be exchanged for a 

different set. This is normally not necessary. 

Figure 3. Internal longitudinal welding head (4 wires) in test phase, with 4 voltage pick up brushes with pneumatic cylinders 

in front and behind the welding head. 

Return Current System 

One of the most important safeguards for a stable 

welding process is to secure the current flow from 


the power source via the welding head, welding 

arc, pipe and return to the power source. 

Magnetic effects such as arc blow, as well as 

changing distances to the fixed return pole, will 

affect the quality of the weld shape or even the 

total weld quality. Therefore, reliable solutions 

must be considered. 

Mounted on a column with a height-adjustable 

boom, two lines of steel brushes connected to 

the return current pole with cables, are pressed 

from the top onto the pipe to secure the return 

current (Figure 4). The two lines of brushes can 

be adapted to different pipe diameters. Internal 

welding requires one of such a system. Outside 

welding needs two - one in front of the outside 

welding head and one at the back. 

Power sources for pipe welding 

The high efficiency rectifier, previously described in 

the GMAW process, in the tack welding station, is 

used here as an SAW power source for the first 

wire. The DC-current guarantees deep, reliable 

penetration due to its straight polarity. The second, 

and all following wires, have an AC current supply. 

The pipe mill version of the TAF 1250 Square 

Wave Transformer is designed with digital 

optimisation of the arc characteristic for high 

efficiency SAW- welding at each welding head. 

The TAF 1250 Square Wave Transformer can be 

set and monitored via a LON-BUS-System from 

the plc-controller of the welding station. Preset 

welding parameters can be monitored and 

adjusted during welding. 

The TAF Square Wave Transformer has excellent 

welding characteristics throughout the current 

and voltage range, with particularly good starting 

and re-ignition properties. It delivers some 1250A 

at 44V and 100% duty cycle. The square wave 

technology avoids any arc blow effect caused by 

multiple arc currents as well as arc outs in AC 

zero transfer. The heavy-duty technology ensures 

maximum lifetime in continuous operation with 

minimum maintenance. TAF Square Wave 

Transformers are connected to the mains in so 

called “Scott-Connection”. Like the LAF 1600 

rectifier, the TAF 1250 secures the accuracy of 

welding data within a limit of +/- 10% variation of 

the mains voltage. 

Process Controller 

The welding control system includes a SIEMENS 

Simatic new generation PLC controller, equipped 

with an efficient processor. The Human Machine 

Interface (HMI) in the operators desk is freely 

selectable, either with touch screen or push 

buttons. A colour screen is included. 

Special features in welding control automation 

include: 

• Two stage controller allowing for “recovering“ of 

wire in the phase of ignition procedure; 

• Current and voltage ramps at the beginning; 

and at the end of welding; 

• Controlled burn-off of wire at the end of welding; 

• Sequential start and stop of wires at start and 

stop of welding; 

• Control of return current system functionality; 

• Malfunction reporting system. 

Main Procedures: 

Key-in information or select from a database: 

• Pipe No. 

• Pipe diameter 

• Pipe wall thickness 

• Start and stop position to be agreed with 

carriage producer 

• (free programmable other parameters) 

Key in welding data: 

• Voltage of each wire used with up and 

down limits 

Figure 4. Current return system with steel brushes on top of the pipe. 


Figure 5. OK Flux 10.74 - a low bead profile without 

peaks means cost saving in the later pipe coating 

operation. 

• Current of each wire used with up and down 

limits; 

• Wire feed speed of each wire used; 

• Welding speed to steer carriage with up and 

down limits. 

Data online monitoring in values or in time curves 

• Voltage V of each wire; 

• Current A of each wire; 

• Wire feed speed cm/min of each wire; 

• Used motor current A per wire; 

• Welding speed m/min signal from carriage; 

• Options on request: for example deposition 

rate, heat input. 

Data logging of above monitored values and 

transfer to local network 

Indication lights in green (OK) or red (not in function) 

• Arc is stroked; per each wire 

• Flux distribution, valve open 

• Carriage movement 

• Laser tracking signal 

Alarm signal (light or sound or both) will occur if 

welding limits are exceeded. 

Alarm signal when tracking is lost (no movement 

of slides). 

Emergency switch off will occur, if limits have 

passed a set unacceptable period of time. 

Emergency switch off by control personnel by 

Push Button is always possible. 

All welding parameters for all welding heads of all 

stations will be stored together for evaluation or 

production records and can be transferred into a 

central file server. 

Welding consumables 

ESAB has a wide range of fluxes and wires for 

use in pipe mills, for the complete range of SAW 

welded pipes - ranging from water pipes with 

relatively thin walls and usually no toughness 

requirements, to highest demanding gas pipes 

with large thicknesses and highest toughness 

requirements - and for high strength steels X70, 

X80 and higher. These are: 

• OK Flux 10.40 for spiral pipes with low 

requirements; 

• OK Flux 10.71 for spiral and longitudinal 

pipes with low and medium requirements; 

• OK Flux 10.73 for spiral and longitudinal 

pipes, especially for sour gas service; 

• OK Flux 10.74 for highest demanding 

longitudinal pipes, including sour gas service 

and for all pipe materials; 

• OK Flux 10.77 for highest demanding spiral 

pipes, for all pipe materials; 

• OK Flux 10.81 for spiral pipes with low 

requirements; 

• OK Flux 10.88 for spiral pipes with low and 

medium requirements; especially for severe 

surface conditions such as rust and mill scale. 

All these fluxes are used for production of pipe 

with one run from each side. Multi-run welded 

thick wall pipes are not covered in this article. A 

large range of consumables, other than those 

indicated above, are available from ESAB for this 

type of application. 

The wires mostly used in pipe mills are: 

• OK Autrod 12.10 EN 756 – S1; 

SFA/AWS A5.17: EL12 

• OK Autrod 12.20 EN 756 – S2; 

SFA/AWS A5.17: EM12 

• OK Autrod 12.22 EN 756 – S2Si; 

SFA/AWS A5.17: EM12K 

• OK Autrod 12.24 EN 756 – S2Mo; 

SFA/AWS A5.23: EA2 

• OK Autrod 13.64 EN 756 – S0 (S3MoTiB); 

SFA/AWS A5.23: EG 

Other wires for special applications are available. 

OK Flux 10.74 

This flux is recommended for longitudinal welded 

pipes produced by multi-wire-processes with the 

highest demands on mechanical values as well as 

bead shape. OK Flux 10.74 is an agglomerated 

Figure 6. Fluxes for bulk end-users are usually delivered 

in BigBags, with reclosable discharge spout. 

aluminate-basic flux which creates a low bead 

profile, even at high welding speeds, in SAW multi 

wire processes with 3, 4 and 5 wires (6 as trial). 

A low bead profile without peaks means cost 

saving in the later pipe coating operation, since 


the coating thickness can be reduced (Figure 5). 

Moreover, the API specifications for line pipes, and 

many customer specifications, require a maximum 

reinforcement of 3.0mm. However, a reinforcement 

of 0.5 to 2.5mm is desired. The transition angle 

from weld metal to base material needs to be 

smooth in order to avoid mechanical notches. All 

these requirements are fulfilled with OK Flux 10.74 

provided the parameters are set properly. 

The flux works equally well on DC and AC current. 

Usually the first wire is welded with DC+ current and 

all the remaining wires with AC. This is in order to 

reduce magnetic interference between the wires. 

OK Flux 10.74 is suitable for different wires for all 

pipe materials. The flux is hydrogen controlled 

which is important for high strength materials 

such as X80 and X100. OK Flux 10.74 alloys 

some Si and Mn to the weld metal for the highest 

toughness levels. Careful metallurgical design 

ensures that it produces a weld metal without any 

macro or micro areas with increased hardness. 

Customers around the globe appreciate OK Flux 

10.74 for its excellent weldability, weld bead profile 

and secure toughness values. 

BigBags 

Fluxes for bulk end-users are usually delivered in 

BigBags (Figure 6). Standard weight for BigBags 

is 1000kg. BigBags have a well defined, 

reclosable discharge spout. 

Since it takes about 25 seconds on “full open” to 

empty a complete 1000kg BigBag, customers 

can easily remove just a few kg at a time. Thus, 

all kinds of flux supply units can be filled with flux 

from BigBags. The enclosed BigBags are made 

of woven polypropylene material which has an 

internal moisture protection coating to keep the 

contents dry. The material is fully recyclable. Each 

palette of flux is additionally protected against 

moisture by wrap foil or shrink foil. 

Wire and wire package 

For high demanding pipes, OK Autrod 12.24 (EN 

756 - S2Mo; AWS EA2) is widely used. 

For this wire , the chemical elements are specified 

with more restricted limits than those in both of 

the standards with which the wire complies. 

Additionally, impurities are named and limited to a 

maximum level (which is in the range of a couple 

hundredths of a percent). This is in order to 

secure highest toughness values. 

Pipe welding with 25.4mm thickness (1 inch) with 

one run from each side results in very high 

toughness values with OK Autrod 12.24. In this 

fabrication, 4 wires are used on the inside and 5 

wires on the outside. All wires are 4.0mm diameter. 

The inside is welded with totally 50 kJ/cm and 

170 cm/min. On the outside, 52 kJ/cm are used 

with a speed of 190 cm/min. The weld metal centre 

has over 115 J average at -20°C. At -30°C the 

average is about 100 J. Naturally, the weld bead 

shape fulfills all requirements as described above. 

For some pipeline projects, good toughness 

values are required at temperatures below -20°C. 

Or the same requirements are valid for pipes with 

increased thickness. In these cases, the TiB 

alloyed solid wire OK Autrod 13.64 is used. The 

wire contains micro-elements which create a fine 

grained structure with a lot of acicular ferrite in the 

solidified weld metal. This results in toughness 

values which are even higher than those with 

OK Autrod 12.24. 

Important for pipe mill welding is problem-free 

decoiling of a spool containing a sufficient amount 

of welding wire. For these applications, the ESAB 

EcoCoil is the answer (Figure 7). EcoCoil is a bulk 

spool containing 1000kg of welding wire. The 

packing material is reduced to a minimum, but 

still gives full protection for the wire against 

moisture and dust from inside and outside during 

transport and storage. All materials are fully 

recyclable. Since it is a one-way-package, there is 

no need for return logistics for empty spools. 

Advantages over high weight spools are achieved 

because a special technology ensures that the 

wire is not spooled tightly around the cardboard 

core. In the start and stop phase, the spool can 

slowly accelerate and slowly stop while welding 

wire is fed with constant speed to the welding 

head. Welding defects are thus reduced. 

The customer and the customer´s challenge are 

ESAB’s main focus. The products and packages 

described in this article have been developed in 

close cooperation with customers and, as a 

result, OK Flux 10.74 in BigBag, OK Autrod 12.24 

and OK Autrod 13.64 on EcoCoil are commonly 

found in longitudinal pipe mills. 

Figure 7. EcoCoil - problem-free decoiling of a spool 

containing a bulk amount of welding wire for pipe mills. 



EGBERT SCHOFER IS AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY 

MANAGER AT 

NAAM FUNCTIE. 

ESAB AB, LAXÅ, SWEDEN. 

MARTIN GEHRING IS GROUP PRODUCT MANAGER NON- 

AND LOW-ALLOYED SAW FLUXES AND WIRES AT 

ESAB, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN. 

. 


Paresa SpA construct spheres for the 

Kuwait petrochemical industry 

BRUNO MALAGOLI, ESAB SPA., MESERO, ITALY. 

An integrated petrochemical plant 

for hydrocarbons processing in 

Al-Shuaiba, Kuwait, is being 

expanded by the addition of 

numerous tanks with varying 

purposes. The Italian construction 

company Paresa SpA was 

responsible for the on-site erection 

of two spherical tanks. One, of 

7200 m 3 capacity, in carbon steel, 

is for the storage of polypropylene. 

The other, of 5500 m 3 capacity, in 

stainless steel, is for the storage of 

polyethylene. Polypropylene and 

polyethylene are raw materials for 

the production of plastics. 

Paresa SpA, Cesana, Italy, is an international 

building company specialising in the on-site 

construction of underground storage tanks, tanks 

for cryogenic liquids and cylindrical and spherical 

pressurised tanks for the petrochemical industry. 

Paresa is renowned for its highly experienced 

personnel, research and training and quality and 

safety programmes. Accreditations include ISO 

9001 quality management certification, ISO 

14001 environmental management certification, 

and prestigious ASME authorisation for the use of 

U and U2 symbol stamps in accordance with the 

ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code - particularly 

important for the project in Kuwait. 

The spheres 

The spherical shape represents the optimal ratio 

between volume and surface. A natural phenomenon, 

this characteristic is very popular in 

engineering. However, copying the quality and 

perfection of nature in a man-made construction 

is not easy, as explained by Paresa’s Technical 

Supervisor, Raffaele Cedioli and Quality Control 

Manager, Nicolò Amodio. 

“The carbon steel tank is 24m in diameter with a 

wall thickness of 34-38mm. The stainless steel tank 

is 22m in diameter with a wall thickness of 30mm. 

The latter is particularly interesting as, to our 

knowledge, it is one of the largest ever constructed 

in this material. It needs a series of complicated and 

closely coordinated operations to be able to meet 

the final building and quality requirements.” 

“The choice of stainless steel”, says Mr. Cedioli, 

“is not primarily governed by the aggressiveness 


Deformation control was a major obstacle in 

obtaining perfect globe dimensions. It affected a 

large number of components and welds, with different 

joint designs (1/3 and 2/3 X-joints) at various 

positions in the construction. Even though 

starting from an ideal situation, in which all the 

components of the structure have been prepared 

with extreme precision, the human element 

becomes the decisive variable. 

Where possible, certain segments were preassembled 

flat on the ground, coupled in pairs for 

the northern and southern parts of the hemispheres 

and in trios for the equatorial zones. This 

considerably simplified the welding and dimensional 

control, but complicated the assembly, 

because heavy weights, often in excess of 20 

tonnes, needed to be lifted and aligned with the 

construction. It involved full penetration welds 

with opposite runs, but the bead sequence needed 

to be judged case by case, in order to control 

deformation and obtain a perfect shape. 

of the chemical substance it is to contain, but 

merely by the operating conditions. The contained 

product reaches a temperature of -89°C and 

therefore the selected material is stainless steel 

SA 240M type 304 (EN 10204 3.2/BV).” 

“ A sphere is essentially constructed from a great 

number of segments forming the two hemispheres, 

completed with two caps; the north and south 

poles. In the design stage, the ratio between 

number of segments and dimensions has to be 

decided. More pieces of smaller dimensions are 

easier to transport and install - but they involve 

longer welding times. Fewer pieces of larger 

dimensions simplify the welding operations - but 

complicate transport and movement. Once decided, 

not all suppliers may be capable of supplying 

sheets in the required material grade and 

dimensions. Considerable experience is needed 

to solve this puzzle.” 

