By guest blogger David H.
How important is it to remove welding smoke from the work area? Ask a welder, or ask someone who has to work in the vicinity of welders working in enclosed or semi-enclosed areas.
I recall some years ago working on a Navy general cargo ship. The ship was undergoing extensive renovations and the hold had four or five levels. My employer, a small repair yard in San Francisco, unfortunately did not take air quality in the work area seriously. There were more than 20 of us working in the hold, and some number of us were welders. From a distance you could see where the work was being done — smoke and fumes drifting up out of the hold! In those days, safety requirements weren’t always top of mind. OSHA and other regulations aside, taking care of your workers by providing a safe work environment is simply the right thing to do. Without them your business can never be profitable. By failing to provide a safe workplace, you may lose workers due to health issues and employee turnover or face consequences for not complying with standards.
“respirators are hot and uncomfortable, and many welders simply refuse to use them”
There are a number of ways to deal with welding fume issues. One approach is the use of respirators. I often wore one, but they are hot and uncomfortable, and many welders simply refuse to use them. They can be remarkably expensive, over the long haul, given that filters must be replaced daily. If the mask is a disposable type, the entire mask must be replaced daily.
Portable smoke extractors – sometimes referred to as smoke eaters – are a far better solution. They extract a higher percentage of the fumes than respirator masks and protect everyone in the work area, not just the welders. They can be moved around the job site and from one job site to another, but can also be set up at permanent work stations. These machines can help make sure that your work space is a place where people can get their work done safely. Your employees will thank you.
To view the smoke extractors Red-D-Arc offers for rent head over to our smoke extractor rental page.
Red-D-Arc Welderentals™ an Airgas company rents and leases welders, welding positioners, welding-related equipment, and electric power generators – anywhere in the world. Our rental welders, positioners and specialty products have been engineered and built to provide Extreme-Duty™ performance and reliability in even the harshest environments, and are available through over 70 Red-D-Arc Service Centers, strategically located throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, as well as through strategic alliances in the Middle East, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and the Caribbean. From our rental fleet of over 60,000 welders, 3,700 weld positioners, and 3,700 electric-power generators, we can supply you with the equipment you need – where you need it – when you need it.
A project manager approached Red-D-Arc with an interesting challenge. Their power plant stack had a failing paint system which needed to be prepped for repainting in order to prevent further corrosion. They needed a method of prepping the surface of the 60 foot tall stack which could be performed without the use of scaffolding and would not produce any residual waste, since it might interfere with sensitive components.
Red-D-Arc’s Blasting Specialists suggested dry ice blasting (DIB). Dry ice blasting is an environmentally sustainable cleaning and surface preparation method. It uses dry ice pellets which requires absolutely no clean up, unlike traditional surface preparation methods like grit, HP water and chemicals. Not to mention, dry ice blasting is very fast, effective and inexpensive.
Red-D-Arc offers dry ice blasting systems for rent, sale and lease. The customer decided to rent a Cold Jet A80 HP package complete with nozzle extension, extra hoses, air compressor and dry ice. Replacement equipment was also kept on-site to reduce down time in case maintenance was required. Two members of the Red-D-Arc Blasterentals team provided a one day training program for their staff.
The customer performed intermittent blasting for about one month and were very pleased with the results. So much so that the Project Manager decided to completely remove the failing paint rather than just cleaning it as originally planned. They estimated this method saved them about $40,000 compared to other methods that they had considered.
Visit our Dry Ice Blasting webpage or contact one of our Dry Ice Blasting Specialists to learn more about the many advantages of dry ice blasting.
An oilfield equipment and vessel manufacturer in the United Arab Emirates approached Red-D-Arc for assistance with a large project. It was awarded to them at the last minute and was not their primary area of expertise. The requirement was to manufacture 25 large tanks with a timeframe of only one year. Each of the tanks was to be 5 meters in diameter by 25 meters long, manufactured using 16 millimeter thick material at a weight of approximately 45 tonnes.
The experienced Red-D-Arc Weld Automation team was able to immediately address all of the customer’s challenges. While other suppliers where insistent that the customer purchase the equipment, Red-D-Arc determined that long term rental would be their best option. This would avoid the time consuming process of acquiring CAPEX approval to purchase such a large amount of equipment and would further increase the profitability of the project. The manufacturer also had questions on how to avoid ovality and transverse movement of the sub-assemblies. Red-D-Arc experts were on-hand to provide the right advice and the right equipment to address these challenges.
The rental equipment included:
• 6x 10 tonne rotator sets
• 10x 60 tonne drive rolls
• 47x 30 tonne and 60 tonne idler rolls
• 7x submerged arc packages with LT7 tractors and D600 power sources
Red-D-Arc worked very closely with the company to ensure their success, providing comprehensive training and on-site assistance. After the successful completion of this project the company has become recognized in their market and are receiving new orders from similar customers in the industry. Furthermore, they anticipate being awarded “phase 2” of this project which is scheduled to begin in 