Prefabrication 

In Paresa’s Cesana production facility, the steel 

sheets were cold-pressed to the required 

curvature after which the edges were bevelled. In 

the case of stainless steel, to achieve the required 

cut quality, this operation was performed by 

plasma cutting using an ESAB Suprarex SXE-P 

cutting machine equipped with a plasma VBA- 

Expert head. It is the first cutting station of this 

type in Italy and only the second in Europe. 

Finally, the components were transported to 

Kuwait for assembly, each individually marked 

with its complete chemical and mechanical 

history, acceptance tests performance and with a 

code for its eventual position in the construction. 

Welding and assembly 

For practical and environmental reasons, the decision 

was taken to use the MMA (SMAW) process with 

2.5, 3.2, 4.0 and 5.0 mm diameter ESAB OK 

61.35 (EN1600: E 19 9 L B 22/SFA/AWS A5.4: 

E308L-15) electrodes. Due to safety regulations 

surrounding the project, the weld material was 

supplied with 3.2 chemical and mechanical testing 

certification carried out in the presence of the 

Bureau Veritas inspection authority. 

The welding operation involves joining the segments 

(62 for the stainless steel sphere) into the 

two hemispheres to form a globe and joining the 

caps to the hemispheres - easier said than done! 

Quality control 

Quality control requirements were extremely high, 

due to the safety criteria surrounding this project. 

“Fortunately we have long experience in control, 

safety and quality”, says Dr. Amodio. “The 

requirements of the inspection authorities on site 

were tough. Ultrasound testing, magnetic partical 

testing, dimensional control, and control of 

physical and chemical properties, were carried 

out in accordance with the ASME stamp under 

the supervision of the authorised inspection 

agency. It has been an excellent opportunity, 

though, to show our capability and create an 

excellent reference for future projects”. 

“ESAB’s OK 61.35 stick electrode is a quality 

product with a great reputation in our industry – a 

really dependable factor. Furthermore, VacPac 

vacuum packaging enables us to skip re-baking 

procedures which, otherwise, would have been 

unavoidable under the warm and humid climatic 

conditions in Kuwait. Moreover, ESAB has given 

us valuable support, throughout the project”. 


BRUNO MALAGOLI IS PRODUCT MANAGER 

CONSUMABLES AT ESAB SPA., MESERO, ITALY. 



ESW Inconel strip cladding – solution to 

clad steel shortage for Maritime 

Industrial Services, Dubai. 

SANDISH SALIAN, ESAB MIDDLE EAST, DUBAI, UNITED ARABIC EMIRATES 

A world shortage of Inconel clad 

steel forced Maritime Industrial 

Services to explore the possibility 

of in-house cladding of SA 516 

Gr. 70 vessel steel. ESW proved to 

be the most productive way to 

reach Inconel 625 composition 

standard, within the two layers 

specified by its client. 

Figure 1. ESW cladding of an Inconel 625 

protective layer onto shell of a vessel for the 

Katachanak desalination project. 

Acknowledgement. 

We thank Ramesh Kumar, Welding Engineer, 

Hassan Bader, QC Divisional Manager and 

Mohsen El Sherif, Senior Divisional Manager for 

their valuable support. 

Well established in the Middle East, with 

operations in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and 

Qatar, Maritime Industrial Services Co. Ltd. (MIS) 

enjoys a long standing reputation in the petroleum 

related construction and services industry. The 

company provides a complete range of engineering, 

procurement, fabrication, construction, safety, 

operating and maintenance services to the oil, 

gas, petrochemical, power generation, marine 

and heavy industries. 

The success of MIS is underlined by an order 

book exceeding $700 million in 2007 - more than 

double that in 2006 - including major contracts 

from international drilling companies for F&G 

designed Super M2 Jackup rigs. MIS is listed on 

the Oslo stock exchange and has around 3500 

personnel. 

SAW or ESW strip cladding? 

During 2006, MIS was forced to consider options to 

overcome the world shortage of Inconel clad steel 

when they received an order for the fabrication of 

three vessels for the Katachanak desalination 

project, in Kazakhstan. The three vessels - a 

condensate stabiliser, a 1st & 2nd stage desalter 

and a 1st & 2nd stage desalter/degaser – had 

various dimensions, but were all made in SA 516 

Gr.2 steel with a thickness of 36 mm and to be produced 

under the ASME Sec. VIII Div. 1 design code. 

SAW and ESW strip cladding were the two obvious 

options to fully cover the inside of two 

vessels, and part of the third, with a protective 

Inconel 625 layer. The client’s specification stipulated 

a minimum of two layers and an Fe content 

of 5% maximum at the weld overlay surface and 

7% maximum at 2 mm sub surface. This is the 

highest requirement within the petrochemical 

industry, covering both heat and corrosion. 

Subsequently, both methods were trial tested by 

MIS, assisted by ESAB for consumable selection 

and choice of parameters. As no overlay thickness 

was specified, MIS had the freedom to reach the 

final composition in the most economic way. 

The trial tests clearly indicated that it was not 

possible to meet the Fe requirements with SAW 

strip cladding in two layers (Table 1). A third layer 

Table 1. SAW cladding with 

OK Flux 10.16/OK Band NiCrMo-3 

Trial Layer Thickness Fe content 

surface 

1 1st 3.2mm 15.93% 

1st & 2nd 5.7mm 7.63% 

2 1st 4.0mm 21.32% 

1st & 2nd 8.0mm 7.25% 

would have been needed, involving an extra, 

time-consuming fabrication step and more 

expensive weld metal. With ESW cladding, 

however, parameters could be found to fulfill the 

chemical requirements in two layers (Table 2), due 

to less dilution with the parent material. 

On the basis of trial test number 4, welding 

parameters were fine-tuned and a welding 

Svetsaren no. 2 - 2007 - 35

Figure 2. ESW strip cladding operators enjoying a well deserved break. 

Figure 3. Finished top end of a vessel. Note the neat flat welds with smooth wetting. 

procedure for the weld overlay of SA516 Gr. 70 

(P1 Gr.2) was established and qualified according 

to ASME Sec. IX and client specification. In 

addition, welding procedures were established for 

the clad restoration of seams, nozzles and small 

bore nozzles with, respectively, GMAW, SMAW 

and GTAW. 

base, Cr and fully austenitic alloys, due to its 

excellent wetting behaviour. The flux allows ESW 

cladding at very high travel speeds. 

Svetsaren 1/2007, page 7, provides detailed information 

on both the SAW and ESW cladding processes, 

together with more application examples. 

Table 2. ESW cladding with OK Flux 10.11/OK Band 

NiCrMo-3 

Trial Layer Thickness Fe content surface 

1 1st 4.9 mm 9.05% 

2 1st 4.3 10.41% 

3 1st 4.0 11.91% 

1st & 2nd 8.0 3.28% 

The minimum ESW overlay thickness was set at 6 

mm, in two layers. Welding parameters: 

1050-1180A, 24-25V, 19.8-21.9cm/min. Strip 

dimensions OK Band NiCrMo-3: 60 x 0.5mm. 

Tables 3, 4 and 5 give, the chemical compositions 

of, respectively, Inconel 625, OK Band NiCrMo-3 

and the weld overlay achieved by MIS. 

4 1st 3.1 11.93% 

1st & 2nd 6.2 5.15% 

Table 3. Chemical composition Inconel 625 (%) 

Alloy Al C Cr Fe Mn Mo Nb Ni P S Si Ti 

N06625 0.40 

max 

0.10 

max 

20.0 - 

23.0 

5.0 

max 

0.50 

max 

8.0 - 

10.0 

3.15 - 

4.15 

rem 0.015 

max 

0.015 

max 

0.50 

max 

0.40 max 

With ESW, MIS has access to a productive method 

for the cladding of Inconel 625, overcoming the 

shortage and long delivery times for explosion 

cladded steel. The three vessels, including curved 

top and bottom ends, were supplied to the client 

at the agreed delivery time. Figures 1 and 2 show 

examples of ESW during the project. 

OK Flux 10.11 

OK Flux 10.11 is a very high basic agglomerated 

flux (basicity: 5.4) for ESW strip cladding. It has a 

low viscosity and is ideal for cladding with Ni 

Table 4. Chemical composition OK Band NiCrMo3 (EN ISO 18274: B Ni 6625 (NiCr22Mo9Nb). 

C Si Mn Cr Ni Mo Fe Nb+Ta 

Mechanised pipeline welding in the 

Saudi desert 

Magnatech orbital welding system and ESAB cored 

wire do the job. 

BY GERALD GARCIA, PANGULF WELDING SOLUTIONS, AL KHOBAR, SAUDI ARABIA AND WIJNOLD WIJNOLDS, MAGNATECH INTERNATIONAL BV, DRONTEN, THE NETHERLANDS. 

In 2006, Nacap-Suedrohrbau Saudi 

Arabia Ltd. (Nacap-SRB), a subsidiary 

of Dutch international contractor 

Nacap BV, was granted a Euro 70 

mio contract by Saudi Aramco, the 

state-owned national oil company 

of Saudi Arabia, for the engineering, 

procurement and construction 

of the Khurais Sea Water Injection 

& Distribution Headers Project. This 

included the construction of 507 

km of 8 inch to 36 inch non sour 

and sour sea water transfer lines 

and headers. For 16 inch pipes and 

above, (Nacap-SRB) applies automatic 

uphill welding for filling, relying 

on Magnatech’s Pipeliner II 

orbital welding system and ESAB’s 

PZ6113 all-position rutile cored wire. 

The Khurais field is an existing field with an output 

of some 300,000 barrels per day. It is located in 

the area of Khurais, halfway along the motorway 

between Dammam and Riyadh in the middle of 

the “red dunes” desert. It is envisaged that water 

injection will boost production to 1.2 million barrels 

per day. The seawater is supplied from the 

Arabian Gulf, and is then distributed throughout 

the Khurais field. The project is scheduled for 

completion in October 2008. 

Welding in the desert 

In principle, welding in the Saudi desert is not 

very different from cross-country pipeline \ 

construction anywhere else. It follows the same 

pipeline laying principles; pipe stringing, bending, 

positioning, welding, NDT, and cleaning and 

coating – the front-end speed being the decisive 

factor. One of the complicating factors to 

overcome, however, is often the remoteness and 

the associated logistical problems in the supply of 

nourishment and technical services to the 

front-end teams. Another, very obvious problem is 

the tough working conditions. During summer, 

temperatures reach 40 degrees and upwards, 

requiring the utmost from the welding and supply 


Table 1. Pipeline filling options 

Manual welding Mechanised welding Mechanised welding 

SMAW/GMAW Downhill short circuit GMAW FCAW uphill 

Advantage Advantage Advantage 

Standard bevel Fast, more welds per day Tolerant process 

J-bevel minimises fill time 

Standard bevels 

Low defect rate 

Less passes to fill joint 

Disadvantage Disadvantage Disadvantage 

Slower High defect rate Requires interpass brushing 

Variable quality Special bevel Higher weld volume 

More passes to fill joint 

Slower than downhill short circuit GMAW, 

due to higher weld volume 

Short circuit process poorly controlled 

High speed is difficult to control for welders 

teams, in order to maintain the laying speed of a 

pipeline. In this respect, mechanised welding helps 

considerably, as it reduces the physical effort 

required to weld an often pre-heated pipeline. 

Mechanised welding - Aramco requirement 

For various reasons, Saudi Aramco stipulates the 

use of mechanised welding equipment on its 

pipelines – the most important being that they are 

in a great hurry to boost oil and gas production, 

making them demand short time frames for their 

projects. Mechanised welding makes the planning 

more predictable, and, since it is less strenuous 

for the welders, leads to better weld quality. Also, 

manual pipeline welders, hired mainly from Asian 

countries, are not as plentiful as in the past. 

Mechanised welding requires less welders and 

simplifies the associated logistical organisation. A 

last reason is the increasing use of X70 quality 

pipeline steel and higher, requiring low-hydrogen 

welding consumables and therefore excluding the 

use of cellulosic downhill electrodes. 

the Khurais project, it is applied on pipe diameters 

of 16 to 36 inch in X65 and X70 grade steel, 

accounting for 331 km of pipeline. The root pass 

is performed by semi-automatic, controlled 

downhill welding with the STT process (modified 

short circuit transfer mode). The Magnatech solution 

can, however, equally be used in combination 

with downhill or uphill MMA for the root pass. 

Table 1 gives an overview of solutions available 

for the filling of pipeline joints, along with their 

individual advantages and disadvantages. The 

characteristics listed for FCAW are valid for 

all-positional rutile cored wires, such as ESAB’s 

FILARC PZ6113 (AWS A5.20: E71T-1 H4/E71T- 

1M H8) It has a fast solidifying slag system that 

supports the fluid weld metal well and allows the 

placement of thicker beads, so less passes, but 

at a high deposition rate. The wire always 

operates in the spray arc mode, making it a 

tolerant process with a low weld defect rate. 

Figure 1 reviews the Magnatech Pipeliner II. It is 

easy to understand and operate, light-weight 

equipment that is easily mounted and dismounted. 

The head is removed from the guide ring in 

seconds with a push button switch using the gas 

bottle pressure. The patented guide ring is not to 

be seen as a consumable, because it does not 

wear out, and is tolerant for weld spatter and 

grinding debris. The Positive Drive System 

guarantees a uniform rotation speed. The 300A 

water-cooled torch can be programmed in three 

independent ways; travel speed, weaving width 

and endpoint dwell. A remote control allows cross 

weld steering and vertical adjustment, as well as 

the facility to override the programmed weaving 

width and travel speed. 

The Magnatech Pipeliner II 

Aramco’s requirement for mechanised welding 

applies to the filling of the joint – the root pass 

may be done manually, semi-automatic or 

mechanised. The Magnatech solution for filling, 

used by Nacap-SRB and brought on the Saudi 

market by Pangulf Welding Solutions, is based on 

uphill welding with flux-cored wires (FCAW). For 

Figure 1. Magnatech’s Pipeliner II orbital welding system. 


motion, while changing from standing, to squatting, 

to sitting, until they lie under the pipeline. When 

hands meet, one of the welders grinds away his 

end crater while the other finishes the weld. 

These are the operators that determine the 

front-end laying speed of the pipeline. No time to 

be lost. When ready, they immediately move to 

the next weld. The internal clamp is removed 

directly after the root pass. They make about 30 

root passes a day, in a 12 hour shift. 

Figure 2. STT root pass welding 

The Pipeliner II can be used on pipes from 6 inch 

up to 36 inch diameter and above, simply by 

changing the guide ring - an advantage relative to 

downhill mechanised equipment which starts at 

approximately 30 inches. Another advantage is 

that its use becomes economical with significantly 

shorter pipeline lengths. Moreover, pipeline 

contractors will own the equipment and not have 

to rent it. 

welders simultaneously, from 6 to 12 o’clock – 

clockwise and counter clockwise. They are ‘true 

artists’, able to continue welding with a weaving 

From here, mechanised uphill FCAW with the 

Pipeliner II takes over, accounting for almost the 

full weld volume. There are two operators 

depositing only the hot pass and filler pass (Figure 

3) with two Pipeliners walking the guide ring, from 

6 to 12 o’clock. The total hot pass and first fill 

team comprises not only two welders, but also a 

number of helpers and the truck driver. The hot 

pass is deposited at a high travel speed (19.5 

inch/min) to avoid burning through the root pass, 

and the first filler pass at 10 inch minimum. 

Six additional teams are individually responsible 

for filling the joints left behind by the hot pass and 

Figure 3. Welding of a hot pass. The welder supervises the process and, when needed, fine-tunes the parameters 

with the remote control. For the first filler pass, the Pipeliner is transported back to 6 o ‘clock and the second set of 

pre-programmed parameters is chosen. 

The Pipeliner II forms the heart of a complete 

welding system with a digital power source with 

synergic programmes for FCAW, a floor standing 

wire feeder for 16 kg spools (less spool changes 

compared with common head-mounted 5 kg 

spools), a programming unit with memory 

positions for four individual beads, a gas mixing 

unit and a power generator. All can be mounted 

on a truck or tractor for transport along the 

pipeline, together with the welding heads, while 

the guide ring is the only component remaining 

on the pipe. It is easily removed, by hand. 

Back to the desert 

Figure 2 shows the semi-automatic STT root pass 

welding of a 36 inch diameter, 28 mm WT 

pipeline for the Khurais Sea Water Injection & 

Distribution Headers Project. It is welded by two 


Productivity 

Mechanised uphill welding with the Magnatech 

Pipeliner II and FILARC PZ6113 rutile cored wire 

is very productive. Nacap-SRB takes full benefit 

from the high deposition rate of 3-4 kg/h at 250 

A, by achieving a duty cycle of 80%, due to 

clever organisation of the filling procedure. 

require precision welding tools for tasks from 

simple fusion welding to multipass applications 

requiring wire feed, torch oscillation and arc 

voltage control. 

Equally important, it is a very secure technique. 

Uphill welding with PZ6113 in the spray arc 

mode, at a relatively high welding current, is a 

very tolerant method for filling when compared to 

mechanised downhill short circuit welding. The 

latter method is faster due to a reduced weld 

volume, but is based on a more expensive 

J-preparation, and one must expect comparatively 

high defect rates and associated repair work. 

Moreover, Aramco would additionally require 

100% ultrasound testing, which is costly and, 

often, difficult to organise in remote areas. Using 

the uphill technique, Nacap-SRB has recorded 

their weld defect rate to be consistently below 

0.5%, measured by common X-Ray testing - 

prescribed by Aramco to be 100% for the first 40 

joints and 10% thereafter. 

Figure 4. Typical weld appearance of a mechanised 

welded joint. 

filling team, to a total of 10 layers. Split beads 

(two) start after 4 layers and weaving is applied 

following the the hot pass. All passes are 

performed at the same current of about 200-240 

A at a wire feed speed of 7.5-10 inch/min. The 

cored wire diameter is 1.2 mm and the shielding 

gas is Ar/20% CO 2 

. 

Magnatech 

Magnatech International BV is the sales and service 

organisation for Magnatech Limited 

Partnership, East Granby, USA, for Europe, 

Middle East and Africa. Magnatech Limited is 

the manufacturer of specialised equipment for 

Orbital Pipe and Tube welding, using the GTAW, 

FCAW and GMAW welding process. Magnatech 

International BV is located in Dronten, The 

Netherlands. It supplies innovative systems to 

both manufacturers and contractors, who 


GERALD GARCIA IS PIPELINE WELDING ENGINEER AT 

PANGULF WELDING SOLUTIONS, AL KHOBAR, SAUDI 

ARABIA. 

WIJNOLD WIJNOLDS IS MANAGING DIRECTOR OF 

MAGNATECH INTERNATIONAL BV, DRONTEN, 

THE NETHERLANDS. 

Nacap - a global player 

Nacap-Suedrohrbau Saudi Arabia Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dutch international contractor Nacap BV, with headquarters in Eelde, The Netherlands. Nacap is a 

global managing contractor, asset manager and preferred supplier specialised in underground infrastructures, providing multidisciplinary solutions for transporting 

oil, gas, water, electricity and data. 

Pangulf Welding Solutions 

Pangulf Welding Solutions is part of the Pangulf Group, the principal steel products supplier to the Saudi Arabian market and listed in the top 100 Saudi 

companies. It is a “one-stop” welding solutions supplier with competent and experienced personnel. It stocks an extensive product range of consumables 

and equipment of world class brands such as ESAB and Magnatech. Pangulf’s services to the industry include consultation and training. 


Cladding of valves for 

petrochemical plants. 

GABRIELE GALAZZI, ESAB SPA., MESERO, ITALY. 

Wherever chemical or petrochemical 

plants exist, pipes and valves 

are needed to convey fluids or gas 

and control flows. Both must meet 

particular requirements such as 

pressure, temperature, resistance 

to corrosion and wear due to 

abrasion. As the world oil demand 

forces oil companies to explore 

reserves that are more difficult to 

extract, the crude oil often becomes 

richer in foreign matters and 

impurities, increasing the wear of 

transportation systems - particularly 

the valves which are generally the 

most critical components. As a 

result, valve manufacture and 

repair is a growth industry. 

The nature of the fluids flowing through the valves 

dictates materials selection, ranging from austenitic 

stainless steel to nickel-base alloys such as Inconel. 

Over the last decade, the use of noble materials for 

the entire valve has shifted to the cladding of a 

forged or cast CMn steel load-bearing body with a 

resistant alloy. The quality of the facing varies with 

the valve application. In the case of valves for 

transporting gas, the final layer is grade 316 

stainless steel, as it is only subject to corrosion, 

whereas a final layer of Inconel 625 is a common 

choice when it involves crude oil mixed with sand, 

causing both chemical attack and abrasion. 

Increasingly, valve manufacturers outsource the 

cladding to companies with specialist knowledge 

and equipment. This has given birth to a 

completely new industrial segment of smaller 

production sites devoted to the surface cladding 

of valves on a contract basis. Some of these 

operate in the high-end of the market – equipped 

with highly efficient systems and tools and 

capable of dealing with large scale production. 

They are lean companies whose driving force is 

specialisation, quality and productivity. 

Oxy Welding Engineering 

“Snello è bello” (lean is best), is the motto of Oxy 

Welding Engineering SpA with headquarters in 

Magnago, Italy. With 7 cladding operators and 8 

continuously working welding and cladding 

stations, it is one of the few companies capable of 

cladding balls with a diameter of up to 60 inches 

and a weight up to 15 tonnes, for valves with a 


flow port of 1.5 metres wide. The company was 

founded in 2002 by Mr. Fabio Genone - a former 

distributor of welding materials and equipment to 

the valve industry – when outsourcing of valve 

cladding began. Oxy Welding Engineering 

focused on the cladding of the balls forming the 

movable part of the valve which, on rotation, 

either allow or shut off access to the fluid. 

Mr. Genoni explains the change in valve manufacturing 

towards cladding. “Replacing stainless steel or 

Inconel valves with a carbon steel body surfaced 

with these materials is not only dictated by cost 

considerations. As CMn steel is stronger, 

over-dimensioning is avoided, as are typical defects 

associated with the forging or casting of fully 

stainless valves.” 

A normal requirement is that the cladding meets the 

required chemical composition to, at least, a depth of 

3 mm. The final layer must have an over-thickness to 

provide a safety margin and to allow for machining to 

a perfectly spherical shape. Also the deformation 

caused by weld metal shrinkage and stresses, during 

cladding, needs to be taken into account. “There is 

no magic software which can calculate this”, says Mr. 

Genoni. “It is pure experience.” 

Cladding processes 

Careful choices were made to optimise the 

productivity of the surfacing process. The MIG 

process is not the most productive process for 

this application, but it has the advantage of not 

requiring the continuous attention of the operator 

- thus allowing him to operate another station, 

simultaneously. For Oxy Welding Engineering, the 

MIG process proves economic up to a valve ball 

diameter of approximately 24 inches. For larger 

diameters, ESW strip cladding is the better 

choice, even if it means the total commitment of 

the operator to the machine. 

There is considerable versatility and synergy 

between operators and systems; it is not unusual 

for a single operator to supervise two or more 

workstations, simultaneously. Depending on 

dimensions and accessibility, the machine most 

suitable for the work is used, ie, for each 

application, the process adopted is the one 

offering the greatest possible productivity. The 

level of quality reached is wholly satisfactory, while 

productivity is maximised and repairs are 

practically zero. “The same practical logic was 

applied towards robotisation”, explains Mr. Genoni. 

“It is not necessary to have a large batch to justify 

the use of a robot. As long as there are sufficient 

working hours, the process is also advantageous for 

a single workpiece - especially when the 

programming effort is limited. The cladding cycle 

starts in the evening and, by the next morning, the 

work finished!” 

Since its inception, Oxy Welding Engineering has 

understood that the tools for success are product 

quality and high process productivity. On this 

basis, the company opted for highly automated 

systems or automation and high productivity 

processes, such as electro slag strip cladding - 

the most productive cladding process available 

(see Svetsaren 1/2007 page 16 for detailed ESW 

cladding benefits). 

Currently, there are three ESAB ESW systems at 

work, each consisting of an LAF 1600 power 

source supplying 1500-1600 A at 100% duty 

cycle, an A6 cladding head for 30-60 mm strips, 

and a PEH control unit. 

Consumables 

The flux/wire combinations used for ESW strip 

cladding with 316L end composition are: 

• single layer: OK Flux 10.10/OK Band 309LMo. 

• double layers: OK Flux 10.10/OK Band 309LM 

for the first pass and OK Flux 10.10/OK Band 

316L for the second pass. 

The flux/wire combination used for ESW strip 

cladding with Inconel 625 end composition is: 

• OK Flux 10.11/ OK Band NiCrMo3. 

This combination ensures optimum results in 

terms of analysis and surface appearance for 

both single and double layers. 

The MIG wires used are ESAB OK Autrod 309LSi, 

OK Autrod 309LMo, OK Autrod 316LSi and OK 

Autrod 19.82. Use of 100 kg and 250 kg 

Marathon Pac bulk drums provide a valuable 

increase of the duty cycle in the automated and 

robotic applications. Also, the innovative matt 

surface technology applied by ESAB for stainless 

steel wires provides effective process stability. 

Figure 1 ESW strip cladding of a valve ball. 

The high demands of valve manufacturers and 

engineering companies have led Oxy Welding 

Engineering to investigate each combination of 

consumables used by carrying out additional 

tests (eg, corrosion tests, micrographs for 

determination of the structure, macro-hardness, 

etc), in addition to the tests required for qualification 

of the welding process in accordance with AWS, 

EN and API standards. These tests have always 

been passed satisfactorily. 

Co-operation with ESAB Saldatura SpA 

Support from ESAB Italy is well regarded by Oxy 

Welding Engineering. ESAB understands that the 

application and its special requirements require 

close dialogue and a direct relationship. This 

results in the supply of sophisticated welding and 

cladding equipment and high quality filler 

materials, enabling Oxy Welding Engineering to 

fully exploit their experience and professionalism. 

Figure 2. Robotic MIG cladding with ESAB’s matt stainless 

wire fed from mini Marathon Pac. 


BRUNO MALAGOLI IS PRODUCT MANAGER SAW AND 

CORED WIRES FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION AT 

ESAB SPA., MESERO, ITALY. 


Techint and ESAB Brazil - partners in 

the construction of the PRA-1 jacket. 

ENG. CLÁUDIO TURANI VAZ, MSC. ESAB BRAZIL ENG. SÉRGIO MUNHÓS, TECHINT SA ENG. JOSÉ ROBERTO DOMINGUES, ESAB BRAZIL 

PRA-1 is a fixed offshore platform 

and autonomous re-pumping 

station, created as an alternative 

for the drainage of oil from the 

platforms in the Campos Basin to 

the continent. Its jacket was built 

by TECHINT SA. The technical 

requirements and operational 

aspects significantly influenced the 

choice of welding consumables. 

The technical partnership between 

TECHINT and ESAB - as the 

welding products supplier - was 

fundamental to the success of the 

project. 

PRA-1 was installed about 100 km offshore at the 

Marlim Sul Field in the Campos Basin to pump, 

during peak periods, approximately 630 thousand 

bpd (barrels of petroleum per day) produced by 

platforms P-40, P-51, P-52, P-53, P-55 and 

RO-module 4 in the Roncador, Marlim Sul and 

Marlim Leste fields. 

Its jacket - a structure in API 2W-50 steel with a 

total weight of 7.500 tons - was ordered by 

Petrobrás and built by Techint SA at its construction 

site in Pontal do Paraná/Paraná. The jacket 

was shipped to its final location on the last day 

of 2006. 

Technical features 

A new concept, featuring optimised use of 

materials through weight reduction, the PRA-1 

jacket has a typical asymmetrical structure. This 

aspect represented an enormous challenge to the 

builders during the 24 months of assembly work. 

Nodes and pipes used in the jacket were prefabricated 

and delivered to the construction site in 

Pontal do Paraná overland. 

On-site, to simplify the structural complexity of 

the project, a detailed construction plan was prepared 

to cover the assembly of the faces at 

Figure 1. Overview of the Techint construction site in Pontal do Paraná/Parana at the time of the construction of the 

PRA-1 jacket. 


ground level, “roll up”, cable support and final 

consolidation by the fixation of tubular elements. 

The assembly sequence was established after structural 

analysis of the faces and levels of the jacket. 

Welding, mostly of circumferential joints, was performed 

following strict quality criteria and productivity. 

Wherever possible, the welding of the tubular 

elements was executed in the pipe shop using the 

submerged arc welding process (SAW). The 

remaining welds were performed in the field using 

TIG welding (GTAW) or stick electrodes (SMAW) for 

root passes, and flux cored wires (FCAW) or stick 

electrodes (SMAW) for filling and capping. 

The jacket’s production complied with the 

Petrobras norm N-1852 construction criteria 

(Oceanic structures - production and assembly of 

fixed units). This norm states that steels used in 

construction should be classified in conformity 

with Petrobrás norm N-1678 (Oceanic Structures 

- steel). The jacket’s design temperature was 

10°C. The API 2W-50 steel used in the production 

of the jacket was re-classified in accordance 

with norm N-1678. 

Welding consumables 

Welding consumables used in the construction of 

the platform jacket were supplied in agreement 

with the conditions defined by Petrobrás norm 

N-1859 - Welding consumables with quality 

assurance. In order to meet these requirements, 

Figure 2. Overview of the jacket in its final assembly phase. 

Table 1. PRA-1 technical data 

Depth 

Pumping capacity 

Deck 

106 metres 

750 thousand bpd 

67 metres x 53 metres x 

41 metres 

Number of modules 5 

Accommodation 

Investment 

90 people 

US $2.7 billion 

Jacket 

Steel API 2W-50 

Figure 3. Joint geometry 

Total weight 

Height 

Base 

Top 

7,500 tons (approx) 

116 metres 

56 metres x 56 metres 

36 metres x 49 metres 


Table 2. OK 48.08 technical features 

Table 3. OK Flux 10.71 technical features 

AWS classification 

E7018-G 

Wire 

EM13K 

Chemical Composition (Typical values) 

AWS Classification 

F7A4-EM13K 

C 0.05% 

Si 0.37% 

Mn 1.25% 

Ni 0.90% 

Mechanical Properties 

Chemical Composition (typical values) 

C 0.05% 

Si 0.50% 

Mn 1.40% 


Yield strength* 

555 MPa 


542 MPa 

Tensile strength* 

630 MPa 


644 MPa 

Elongation* 28% 

Charpy * 


- Average** 

Tensile strength* - 

Average** 

Elongation – Average** 

Charpy – face ** (-30°C) 

Charpy – root ** (-30°C) 

CTOD – average** 

(*) AWS test plate 

(**) N-1859 test plate 

153 J 

545 MPa (AW)/ 

560 MPa (PWHT) 

633 MPa (AW)/ 


30% (AW)/27% (PWHT) 

85 J (AW)/79J (PWHT) 

109 J(AW)/146J (PWHT) 

0.86 mm (AW/ 

0.50 mm (PWHT) 


Charpy* 

Yield strength* - 

Average** 


Average** 


Charpy – face** (-30°C) 

Charpy – root** (-30°C) 




76 J 

498 MPa (AW)/ 


626 MPa (AW)/ 


26% (AW)/25% (PWHT) 

59 J(AW)/ 91 J (PWHT) 

115 J (AW)/147 J (PWHT) 

0.81 mm (AW)/ 

0.94 mm (PWHT) 

not only were tests necessary for consumable 

classification performed but, in addition, tensile 

tests, impact (Charpy V-notch) and CTOD tests 

on weld metal coupons in the AW and PWHT 

(2h/600-650°C) conditions. Maximum heating and 

cooling rates were 110° and 130°C per minute. 

Petrobras’ norm N-1859 stipulates a weld test 

plate with minimum thickness of 50 mm made in 

the same steel as used in the project to produce 

the coupons. Figure 3 shows the joint geometry 

and Figure 4 shows the dimensions and location 

where the test plate coupons should be removed. 

Figure 4. Dimensions of the test plate and specimen location. 

Two groups of six coupons were prepared for the 

impact tests (Charpy V-notch); each consisting of 

three coupons removed from the weld root and 

three taken at 2 mm subsurface in the weld centre. 

Two groups of two coupons were made for 

the tensile tests - one coupon was removed on 

side A and another on side B of the joint. Finally, 

two groups of three coupons were made for 


Table 5. Welding procedure qualified 

Welding position 

qualified 

All positions 

Pre-heat 15°C 

Interpass temperature 250°C 

OBS: Root gouging before the side B welding 

Root 

Consumable OK 48.08 

Figure 5. Joint and weld bead sequence 

Classification 

Diameter 

Current/Polarity 

Current range 

E7018-G 

3.25 mm 

DC+ 

95 – 127A 

CTOD testing. These were performed at design 

temperature (Tp = 10°C). The CVN impact testing 

took place at 30°C and -40°C. 

Table 4. FILARC PZ 6138SR technical features 

AWS Classification 

E81T1-Ni1MJ 

Chemical Composition (Typical Values) 

Voltage range 

19 – 25V 

Heat Input 3.7 KJ/mm 

Filling 

Norm N-1859 also requires test plate welding and 

mechanical tests for checking the consumable classification 

in accordance with the AWS specification. 

C 0.05% 

Si 0.37% 

Mn 1.24% 

Consumable 


Diameter 

FILARC PZ6138SR 

E81T1-Ni1MJ 

1.20 mm 

The consumables used in this project were 

OK 48.08 stick electrodes, OK Flux 10.71 

agglomerated flux and FILARC PZ 6138S 

flux-cored wire. Technical features and results 

obtained in the tests are shown in Tables 2, 3 and 4. 

In addition to the initial entry approvals for the 

consumables, each individual consumables lot was 

mechanically tested by ESAB. The test results 

were supplied to Techint with the consumables. 

Welding Procedure 

Figure 5 shows the joint and weld bead sequence 

of a qualified welding procedure used on this project 

where OK 48.08 stick electrodes were used for the 

root pass and FILARC PZ 6138SR flux-cored wire 

was used for filling and capping passes. On the 

welding procedure qualification was welded a test 

plate In the vertical (3G) up position. 

The welding procedure parameters are shown in 

Table 5 and mechanical tests results obtained on 

the welding procedure qualification are indicated 

in Table 6. 

Technical support 

In addition to approval of welding consumables by 

norm N-1859, the welding procedure qualification 

and welder’s training qualification were produced 

by ESAB and TECHINT. This technical partnership 

was fundamental to the project’s success. 

Ni 0.84% 





ENG. CLÁUDIO TURANI VAZ, MSC. IS TECHNICAL 

CONSULTANT AT ESAB BRAZIL. 

ENG. SÉRGIO MUNHÓS IS WELDING ENGINEER AT 

TECHINT SA. 

ENG. JOSÉ ROBERTO DOMINGUES IS TECHNICAL MANAGER 

AT ESAB BRAZIL 

530 MPa 

580 MPa 


Charpy* 

Yield strength* - Average** 


Average** 


Charpy – face** (-30 J) 

Charpy – root** (-30 J) 




144 J 

445 MPa (AW) 490 MPa 

(PWHT) 

625 MPa (AW) 600 MPa 

(PWHT) 

23% (AW) 24% (PWHT) 

124 J (AW) 78 J (PWHT) 

130 J (AW) 58 J (PWHT) 

0.66 mm (AW) 1.13 mm 

(PWHT) 

Shielding gas 

Current/Polarity 

Current range 

Voltage range 

75%Ar + 25%CO 2 

(15l/min) 

DC+ 

152 – 222A 

23 – 28V 

Heat Input 2.4K J/mm 

Table 6. Mechanical tests results 

Tensile 

545 MPa, base metal 

545 MPa, base metal 

Side bending 

0.8 mm Free of discontinuities 

0.8 mm Free of discontinuities 

Toughness (Charpy – V) -30°C 

Weld centre 65 J / 103 J / 78 J (average 82 J) 

HAZ 254 / 60 / 140 (average 185 J) 

Fusion line – 2 mm 

Fusion line – 5 mm 

Hardness (HV) 

279 J / 246 J / 284 J (average 

270 J) 

250 J / 232 J / 242 J (average 

241 J) 

In accordance with the specified values 


Manufacture of mobile gasoline tanks 

in AlMg5 aluminium alloy at ZAO 

BECEMA, Russia. 

ESAB assists in conversion from steel to aluminium. 

SERGEY CHAMOV ESAB RUSSIA, MOSCOW. 

After a road accident in Moscow, in 

the mid-1990s - when a gasoline 

truck crashed, overturned and 

caught fire, killing many people – it 

became clear that some USSR 

designed trucks posed a threat to 

life. This, together with rigid weight 

limitations established on Russian 

roads, created a demand from 

transportation companies for safe 

trucks having low weight and as 

large as possible cargo volumes. 

Across the world, aluminium-magnesium 

alloys are proven to be a viable 

alternative for tanks. They have a 

high strength/weight ratio, are ductile 

and corrosion resistant, and do 

not spark and catch fire, if an accident 

occurs. However, the use of 

these alloys in tank construction 

requires special welding skills and 

dedicated welding equipment and 

consumables. 

Figure 1. AlMg5 tank truck with a volume of 32.5 m 3 produced by ZAO BECEMA. 

ZAO BECEMA, located in Krasnogorsk, near 

Moscow, manufactures tank trucks for heavy or light 

mineral oil transportation. Founded in 1932, the 

company originally produced armoured concrete 

products. In 1945, it was transformed into a 

machine-building factory. Presently, it produces a 

wide range of road transport vehicules, including 

semi-trailers for transporting powder materials and 

liquids, tank trucks for light and heavy mineral oil 

transportation, tippers, road construction machines 

and technological equipment for cement, metallurgical 

and chemical industries. 

In 1996, it began steel tank production, especially 

for gasoline transportation, complying with all 

European safety norms and technically supported 

by HOBUR (Netherlands) and LAG (Belgium). From 

the year 2000, the rapid growth in the Russian 

economy generated a huge demand for aluminium 

gasoline tank trucks, which were imported from 

Europe. With healthy market conditions, ZAO 

BECEMA management decided to develop aluminium 

manufacturing, resulting in their own range of 

aluminium gasoline trucks, see Figure 1. ESAB supported 

the company during this period of development. 

Challenges in aluminium fabrication 

The first challenge was to change employees’ “psychology” 

from steel to aluminium fabrication. They 


Figure 2. Process plasma welding of plates with the ESAB FD60HP Plate Seamer. 

needed to understand and apply complete 

separation of steel and aluminium – be it in storage, 

transport or production. ZAO BECEMA invested in a 

new factory lay-out, new machines for aluminium 

fabrication, and tools and clothing for workers, only 

for use on aluminium. New routines were established, 

such as the cleaning of common equipment, 

before starting aluminium fabrication, and the prohibition 

of abrasive materials, eg, for bevel grinding. 

Another challenge was to find the right aluminium 

quality. Aluminium alloys produced to Russian 

standards either have insufficient strength – 

requiring thicker construction with a sharply 

reduced weight advantage relative to steel – or 

have insufficient ductile properties (elongation 

below 17%). It was also difficult to purchase plate 

sufficiently wide to avoid welding on the caps and 

internal separation walls of the tank, and the 

associated risk of crack propagation during cold 

pressing and flanging. However, the Russian 

Samara aluminium works was able to supply wide 

AlMg5 plates with sufficient strength and ductility 

(Rm: 285-300 MPa/ elongation: 22-26%). 

The need to automate the welding and rolling 

processes for the aluminium tanks resulted in the 

purchase of an ESAB FD60HP plate seamer with 

PT-8 plasma torch, which allows one-sided, fullpenetration 

welding of aluminium plates up to 8 

mm thick (Figure 2). 

Table 1. Mechanical properties: butt welds by semi-automatic two-sided pulse MIG-welding 

sample 

Nr 

Sample size 

[mm] 

Rupture 

effort [kN] 

Tensile strength 

[ MPa ] Rupture zone 

1 20.0 x 6 35.48 296 Basic metal 

2 19.9 x 6 33.91 284 Basic metal 

3 20.0 x 6 35.28 294 Basic metal 

4 15.0 x 6 Seam 91 

5 15.0 x 6 Seam 93 

Angle of bend for D=12 

mm [degree] 

• Basic metal: AlMg5, s=6 mm thickness 

• Welding wire: OK Autrod 5183 ø 1.2 mm 

• Welding type: MIG pulse 

• Shielding gas: Ar 99,99%, consumption: 

20 l/min 

• Welding current: 220-240 and 190-210 for 

back weld 

6 15.0 x 6 Seam 90 


Table 2. Mechanical properties: butt welds by automatic one-sided plasma welding on stainless backing. 

sample 

Nr 

Sample size 

[mm] 

Rupture 

effort [kN] 

Tensile strength 

[ MPa ] Rupture zone 

1 20.0 6 32.93 274 Basic metal 

2 20.0 6 33.32 278 Basic metal 

3 19.9 6 33.12 277 Basic metal 

4 15.0 6 Seam 94 

5 15.0 6 Seam 98 

6 15.0 6 Seam 97 

Angle of bend for D=12 

mm [degree] 

• Basic metal: AlMg5, s=6 mm thickness 

• Welding type: plasma automatic 

• Welding wire: OK Autrod 5183 ø 1.2 mm 

• Wire feed speed V= 400 cm/min 

• Shielding gas: Ar 99,99%, plasma gas 

consumption 1.6 l/min 

• Shielding gas consumption 12 l/min 

• Welding current: alternative (AC), direct/ 

reverse polarity balance (+/-) 75% / 25% 

• Current I= 250 at frequency f=200 Hz 

• Welding speed V=16 cm/min 

• Electrode: W (pure tungsten) ø 5 mm 

FACCIN, Italy, supplied a CNC-controlled bending 

machine with four 6 m long rollers. 

The last serious item to be resolved was the safety 

of the welders, particularly for those performing 

MIG-welding within a vessel where ventilation is 

difficult or impossible. This was solved by the 

combined use of local extraction, a MIG torch 

with fume extraction and a fresh air helmet. 

Welding material selection 

Although type 5356 welding wire matches the 

plate composition chemically, practice shows that 

it yields a 5-10% lower weld strength. Since the 

tanks do not experience high temperatures, type 

5183 wire could be selected, giving matching 

strength and good ductility - OK Autrod 5183 for 

MIG and automatic plasma welding and OK 

Tigrod 5183 for TIG welding. Tables 1 and 2 

show the results of tensile and bend tests on 

coupons welded with respectively two-sided 

pulse MIG and one-sided plasma welding on a 

stainless backing. 

Tank construction and manufacture - variety 

of welding used. 

A tank consists of a long cylindrical body, closed 

on both sides by caps. Internally the vessel is 

divided into several sections by walls with the 

same form as the caps, according to the contractor’s 

requirements (Figure 3). If the volume of a 

section exceeds 8 m 3 , extra deflector plates 

divide it, to break waves in case of an abrupt 

stoppage of the truck. 

The automatic plasma welder fabricates plates 

with a width up to 6 m, which are rolled to a cylinder. 

To close the cylinder, a final double-sided 

longitudinal run is performed by pulse MIG welding. 

The first run is performed on self-adhesive ceramic 

backings, PZ 1500/70, supplied by ESAB. 

Subsequently, the root area is removed mechanically, 

followed by a final run on the opposite side. 

All caps, separation walls and deflector plates are 

connected to the tank with fillet welds made by 

pulse MIG. If the tank length exceeds 6 m, 

cylinders are joined with a circumferential weld 

made in the same way as the longitudinal welds – 

pulse MIG on ceramic backing strip. 

All boxes, ladders, fences, etc, are welded onto 

the tank using pulse MIG. Only tubes and inlets to 

the tank are welded using the TIG process. 

Automatic plasma welding 

The semi-automatic MIG welding of plate sections 

with a size of 6000 x 6300 x 6 mm from separate 

sheet plates proved not to be feasible because of 

strong distortion and many defects. This problem 

was effectively solved with the ESAB FD60HP 

plate seamer and PT-8 plasma torch. This equipment 

welds carbon and stainless steel without weld 

pool support and shielding gas while, for aluminium 

plate, a copper backing bar is normally used. 

Figure 3. Principal design of a truck tank. 

However, the standard ESAB copper backing bar 

did not give good results in this application. The 

specific groove shape (Figure 4), promotes free 


Table 3. Welding data for automatic plasma welding. 

Welding wire: OK Autrod 5183 ø 1.2 mm 

Wire feed speed V= 400 cm/min 

Shield gas: Ar 99,99%, Shield gas consumption 12 l/min 

Welding current: alternative (AC), direct/reverse polarity balance (+/-) 75% / 25, frequency f=200 Hz 

Electrode: W (pure tungsten) ø 5 mm 

Forced root formation 

Plasma gas consumption 1.6 l/min 

Welding current I= 250 

Welding speed V=16 cm/min 

Free root formation 

Plasma gas consumption 1.4 l/min 

Welding current I = 235 

Welding speed V=19 cm/min 

formation of the root. The welding parameter 

range for a stable process - giving full penetration 

welds and no weld pool collapse – was too narrow 

for practical use. The tip-wear of the tungsten 

electrode, resulting in a less focused arc, already 

caused lack of fusion within a weld length of 6 m. 

The operator had to manually compensate by 

increasing gas flow, whilst seeing only the surface 

of the weld – not the root. 

OAO Kriogenmash, a Russian company with 

great experience in aluminium vessel fabrication, 

provided the solution. They recommended a special 

stainless backing bar with a very specific root 

shape, which promotes a forced root formation 

(Figure 4b). This increased the process stability 

sufficiently and widened the parameter range. It 

made the welding operation less sensitive to heat 

input, with reduced risk of burning through or the 

entrapment of oxides. 

Figure 5 compares the root passes produced on 

the stainless backing bar with those made on a 

copper backing bar. Both are I-joints with zero 

gap. The photographs reveal that a bigger weld 

pool is possible on the stainless backing bar, creating 

a nice bead width, while the root solidifies 

uniformly, instead of in droplets. The better shape 

is confirmed by the macrosections of Figure 6. 

The transition of the bead onto the base material 

is smoother. 

plasma nozzle 

Al sheet 

Figure 5. Outer (a) and root (b) weld seam, made by 

automatic plasma welding of AlMg5 joint with thickness 

S=6 mm on backing with forced (top) and free (bottom) 

root formation. 

Arc 

ESAB CU backing 

Fruitful co-operation 

ZAO BECEMA partnered with ESAB for their 

welding needs, when changing from carbon steel 

to aluminium fabrication. Within two months, this 

resulted in the installation and use of high technology 

equipment, the selection of the right filler 

materials and the successful training of welders 

and operators. This enabled the company to 

quickly convert tank truck production from carbon 

steel to aluminium, taking full advantage of high 

market demand. 

R 


SERGEY CHAMOV IS PRODUCT MANAGER CONSUMABLES 

AT ESAB RUSSIA, IN MOSCOW. 

New SS backing 

Figure 4. Plasma welding on copper backing bar (top) and stainless backing bar (bottom) 


Belleli Energy SpA reactors at the heart 

of Qatar’s Pearl Gas-to-Liquids Plant. 

ESAB arc welding consumables deliver quality and productivity. 

BEN ALTEMÜHL, EDITOR OF SVETSAREN. 

Over a period of three years, Belleli 

SpA, in Dubai, UAE, will fabricate 

12 reactor vessels for Qatar 

Petroleum and Shell’s Pearl Gasto-Liquids 

plant which is under 

construction in Ras Laffan 

Industrial City, in Qatar. The reactors 

are constructed from high 

wall-thickness pressure vessel 

steel and are produced to the very 

high quality required by the oil and 

gas industry. Narrow gap SAW and 

mechanised SAW are the dominant 

welding processes. 

Acknowledgement 

We thank the Belleli Management and Belleli 

Welding Superintendent, John Andersson, for 

facilitating our visit to their manufacturing facility 

and for providing the information for this article. 

Former ESAB Product Manager, Johan 

Ingemansson, and ESAB Product Manager, 

Sandish Salian, are thanked for their support. 

Belleli SpA 

Belleli SpA, an Exterran Group company, is a 

major manufacturer and supplier of equipment for 

the power generation, oil and gas, chemical/ 

petrochemical, power and desalination industries. 

Its head office, together with a large production 

facility, are located in Sharjah, in the United Arabic 

Emirates. Other plants are in Dubai, Saudi Arabia 

and Qatar. 

Belleli products include reactors, pressure vessels, 

towers, columns, steam drums, brine heaters, 

MED & MSF desalination units, pressure parts for 

heat recovery steam generators and complete 

process modules. State-of-the-art welding 

technologies are adopted while using low-alloy, 

cladded, Incoloy and Monel materials. 

In more than 40 years of business, worldwide, 

Belleli Energy has created a reputation for the 

quality of its supplies and services. Belleli Energy 

operates a Quality Management System that 


Table 1. Chemical composition and mechanical properties of 20MnMoNi 4-5 

%C %Mn %Si %Mo %Ni %Cr Rm (MPa) Re (MPa) 

0.17-0.23 1.0-1.5 60/-60 


Figure 2. Cross section of an SAW welded narrow gap 

joint preparation. Circumferential weld joining shell to shell. 

Figure 3. Single wire narrow gap SAW from the inside of 

the reactor. 

Figure 4. Filling and capping the remaining V-joint from 

the outside. Preheating by means of oxyfuel burners. 

Table 2 gives an overview of consumable 

classifications and mechanical properties. 

Belleli applies automatic SAW whenever 

possible, taking advantage of the high deposition 

rate of this process, making use of ESAB 

automation solutions. Longitudinal, circumferential 

and conical welds – the majority of 

weldments on the vessel – are all produced 

with a combination of TIG for the root pass, a 

few layers of MMA deposition, followed by 

filling with SAW using OK Flux 10.62/ OK 

Autrod 13.40. This flux has a high basicity for 

good low-temperature mechanical properties 

and an excellent slag detachability in narrow 

gap joint preparations. The welding sequence 

is discussed below for the circumferential 

welds joining shells to shells, shells to heads, 

and shells to tube sheets. 

Figure 2 shows a macro of a circumferential weld 

in 144 mm thick pressure vessel steel. The narrow 

gap joint preparation – with a root gap of 4 mm, a 

radius of 10 mm and an openings angle of 8 

degrees – indicated by dotted lines. Narrow gap 

welding is the preferred process for this type of joint 

and material thickness – the reduced weld volume 

results in less arc time, so faster production. 

The welding starts with a full penetration TIG root 

pass, followed by a 10 mm thick MMA weldment 

to acquire sufficient thickness for the SAW 

process. The surface of the MMA weldment is 

ground back for a maximum of 1 mm followed by 

a dye penetrant check of the root area on both 

sides. Subsequently the inside of the narrow gap 

joint is filled with single wire SAW, followed by the 

cap layers on the other side, also done with the 

single SAW process (Figures 3, 4 and 5). Table 3 

gives an overview of welding parameters used. 

All welds are 100% ultrasound (US) tested, both 

before and after PWHT. US after PWHT is a Shell 

requirement, but Belleli decided to also test 

before PWHT to ensure that welds are sound and 

avoid repair procedures after PWHT. Mechanical 

weld metal requirements are given in Table 4. 

For the top and bottom heads, a different welding 

procedure was used. The petal-to-petal welds 

(2/3-1/3 X-joints were welded with SMAW using 

Ph 88S stick electrodes, while the petal-to-crown 

welds (same joint preparation) were made with 

stick electrodes for the root area and SAW for the 

two-sided filling. 

For the many nozzles, Belleli uses custom-made 

ESAB SAW machines for the welding of circular 

joints, providing superior productivity compared 

with manual welding, using the universally applied 

OK Flux 10.62/OK Autrod 13.40 flux/wire 

combination (Figures 6 and 7). 

Preheating 

Preheating is applied for all welds – the preheat 

temperature and interpass temperature depend 

on the wall thickness shown in Table 4. 

Preheating procedures are very strict to avoid 

hydrogen induced cold cracking. In the event of a 

weld interruption (eg, break time or shift change), 

the preheat temperature must be maintained 

above the stipulated temperatures. Where weld 

interruption cannot be avoided, for a longer 

period of time, the weld must not be allowed to 

cool down (under insulation) until at least half the 

wall thickness has been welded. Preheating is to 

be restored and maintained for 30 minutes before 

the welding can restart. Preheat maintenance 

(soaking) is a procedure to remove hydrogen from 

the weld area before cooling down to ambient 

temperatures. Figure 4 shows preheating on 

constructions of this size and wall thickness. 

MMA electrodes and SAW flux are all low-hydrogen 

types and, for all consumables, strict, 

recommended storage and handling procedures 

are followed to avoid moisture pick-up in the 

extremely warm and humid Dubai climate. 

Useful support 

Located centrally in the Middle East, Belleli 

Energy SpA is well positioned to serve the oil and 

gas industry in the area, the same being true for 

ESAB which provides the industry with solutions 

for their welding and cutting needs. 

Over the years, ESAB has been the only welding 

company to invest in a Dubai-based organisation 

- close to its Middle East customers and capable 

of supporting high technology companies such as 

Belleli. Timely and adequate stocks of welding 

and cutting products are supplied from two large 


Table 3. Welding parameters used for welding the reactor shells. 

Process Polarity Current (A) Arc voltage (V) Travel speed 

(mm/min) 

Heat Input 

(kJ/mm) 

TIG DCEN 90-180 9-14 50-83 0.97-1.82 

MMA DCEP 60-180 18-25 53-112 1.22-2.41 

SAW (fill & cap) DCEP 450-580 27-33 450-480 1.62-2.39 

Figure 5. Narrow gap SAW. 

Figure 6. The A6-MHW automatic SAW welder for the welding of manholes and nozzles on cylindrical vessels. 

Table 4. Weld metal mechanical requirements after PWHT. 

Rm Rp0.2 A CVN test 

Temperature 

MPa MPa % °C 

Room temperature 590 460 18 +20 

At 300°C - 402 - 0 

Figure 7. Automatic SAW of a nozzle. 

local warehouses. success of this policy is 

underlined by the many fabricators in the area 

using ESAB technology and products. 

Table 4. Preheat and interpass temperatures applied. 

T

The Shell Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) 

Process 

Over the past few years, there has been substantial and sustained growth in proven natural gas reserves around the world. Today, the combined size 

of gas reserves is close to that of oil and, if this trend continues, looks likely to exceed them. When markets are remote, however, the gas needs to 

be converted into Liquefied Natural Gas in order to be transported economically, requiring an expensive infrastructure of LNG tanks and tankers and 

receiving terminals. 

Alternatively, the gas can be converted chemically into high performance liquid hydrocarbon fuels and products. This has the advantage that existing 

distribution systems can be used to access the oil products market. 

At macro economic level, the conversion of gas into synthetic fuels and products brings strategic advantages. Natural gas is abundant, although much of it 

is locked in remote regions that are difficult and costly to access. Moreover, transporting it long distances is costly because of its volume. GTL technology 

makes accessing such resources attractive, opening up alternative markets for gas and reducing dependence on oil. And for countries, like Qatar, with 

huge gas fields on their doorstep it offers the opportunity to diversify the development of energy resources. 

Shell’s GTL process is a three-stage process. In the first stage - the Shell Gasification Process (SGP) - synthesis gas is obtained by partial oxidation 

of natural gas using pure oxygen. In the next stage - Heavy Paraffin Synthesis (HPS) - the synthesis gas is converted into liquid hydrocarbons. In the 

final stage, these liquid hydrocarbons are converted and fractioned into high quality products, predominantly middle distillates, by means of the Heavy 

Paraffin Conversion (HPC) process. 

GTL technology goes beyond present day crude oil refinery in the sense that it produces combustion fuels with virtually no aromatic and sulphur 

components, giving significant reductions in regulated emissions (NOx, SOx, HC and particulates). It can also be blended with conventional diesel or, 

with minor modifications, be used as a neat fuel in diesel engines. 

Belleli is manufacturing twelve 1st and 2nd stage HPS reactors for the GTL plant Shell is building with its partner Qatar Petroleum in Ras Laffan Industrial 

City, Qatar. 

SGP HPS HPC 

Natural 

Gas 

Air 

o 2 

2H 2 

-CO -(CH 2 )- 

H 2 o 

GTL Product Slate 

- GTL Gasoil 

- GTL Kerosene 

- GTL Naphta 

- GTL Normal Paraffine 

- GTL base oils 

The Shell Gas - to - Liquids Process 


High integrity flowline welding at 

Luster Mekaniske Industri 

ESAB orbital TIG technology crucial 

RUNE PEDERSEN AND TORSTEIN WIBERG, ESAB NORWAY. 

The Norwegian fabricator Luster Mekaniske Industri AS (LMI) was responsible for the production of the subsea 

pipelines connecting the Skinfaks and Rimfaks oil & gas fields to the Gullfaks C platform in the North Sea. * This 

involved the mechanised TIG welding of an 18 km flowline in 13% Cr super martensitic stainless steel, 12 km of 

which was in 10’’ diameter pipe, 4 km in 8” diameter and 2 km in 4” diameter. The coated pipe segments to be 

joined had a length of 12 m and were supplied to LMI, by Statoil. The complete project handled by LMI involved 

the beveling, welding, sealing, reeling on spools and transportation to Statoil’s Scandi-Navica lay barge, 

for installation of the subsea flowlines. 


Quality and productivity. 

Weld quality was the number one requirement for 

this project. Welds needed to be absolutely 

flawless and were subjected to 100% ultrasound 

testing (mechanised, performed by Dutch bureau 

RTD). In consultation with ESAB, it was decided 

to opt for mechanised TIG welding, combining a 

high weld quality with a good level of productivity. 

Subsequently, welding procedure qualifications 

were developed and approved for the narrow gap 

welding in the vertical-down position (5G/PG). 

Figure 1 shows the joint preparation and bead 

sequence for 8 and 10” pipes with a wall 

thickness of 14.5 and 15.6 mm respectively. The 

cap layers are deposited in the vertical-up 

position, (stringer bead) to obtain sufficient bead 

width and good tie-in with the pipe material. 

The welding consumable selected was a supermartensitic 

type (25.5%Cr - 9.5%Ni - 3.7%Mo) – 

a common choice for welding super-martensitic 

flowlines. It avoids ductile phases in the weld 

metal and gives an overmatching weld strength – 

needed to avoid weld deformation during reeling 

and de-reeling of the pipe spools. The shielding 

gas was a 70%Ar/30% He mixture – the backing 

gas Argon 4.0 and preheat and interpass temperatures 

were 50 and 150 degrees respectively. 

Orbital TIG welding – the way to automate 

tube welding 

The Orbital TIG welding equipment that was used 

is based on Railtrac components, running on a 

ring mounted on the tube with a standard ESAB 

TIG welding torch, which can be attached quickly 

to the equipment. Up to five different welding 

programmes can be stored and handled by the 

light-weight remote control. The following 

parameters can be monitored and adjusted: 

• Start and stop 

• Shift programme 

• Travel direction 

• Welding speed 

• Weaving width 

• Zero line displacement 

• Welding current 

• Welding voltage 

• Backfill function 

Figure 1. Narrow gap J-groove and welding parameters for mechanized TIG welding. 

The welding of flowlines at LMI, takes place at 

four stations simultaneously, with one extra 

station being kept in reserve. Each station has 

two Orbital TIG tractors running from 12 to 6 ‘o 

clock, clockwise and counter clockwise, operated 

by two individual operators (see photo on title page). 

Each Orbital TIG welder is connected to an 

Aristo TM Mig 5000i inverter with Aristo TM U8 control 

unit – a multi-process digital power source. 

This method is very reliable and productive, 

according to LMI. Throughout the Skinfaks/ 

Rimfaks project, some 2500 welds were US 

tested with only 5 showing a weld defect. It took 

about 15 minutes for a complete weld to be 

finished on an 8 or 10” pipe. 

Figure 2. Vertical-down welding of a flowline in 

super-martensitic stainless steel, using orbital TIG 

welding equipment. The operator can control the 

welding parameters without lifting his helmet. 


RUNE PEDERSEN IS COUNTRY MANAGER AND TORSTEIN 

WIBERG IS SALES REPRESENTATIVE AT ESAB 

NORWAY, LARVIK, NORWAY. 


Product News 

NEW POWER SOURCES FOR 

ORBITAL WELDING 

ESAB is launching three new products to 

increase productivity and reduce costs in 

orbital welding. First, the Aristo MechTig 

C2002i is a compact, robust, user-friendly 

power source that features an integral water 

cooler and high-specification controller with 

graphical interface, program library and 

auto-generation of welding programs. 

Second, the Aristo MechControl 2 control 

unit has the same control features as the 

Aristo MechTig C2002i but with a separate 

power source and cooler. Third, the Aristo 

MechControl 4 is similar to the Aristo 

MechControl 2, with additional arc voltage 

control (AVC) and weaving control. When used 

with suitable welding heads, all three are highly 

efficient at producing top-quality tube welds in 

the food, beverage, dairy, chemical, pharmaceutical/biochemistry, 

semiconductor, aerospace, 

shipbuilding and general engineering industries. 

Mechanised TIG welding is an efficient way to 

increase productivity, improve quality and 

reduce costs when welding tubes. ESAB’s 

new modular Aristo MechTig C2002i power 

source is highly adaptable, enabling systems 

to be configured to precisely match customers’ 

requirements. The machine delivers 180 Amps 

at a 35% duty cycle, or 110 Amps at a 100% 

duty cycle. Both the rotation motor and the 

wire feed motor are controlled by the control 

unit, which ensures that the welding 

parameters remain close to the ideal. 

Getting the most out of the power source is 

simple by virtue of the 10inch colour display; a 

Windows-like user interface enables operatives 

to call up a program from the built-in library or 

generate a program automatically by entering 

data such as the material, outer diameter and 

tube thickness. Programs generated this way 

can be added to the library. Alternatively, all welding 

parameters can be set manually via a graphical 

or spreadsheet interface. 

Another feature of the Aristo MechTig C2002i is 

the integral printer that can output a hard copy of 

the programmed welding parameters and the 

measured values for speed, current, voltage, wire 

and power. Time and date stamps, plus the 

power source ID, run number and total weld time, 

aid compliance with traceability requirements. 

A USB connection enables users to transfer welding 

programs between machines, store backups 

and update the welding programs. 

If the customer needs higher current then we can 

offer the power sources Aristo MechTig 3000i 

or Aristo MechTig 4000i together with the control 

unit Aristo MechControl 2. The user interface 

is the same as for the Aristo MechTig 

C2002i power source. 

For applications requiring arc voltage control and/ 

or weaving, the Aristo MechControl 4 control 

unit provides the necessary additional functionality 

when used together with a suitable power source. 

ESAB offers numerous welding heads that are compatible 

with the three new machines, enabling complete 

orbital welding systems to be assembled to 

match the requirements of particular applications. 

Further options include the Weldoc WMS 4000 

Welding Monitoring Documentation System for 

compliance with the ISO 9000/SS-EN 729 international 

welding quality standard. Alternatively, the 

SPS 4000 package records just the parameter settings. 

If required, ESAB also offers the MechT 1 with 

CAN remote control and display functions. 


FLEXIBLE HEAVY-DUTY SOLUTIONS FOR 

MIG/MAG, MMA AND ARC GAUGING 

Choppers 

Origo Mig 402c/502c/652c are sturdy, robust 

switching converter (chopper) power sources for 

heavy duty MIG/MAG welding, MMA welding and 

air-arc gouging. Proven technology and ESAB 

developed software provide high reliability and 

outstanding welding performance. A strong metal 

casing makes these units the perfect solution for 

harsh environments. Large wheels, sturdy lifting 

eyelets and an undercarriage, designed to allow 

the Origo Mig to be lifted by a forklift, make 

these units highly manoeuvrable. 

Easy to use 

The wide current and voltage range together with 

stepless, dial adjusted inductance make it easy to 

optimise settings for a wide variety of filler 

materials and gases. The patented ESAB ELP 

LogicPump automatically starts the machine’s 

cooling water pump when a water-cooled torch is 

connected to either the Origo Feed 304, M13 or 

Origo Feed 484, M13 wire feeder. It helps to 

eliminate the risk of the welding torch overheating 

and prevents costly repairs. When an air-cooled 

torch is used, the pump will automatically shut off, 

giving a lower noise level and longer working life for 

the cooling pump. The machines are designed for 

heavy industries such as civil construction, mobile 

machinery, foundries, pipe workshops, ship and 

offshore yards. 

Flexibility 

In many industries, quick production line changes 

are essential. The need for flexibility and high 

productivity can be met by the ESAB Origo Mig 

as the unit is capable of MIG/MAG welding, MMA 

welding and air-arc gouging. 

The Origo Mig 402c, 502c and 652c meet the 

demands of the cost-conscious fabricator for high 

productivity, versatility and high quality production 

with low overall welding costs. IP23 makes it a 

perfect solution for tough, outdoor working 

environments. 

The unit switches off automatically to prevent 

overheating and it conforms to EN 60974-1, EN 

60974-10. 

• The A13 panel to select MIG/MAG, MMA, 

scratch start TIG and air-arc gouging - a cost 

efficient combination; 

• Sturdy metal casing with optional air filter - for 

tough, corrosive and dirty environments; 

• Multivoltage – allows mains supplies from 

230/400/460/500 V - 3ph; 

• Stepless voltage control – for precise settings 

from the feeder panel or remote control 

• Built-in water cooler (“w” version) 

• ESAB ELP LogicPump - automatically starts the 

water pump when using a water-cooled torch; 

• Digital V/A meter (option) in the A13 power 

source panel or the M13 feeder panel 

– extended functionality. 

ROBUST AND POWERFUL MIG/MAG 

POWER SOURCES FOR HEAVY DUTY WELDING 

Origo Mig 4002c/5002c/6502c 

Aristo Mig 4002c/5002c/6502c 

These are sturdy, robust switching converter 

(chopper) power sources for heavy-duty applications. 

MIG/MAG and MMA are the main processes 

– process selection being related to the choice 

of Origo MA23, Origo MA24 or Aristo MA6 

control panel. Proven technology and ESAB 

developed software provide high reliability and 

outstanding welding performance. The unit is 

constructed using a strong metal casing to withstand 

harsh environments. Large wheels, sturdy 

lifting eyelets and an undercarriage designed for 

transport by forklift make the unit easy to move. 

The digital (CANbus) communications and control 

system means fewer cables which, in turn, 

increases operational reliability. The power sources 

are optimised to operate with Origo Feed 

3004, Origo Feed 4804 and Aristo YardFeed 

2000 wire feeders. The patented ESAB ELP 

LogicPump automatically starts the cooling water 

pump in the machine when a water-cooled torch 

is connected to the wire feeders. This helps to 

eliminate the risk of the welding torch overheating. 

When a self-cooled torch is used, the pump 

is automatically shut off giving a lower noise level 

and longer working life for the cooling pump. 

Extended connection cables can provide a working 

radius of up to 35 metres to suit all individual 

welding needs.The TrueArcVoltage System, in 

combination with an ESAB PSF torch, guarantees 

welding with the correct arc voltage independent 

of any voltage drop in the welding 

cables. This ensures the same arc voltage and 

weld result, regardless of whether a short connection 

cable or extended cables are used. 

The machines are designed for use in heavy 

industries such as civil construction, mobile 

machinery, foundries, pipe workshops, ship and 

offshore yards. 

• Reliable, smooth starts and ends supported by 

efficient hot-start and crater fill functions. 

• Efficient man-machine communication via userfriendly 

Origo MA23, Origo MA24 and 

Aristo MA6 control panels. 

• Wide range of pre-programmed synergic lines 

(MA24 and MA6). 

• Memory for three (MA23/24) or 10 (MA6) welding 

parameters. 

• QSet function in the MA24 panel: unique, 

automatic setting of parameters in short arc. 

• ESAB ELP LogicPump secures automatic start 

of the water pump using a water-cooled torch. 

• TrueArcVoltage System, measures the correct 

arc voltage value. 

• Multivoltage –allows mains supplies from 

230/400/460/500 V - 3ph. 

• Dust filter handles dirt, grinding-dust and metal 

particles from entering the chassis.

CADDY - THE PORTABLE 

SOLUTION FOR PROFESSIONAL 

WELDING 

Caddy is the perfect partner in both MMA 

and TIG welding. From the single-phase 

Caddy Arc 151i A31 to the top-of- the-line 

Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC, this family of portable 

welding units offers robust, reliable and flexible 

performance. Compact and efficient inverter 

technology, user-friendly multifunctional control 

panels and intelligent software assure optimal 

welding parameters and a consistently stable arc. 

And when things get hot, the Caddy stays 

cool – thanks to smart design. 

Designed to last 

Caddy features user-friendly control panels 

and compact, portable, impact and flameresistant 

polymer housing. Inside, large heat 

sinks and smart design ensure cool operation 

for extended service life in harsh environments, 

while all sensitive components are fully shielded 

from dust and other particulates. Equipped 

with large high-durability OKC 50cable 

connectors, these IP23 compliant Caddy 

units can be used outdoors – even in rain. 

Superior performance, unsurpassed reliability – 

day after day. 

Power Factor Correction (PFC) 

The Caddy units are equipped with PFC 

circuits. These enable operation at full capacity 

on standard 16 A or 10 A fuses, for improved 

economy. Complying with the latest EMC 

(Electromagnetic Compatibility) legislation, PFC 

protects the machine from fluctuating primary 

voltage, for consistent performance and 

enhanced safety, even when connected to a 

generator. Caddy permits the use of mains 

cables longer than 100 metres to extend 

working radius. 

Caddy Arc 151i/201i 

Offering fully professional performance (150 A-170 

A at 25% duty cycle), the portability and attractive 

pricing of these robust and compact single-phase 

machines places them in reach of skilled 

enthusiasts as well as seasoned professionals. 

Caddy Arc 151i/201i 

The Caddy Arc 151i/201i is the perfect welding 

tool for on-site installation, maintenance, repair or 

fabrication – indoors and outdoors. 

Gloves-on control 

Whether you choose the basic one-knob A31 or 

the advanced A33 panel you need never take your 

gloves off: both are easy to understand and set. 

The digital display A33 is a true multifunctional 

panel, featuring hot-start and arc force control (to 

fine-tune the welding process), choice of MMA or 

TIG welding, LiveTig start in TIG mode, two 

program function and an analogue remote control 

option. Control panel Caddy A33 has the latest 

regulator, ArcPlus II that gives a more intense, 

yet smooth and stable arc that is easy to control. 

The go-anywhere welding partner 

The single-phase Caddy Arc is the ideal MMA 

partner for welding most metals, including alloyed/ 

non-alloyed steel, stainless steel and cast iron. 

Designed for most grades of electrodes, from Ø1.6 

up to Ø 4 mm, these machines offer exceptional 

reliability and consistent performance. The multifunctionality 

of the advanced A33 control panel 

and enhanced welding characteristics of the 

ArcPlus II software (smoother burning arc, less 


spatter, smaller droplets and pause-free weaving) 

ensure superior weld quality and minimal posttreatment, 

whatever the primary power source. 

And a more than 100 m long mains cable offers a 

generous working radius! 

TIG too 

Just add a TIG-torch with gas valve, gas regulator 

and gas cylinder, and your Caddy is ready for 

TIG welding. Now you can weld mild or stainless 

steel, with or without filler material. Use scratchstart 

with the A31 panel, or electronically controlled 

LiveTig start with the A33 for safe starts without 

tungsten contamination. 

Caddy Tig 1500i/2200i 

These top-of-the-line single phase Caddy Tig 

machines are available with two different 

control panels. Both feature all key TIG (DC) 

welding functions, alternative arc ignition 

(HFstart or interference-free LiftArc) and MMA. 

These machines offer increased functionality for 

demanding TIG applications in the repair and 

maintenance, manufacturing, civil construction 

and process industries. All are equipped with 

ArcPlus II regulator, ensuring less spatter, smaller 

droplets and pause-free weaving. 

The ‘do-it-alone’ control panel 

The easiest route to TIG welding? Choose a 

machine with the Caddy TA33 control panel. 

Just set plate thickness. Your TA33 will handle all 

the other settings, to ensure you produce a highquality 

TIG weld. Welding current, slope down and 

post-gas can also be adjusted manually. 

The ‘do-it-all’ control panel 

The more advanced TA34 control panel offers 

pulsed-TIG, to improve control of the weld pool 

and heat input when welding thinner materials. 

Other TA34 features include Micro Pulse (to reduce 

the heat-affected zone) and a two-program 

function, allowing the operator to pre-store settings 

and switch between the programs, either from the 

panel or the torch trigger, even during welding. It 

can also be used for slope-up/slope-down and 

post-gas settings, and operated by CANbus 

remote control. You can even keep your gloves on. 

Caddy Tig 2200i 

Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC 

Optimum functionality, a complete range of accessories 

and full AC/DC flexibility make the Caddy 

Tig 2200i AC/DC single phase power source, the 

ultimate mobile unit for high quality TIG welding. 

Choice of panels and broad operating range (all 

types of material and thicknesses up to 5 mm) 

make it ideal for almost any repair or maintenance 

application – large or small. DC Pulsed or Micro 

Pulse TIG, or true MMA (with Hot Start and Arc 

Force) - The Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC puts the 

choice in your hands. 

QWave optimisation 

A stable arc is critical to quality AC TIG welding. 

Featuring QWave optimisation, the Caddy Tig 

22001i AC/DC ensures exceptional arc stability, in 

both AC and DC mode. The optimised AC wave 

form provides a smooth arc for a clean arc strike, 

low noise and excellent weld result. True AC rating 

ensures that set current and true current are 

always the same. 

Pick your panel 

Choice of two panels. Both provide full TIG DC, 

AC/DC and MMA welding capabilities, with logical 

easy-to-use controls. The Caddy TA33 AC/DC 

control panel offers the fast route to AC TIG 


Caddy Tig 2200i AC/DC 

welding. Just set plate thickness and the machine 

will handle all necessary parameters, to ensure that 

the AC TIG weld is top quality. Looking for 

advanced functionality? The Caddy TA34 AC/DC 

has it all. AC Balance control for arc cleaning and 

penetration, AC Frequency control to set arc width. 

It also features an electrode preheating control for 

differently shaped electrodes, for better starts and 

extended electrode life. Both panels feature the 

latest ArcPlus II regulator, ensuring less spatter, 

smaller droplets and pause-free weaving. 

Light and easy 

In a repair shop or aboard an oil rig, with the tight 

deadlines and constant movement from site to site, 

you need a lean machine. Like the rest of the 

Caddy family, this top performer is smart and 

agile. Its high-durability housing also makes it 

tough, surprisingly light and corrosion-free. 

Caddy Arc 251i 

The most powerful Caddy of all, this heavy-duty 

400 V three-phase power source can be operated 

on a 10A fuse, thanks to its PFC circuit. This very 

portable machine can also be operated at sites 

where power comes from a generator or with 

fluctuating mains voltage, and far from its primary 

power source (over 100-metre mains cables). The 

rugged Caddy Arc 251i is the natural choice for 

portable applications in the shipbuilding, offshore, 

power generation and process industries. 

Welds the most demanding electrodes 

The Caddy Arc 251i is the ultimate portable for 

the professional welder. Although with the same 

compact format as the rest of the Caddy family, 

the potent Arc 251i generates an impressive 250 A 

at 30% duty cycle. Featuring an exceptional power 

reserve, this high capacity multifunctional unit offers 

excellent results with even the most demanding 

electrodes, including cellulosic and highrecovery, in 

dimensions from Ø1.6 to 5 mm. The improved 

welding characteristics of its ArcPlus II regulator 

simplify the job, ensuring pause-free weaving, 

better weld quality and less post-treatment. 

Choice of panel 

Caddy Arc 251i is available with two control 

panels, A32 and A34, featuring digital displays and 

a remote control function. The Caddy A32 

features MMA or TIG welding options with 

LiveTig electronic start in TIG mode. Just set the 

welding current and you’re ready. The more 

advanced Caddy A34 features additional 

functions such as hot-start and arc force control 

and two program function. The specific electrode 

type may be selected in MMA mode, automatically 

optimising welding performance. 

Caddy Arc 251i 


ESAB LAUNCHES NEW ORIGO 

WELDING MACHINE FOR 

DEMANDING TIG APPLICATIONS 

A new TIG welding machine from ESAB for 

applications where high-quality TIG welds are 

required when operating in AC and DC mode. 

The Origo TM Tig 4300iw AC/DC welding power 

source can be used on virtually any weldable 

metal. Typical applications include production, 

repair and maintenance in industries ranging 

from automotive and mobile machinery, to 

shipbuilding, tube and pipe fabrication and 

civil engineering. 

For AC TIG welding, the TA24 control panel 

offers facilities for setting the AC balance and 

the AC frequency so as to optimise the weld 

pool - or if True AC rating is selected, the true 

current is automatically maintained at the set 

current level. In addition, the QWave function 

optimises the AC wave form to give a smooth 

arc and very low noise, and electrode preheating 

enables the level of preheating to be adjusted 

to suit the selected tungsten electrode. Another 

useful feature is the two-program function that 

enables the operator to pre-set two welding 

programs and switch between them during the 

welding operation. 

The TA24 control panel provides all of the 

necessary controls for AC TIG, DC pulsed TIG 

and MMA welding in an intuitive layout. As well as 

the TIG settings already mentioned, the panel 

enables the user to select AC or DC MMA 

welding, hot start, arc force and polarity switch 

(in DC mode). 

When the water cooling unit and water-cooled 

torch are specified, users can also take advantage 

of the ELP (ESAB Logic Pump) that automatically 

starts the cooling unit when the torch is being 

used. Furthermore, the Energy Save mode ensures 

that the pump and fan only operate on demand. 

Operating from a 400V three-phase supply, the 

Origo Tig 3000i AC/DC and Origo Tig 4300iw AC/ 

DC welding power source hase a setting range of 

4-300A and 4-430A for TIG AC/DC welding, 

respectively, or 16-300A and 16-430A for MMA, 

AC/DC welding. 

ESAB offers a range of accessories for use with 

these welding machines, including trolleys, remote 

control units, remote interconnection cables up to 

25m long, and various TIG torches. 

REACTIVE WELDING HELMETS 

BENEFIT FROM OPTION TO ADD 

HEAD AND RESPIRATORY 

PROTECTION 

charged. Furthermore, there is no need to 

remember to switch on or off, as the electronics 

automatically switch off if the helmet is left in a 

dark place for more than 10 minutes. The helmet 

reactivates itself when brought back into the light. 

ESAB’s innovative new Eye-Tech II reactive 

welding helmets give customers the option 

to add full head protection and/or a 

respiratory protection system. This versatile 

family of welding helmets builds on the firstgeneration 

Eye-Tech’s reputation for high 

performance and comfort. 

New features of the Eye-Tech II include a 

curved front cover lens that helps to prevent 

spatter from sticking, and a contoured 

design that protects the lens from damage if 

the helmet is placed face-down on the floor 

or workbench. 

The helmets also benefit from a solar-powered 

cartridge that ensures the batteries are always 

Four models of Eye-Tech II helmet are available to 

suit different welding and cutting applications and 

the free literature shows which models are suitable 

for use with which welding and cutting currents. 

In addition, the internal head harness can 

be removed and replaced with a specially 

designed protective helmet for use in situations 

where this additional protection is required. 

For applications where full-face respiratory equipment 

is necessary, ESAB offers a choice of two 

air feed units that deliver up to 190 litres of air per 

minute. Both of these can be used with all four 

models of Eye-Tech II helmet. 

The Eye-Tech II helmets can also be used in conjunction 

with an air-fed, grade B energy impact 

grinding visor, which is believed to be a unique 

feature for a welding helmet, complete with head 

and face seals. 


AUTOREX – THE FIRST, TOTALLY 

ENCAPSULATED, AUTOMATIC PLASMA 

CUTTING CENTRE 

The ideal addition to any laser cutting 

system. 

It is not necessary to use expensive laser 

cutting systems for every job. Used in combination 

with the AUTOREX automatic plasma 

cutting centre, unnecessarily high operating 

costs can be avoided. Automatic cutting with 

plasma is fast, precise, energy efficient and, 

above all, very economical. The innovative 

AUTOREX plasma cutting centre is a turnkey, 

compact production cell that offers leadingedge 

solutions and cost-efficiency. 

Less ecological damage, more success for us all 

Companies, employees and the environment profit 

equally from cleanliness in the workplace. This is 

the reason why the AUTOREX exchange table 

has a powerful fume and dust extractor, and a 

fine dust filter system, guaranteeing clean air. 

ESAB CUTTING SYSTEMS offer the AUTOREX in 

two different versions, each as a complete package: 

AUTOREX 3000 

• Suitable for sheet sizes of 1500 x 3000 mm, 

maximum 

• Material thicknesses from 1 to 25 mm 

• Fitted with one plasma torch 

• VISION 52 control 

• Exchange table with fume and dust extraction 

• Fine dust filter system 

• ESAB Columbus programming system 

• Optional automatic loading and unloading device 

• automated shelf system 

AUTOREX 4000 

• Suitable for sheet sizes of 2000 x 4000 mm, 

maximum 

• Material thicknesses from 1 to 25 mm 

• Fitted with one plasma torch 

• VISION 52 control 

• Exchange table with fume and dust extraction 

• Fine dust filter system 

• ESAB Columbus programming system 

• Optional automatic loading and unloading 

device 

• automated shelf system 

Less work, more automated productivity 

Steel, stainless steel and aluminium, up to a 

thickness of 25 mm, can be cut with a 

standard plasma torch. ESAB’s CNCcontrolled 

plasma system guarantees 

optimum use of material, outstanding quality 

cuts and perfect preparation of weld seams. 

Workpieces can also be marked without 

changing the tool. All processes run automatically, 

the standard integrated exchange table 

ensures a continuous supply of material 

parallel to cutting. 

An automatic loading and unloading device for 

the exchange table and an automated shelf 

system are also available as optional extras. 

AUTOREX, therefore, offers simple, low-cost, 

production automation. A major advantage is 

that all components are matched, everything 

works together smoothly and can be integrated 

into existing systems. 

Less noise, more safety 

The complete cutting technology including 

machine portal and torch are hermetically 

separated from the working environment in a 

compact manufacturing cell. The noise level 

thus falls below the limits specified in the 

Technical Instruction on Noise Abatement. 

A welcome saving is that special noise 

protection measures are superfluous. The 

effective visor also contributes to greater safety 

in the workplace. 


TRAMTRAC TM II – A COST-EFFICIENT 

AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTION FOR THE 

REPAIR OF EMBEDDED CITY : WITHOUT 

DISRUPTING TRAMWAY TRAVEL 

Tramtrac TM II is ESAB’s latest welding equipment 

for the repair of embedded grooved city 

tramway rails. It utilises the FCAW process 

with self-shielded wires, instead of the conventional 

SAW process, which provides a 

number of advantages in terms of ease of use 

and cost-efficiency. 

The FCAW process allows Tramtrac TM II to be 

small and with an ultra light-weight compared 

with the heavier SAW solution. It is easily 

stored and used from a pick-up truck together 

with a petrol/diesel generator and welding 

power source. The tractor can be hand-carried 

and is easily installed and removed on 

and off the rail, allowing trams to pass within a 

controlled safety situation. 

Welding embedded 

grooved rails in cities 

implies that preheating 

the rail cannot be performed. 

With rail grades 

ranging from 700 (R220) 

to 900A (R260) consumables 

for difficult to weld 

steels are recommended 

with a weld deposit that 

can accommodate high 

carbon without cracking. 

ESAB OK Tubrodur 15.65 

and OK Tubrodur 14.71 

are two wires that have 

been successfully used 

by tramway repair contractors 

for many years. 

Once the beads have 

been deposited there is 

no need to grind to the 

final profile of the rail. 


The deposition rate is approximately at the same 

level as with the SAW 

process, but the duty cycle increases due to 

quick installation, no flux handling and reduced 

slag removal effort. 

• LIGHT WEIGHT 

• COST-EFFICIENT 

• PRODUCTIVE 

• EASILY INSTALLED AND REMOVED 

• EASY TO OPERATE 

Tramtrac II – technical data. 

Control voltage 

36-46 V AC 

Power 

90 W 

Welding speed 

30-100 mm/min. 

Dimensions (l x w x h) 

600 x 300 x 150 mm 

Weight without consumables 12 kg 

Ordering information 

Tramtrac TM II 0814 721 880 

Connection cable 10m 0457 360 884 

The Tramtrac TM II is operator friendly with a fourwheel 

drive carriage that rides the single rail, a 

wire feeding unit for 1.2 or 1.6 mm Ø wires and 

adjustable traction wheels to fit most worn flanges 

and railheads. The control box, on top of the 

feeder encasement, features clearly marked symbols 

for wire feed speed, travel speed and start 

and stop welding functions, as well as wire inching. 

Origo MIG 410 0349 302 408 

Origo MIG 320 0349 303 562 

Magnetic earth return cable & 

clamp 0000 500 415 

OK Tubrodur 14.71, 1.6mm 1471 167 730 

OK Tubrodur 15.65, 1.6mm 1565 167 730 

The control box features clearly marked symbols for wire 

feed speed, travel speed and start and stop welding 

functions, as well as wire inching. 

The curved slide on which the welding head is 

enables easy and exact positioning of the wire 

extension between 0 to ± 65° while the horizontal 

and vertical slides enable positioning in the x- and 

y-planes. 

Tramtrac TM II needs a 42V AC control voltage supplied 

from an Origo Mig or 410 step controlled 

welding rectifier with a total of 40 voltage settings. 

10m long control and welding cables, allowing the 

tractor to travel up to 17 m when the power 

source is positioned close to the rail. 

Cored wires – technical data. 

Classifications & 

approvals 

Typical chemical composition all weld 

metal (%) 

Hardness HB 

OK Tubrodur 14.71 C Si Mn Cr Ni Mo as welded work 

hardened 

Type 

Rutile 

Polarity 

DC+ 

EN14700 T Fe 10 

0.026 0.48 5.12 19.1 8.7 200 400 

A stainless rutile 18.8.6Mn, self-shielded cored wire for cladding and joining 13% Mn steels 

and steels with limited weldability. It is also useful for buffer layers prior to hardfacing. 

Supreme welding characteristics and excellent slag detachability. 

Classifications 

& approvals 

Typical chemical composition all 

weld metal (%) 

Hardness HB 

OK Tubrodur 15.65 C Si Mn Cr Ni Mo as welded work hardened 

Type 

EN14700 T Fe 9 

Rutile 

Polarity 

DC+ 

0.03 0.6 13.5 15.5 1.8 0.8 250 450 

A stainless rutile self-shielded cored wire depositing a martensitic-austenitic, work hardening 

deposit, used for the rebuilding of mild, low-alloy and 13%Mn steels. The weld metal 

combines excellent metal to metal abrasion and impact resistance. Supreme welding characteristics 

and excellent slag detachability. 

Light-weight Tramtrac TM II equipment can be handcarried 

and is easily installed and removed. 


OK FLUX 10.77 – SPIRAL PIPEMILL FLUX 

FOR HIGH SPEED WELDING 

OK Flux 10.77 is an agglomerated, basic flux 

designed primarily for the production of spiral 

welded line pipes. 

The flux alloys some Si and Mn to the weld 

metal and it works equally well on DC and AC 

current. It is used in single wire, tandem and 3 

wire systems, which makes it also suitable for 

longitudinal welded pipes of limited plate 

thicknesses. 

OK Flux 10.77 produces welded joints with 

shallow reinforcement; low transition angles 

and smooth surface finish even at high 

welding speeds. A shallow reinforcement 

means cost saving in the later pipe coating 

operation, since the coating thickness can be 

reduced. With different wires it is suitable for 

all mild and high strength line pipe steels. 

Classification flux Basicity index Density Grain size 

EN 760: SA AB 1 67 AC 1.3 ~ 1.2 kg/dm3 0.2 - 1.6 mm 

Slag type Polarity Alloy transfer 

Aluminate-basic DC+ / AC Slightly Si and moderately Mn alloying 

Flux consumption kg flux / 

kg wire 

Voltage DC+ AC 

26 0.7 0.6 

30 1.0 0.9 

34 1.3 1.2 

38 1.6 1.4 


Wire 

Single wire, ø 4.0 mm, DC+, 30 V, 60 cm/min 

Weld metal 

OK Autrod EN / AWS EN / AW AWS / AW AWS / PWHT 

12.20 S2 / EM12 S 38 4 AB S2 A5.17: F7A4-EM12 A5.17: F6P4-EM12 

12.22 S2Si / EM12K S 38 4 AB S2Si A5.17: F7A5-EM12-K A5.17: F6P5-EM12-K 

12.24 S2Mo; S Mo / EA2 S 46 2 AB S2Mo A5.23: F8A4-EA2-A2 A5.23: F7P2 -EA2-A2 

12.34 S3Mo; S MnMo / EA4 S 50 3 AB S3Mo A5.23: F8A4-EA4-A4 A5.23: F8P2-EA4-A4 

Typical weld metal chemical composition (%), DC+ 

C Si Mn Mo 

With OK Autrod 

12.20 0.06 0.3 1.4 

12.22 0.07 0.4 1.4 

12.24 0.07 0.3 1.3 0.5 

12.34 0.08 0.3 1.5 0.5 

1,0 

0,8 

0,6 

0,4 

0,2 

0,0 

-0,2 

% Si pick-up 

from flux 

450 A 

750 A 

% Si in wire 

0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25 0,30 

1,8 

1,4 

1,0 

0,6 

0,2 

-0,2 

-0,6 

-1,0 

% Mn pick-up 

from flux 

450 A 

750 A 

% Mn in wire 

0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 

Typical weld metal mechanical properties, DC+ 

ReL / 

Rp0.2 

(MPa) 

Rm 

(MPa) 

A4-A5 

(%) 

CVN 

(J at °C) 

AW/ 

SR 

Remarks 

With OK Autrod -18 -20 -29 -40 CVN at 

12.20 420 500 28 80 65 55 AW 

12.22 420 520 26 130 110 80 AW - 46˚C: 50J 

12.24 495 580 25 60 60 45 AW - 29˚C: 50J 

- 40˚C: 40J 

12.34 540 630 25 70 60 45 AW 

For more information view the Product Data Sheets or contact ESAB. 


OK FLUX 10.87 – HIGH SPEED 

FLUX WITH PERFECT WETTING 

Classification flux Basicity index Density Grain size 

EN 760: SA AR 1 95 AC 0.4 ~ 1.2 kg/dm3 0.2 - 1.6 mm 

OK Flux 10.87 is an agglomerated, 

low-basicity flux for submerged arc welding. It 

gives perfect wetting and excellent weld bead 

appearances in butt, overlap and fillet welds at 

high welding speeds. 

OK Flux 10.87 is used for single and multiwire 

procedures and works equally well on DC 

and AC current. It is intended for a limited 

number of passes and plate thickness up to 

25mm. 

The main application area for OK Flux 10.87 is 

in the production of air compressor tanks, 

LPG bottles and fire extinguishers. This flux 

gives a flat weld bead and an even, clean 

surface with excellent slag detachability, also 

when the second run has been pre-heated by 

the first run. Other industries with similar 

requirements also make use of OK Flux 10.87, 

including general construction and the automotive 

industry. 


Aluminate-rutile DC+ / AC Very high Si alloying, neutral on Mn 

Flux consumption 

kg flux / kg wire 

Voltage DC+ AC 

26 0.6 0.5 

30 0.9 0.7 

34 1.2 1.0 

38 1.5 1.3 


Wire 

Weld metal 

OK Autrod EN / AWS EN / AW AWS / AW AWS / PWHT 

12.10 S1 / EL12 S 35 A AR S1 A5.17: F6AZ-EL12 A5.17: F6PZ-EL12 

12.20 S2 / EM12 S 42 A AR S2 A5.17: F7AZ-EM12 A5.17: F6PZ-EM12 

12.22 S2Si / EM12K S 42 A AR S2Si A5.17: F7AZ-EM12K A5.17: F6PZ-EM12K 

Typical weld metal chemical composition (%), 

DC+ 

C Si Mn 

With OK Autrod 

12.10 0.05 0.8 0.6 

12.20 0.05 0.8 1.0 

12.22 0.05 0.9 1.0 

1,0 

0,8 

0,6 

0,4 

0,2 

0,0 

-0,2 

% Si pick-up 

from flux 

450 A 

750 A 

% Si in wire 

0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25 0,30 

Single wire, ø 4.0 mm, DC+, 30 V, 60 cm/min 

1,8 

1,4 

1,0 

0,6 

0,2 

-0,2 

-0,6 

-1,0 

% Mn pick-up 

from flux 

% Mn in wire 

450 A 

750 A 

0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 

Typical weld metal mechanical properties, DC+ 

ReL / Rp0.2 

(MPa) 

Rm 

(MPa) 

A4-A5 

(%) 

CVN 

(J at °C) 

With OK Autrod +20 0 

AW/SR 

12.10 370 470 25 50 25 AW 

12.20 410 500 25 50 25 AW 

12.22 420 510 25 50 25 AW 

12.10 345 445 25 50 25 SR 

12.20 360 480 25 50 25 SR 

12.22 400 490 25 50 25 SR 

For more information view the Product Data Sheets or contact ESAB. 


OK FLUX 10.18 + OK BAND NICU7 

NEW AGGLOMERATED FLUX DESIGNED FOR 

CLADDING WITH MONEL TYPE OF STRIPS. 

Classification flux 

Basicity index 

EN 760 SA CS 2 DC 1.0 


Calcium silicate SiO2- 

CaO-CaF2-(MnO-Al2O3) 

DC+ 

Moderately silicon 

alloying 

Agglomerated flux designed for strip cladding 

with Monel type strips. The flux is primarily 

designed for strip cladding with NiCu7-strip. 

This flux/strip combination gives good welding 

characteristics, smooth bead appearance and 

easy slag removal , with either 60 mm or 90 

mm x 0.5 mm strips. Typical applications are 

found in desalination plants, chemical and 

petrochemical industry and pressure vessels. 

Strip/ parameters C Si Mn Ni Cu Fe S Al Ti Side 

bend test 

(4xt,180 o ) 

Monel alloy 400

OK TUBROD 14.11 – METAL CORED 

WIRE FOR HIGH SPEED THIN PLATE 

WELDING APPLICATIONS 

diameter 1.0mm and 230A for diameter 1.2mm. 

These features are valid for the standard shielding 

gas M21 (Ar/15-25% CO 2 

), although optimal 

results are obtained in 92%Ar/8%CO 2 

mixtures 

New ESAB cored wire technology outperforms 

solid wire with respect to quality 

and productivity. 

OK Tubrod 14.11 in diameter 1.2mm is the 

first of a new generation of cored wires based 

on ESAB’s revolutionary cored wire surface 

technology. It has been developed for the 

welding of thin-plate with a minimum thickness 

of 1.0mm and provides fabricators with a 

substantially faster and higher quality welding 

solution to 1.0 and 1.2mm solid MAG wire. 

OK Tubrod 14.11 is a unique product that 

markedly lowers the welding costs for 

mechanised and robotised fabrication. 

The many advantages relative to solid wire relate 

to the extremely wide spray arc parameter 

envelope that begins as low as 160A. With 

solid wire spray arc starts at around 200A for- 

OK Tubrod 14.11-1.2mm in 92%Ar/% CO2 –Torch 

angle 20° pushing. Pipe to plate connection. 

Changing from solid wire to OK Tubrod 14.11 will 

in most cases, require no changes in the positioning 

of the welding gun so the conversion time is 

limited to the adjustment of welding parameters. 

OK Tubrod 14.11 is available in MarathonPac bulk 

drums for major downtime savings compared 

with using standard 300mm spools. 

Faster welding 

The majority of thin plate applications are welded 

with solid wire in the short arc or globular arc 

mode at moderate travel speed because high 

travel speeds in spray arc results in a 

deterioration of weld quality. With OK Tubrod 

14.11 travel speeds of 150-250 cm/min. are 

perfectly feasible as shown in the tables for fillet and 

overlap welds. This difference in travel speed is 

equally valid for curved and circumferential welds. 

Low spatter 

OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm operates in the spray arc 

mode at a current level as low as 160A enabling 

thin plate to be welded with very low spatter levels 

compared with solid wire welded in the short arc 

or globular arc mode, resulting in the elimination of 

post weld cleaning. An additional advantage is that 

OK Tubrod 14.11 does not require the use of 

expensive pulsed power source technology. 

An important feature is the ease of spray arc 

parameter setting. The voltage for thin-plate 

welding in spray arc is 22 - 24V for the entire 

range of wire feed speeds, from 7 to 14 m/min. 

The excellent restriking characteristics of 

OK Tubrod 14.11 also promotes low-spatter 

welding for components with many short welds. 

A stable arc establishes almost instantaneously 

after the arc is initiated. 

Penetration and tolerance to poor fit up. 

OK Tubrod 14.11 gives a high quality weld 

penetration profile. OK Tubrod 14.11 is also very 

forgiving with respect to poor fit-up, bridging gaps 

even at very high travel speeds - resulting in less 

post weld repair work and less rejects. 

Low heat input welding 

The extremely low arc voltage combined with a 

very high travel speed results in a relatively low 

heat input. Associated with this are fewer 

problems with workpiece deformation commonly 

found when welding with solid wires using the 

pulsing technique. Fillet welds in the PB (2F) 

position in 1.5mm plate can be welded at travel 

speeds in excess of 200cm/min resulting in heat 

inputs as low as 0.2kJ/mm. Overlap welds using 

the same plate thickness can be welded at 

speeds up to 160cm/min. 

COMPARED TO SOLID MAG WIRE, 

OK TUBROD 14.11 1.2MM OFFERS: 

OK Tubrod 14.11-1.2mm in 92%Ar/% CO2 –Torch 

angle 20° pushing 

Welding in spray arc generates more silica islands 

necessitating post weld cleaning for applications 

with cosmetic requirements. The islands however 

tend to appear in the center of the weld surface 

making them easier to remove. 

• FASTER WELDING SPEEDS 

• INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY 

• LESS DEFORMATION 

• EXCELLENT GAP BRIDGING 

• LESS SPATTER 

• LOWER REPAIR/REJECT RATES 


Gas Consumable Current Arc voltage WFS v travel 

92%Ar/8%CO 2 solid wire 1.0 218A 22.8V 10m/min 165cm/min 

OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2 328 22.5 14 220 

80%Ar/20%CO2 solid wire 1.0 220 24.5 11 155 

OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2 311 24 12.5 200 

PB (2F) fi llet weld in 1.5mm plate. Parameters for a high quality weld. 

Gas Consumable Current Arc voltage WFS v travel 

92%Ar/8%CO 2 solid wire 1.0 185A 20.3V 8.1m/min 105cm/min 

OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2 237 23.8 8.5 170 

80%Ar/20%CO2 solid wire 1.0 183 20.3 8.1 100 

OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2 245 26.5 7.8 160 

PA (1F) overlap weld in 1.5mm plate. Parameters for a high quality weld. 

Product data OK Tubrod 14.11 

Classifi cation weld metal 

Wire 

EN 758: T 42 4 M M 3 H5 

Approvals 

Weld metal 

SFA/AWS A5.18: E70C-6M H4 

ABS BV DNV LR VdTÜV DB CE 

4Y400SA (M21) S3YMHH (M21) III Y40 H5 (M21) 4Y40S H5 (M21) 10010 42.039.28 (M21) EN 13479 

Typical weld metal chemical composition (%), M21, DC+ 

C Si Mn 

0.048 0.64 1.45 

Typical weld metal mechanical properties, M21, DC+ 

Rp0.2 

(MPa) 

Rm 

(MPa) 

A4-A5 

(%) 

CVN 

(J at °C) 

458 558 32 55/-40 

VACPAC GETS SLIMMER 

ESAB’s new slim outer carton for vacuumpacked 

stainless and nickel-base MMA 

electrodes brings you the same high level of 

protection and quality you are used to, but in 

more practical quantities that will keep your 

stock value low. 

ESAB stainless steel and nickel-base 

electrodes, up to diameter 3.2mm and in the 

lengths 300 and 350, are now standard 

packed in a new slim outer carton containing 

three half VacPac’s or six quarter VacPac’s, 

dependent on the electrode diameter. This 

provides a number of advantages. 

• ECONOMIC ORDERING VOLUMES 

• LOWER STOCK VALUE 

• LESS RISK OF TRANSPORT DAMAGE 

• EASIER TO HANDLE 

One of the main advantages is the more 

convenient and economic ordering volume for 

high value MMA electrodes in smaller 

dimensions. The average outer carton weight 

is reduced to approximately 4 kilos. This 

means a more acceptable quantity of 

electrodes, tying up less capital in stocks of 

slower moving consumables. 

The strong outer corrugated carton provides 

good protection for the vacuum packages 

during transport and storage. 

The lighter weight makes these packages 

easier to handle. 

Stainless steel and nickel-base electrodes 

above the diameter 3.2mm continue to be 

supplied in the current larger outer boxes 

containing four 3/4 size VacPacs. 

The new outer carton represents the smallest 

delivery unit available. Please contact ESAB 

for the full overview of MMA electrodes 

available in the new slim outer box. 


ESAB AB 

Box 8004 S-402 77 Gothenburg, Sweden 

Tel. +46 31 50 90 00. Fax. +46 31 50 93 90 

www.esab.com

Svetsaren 1/2008 - Esab

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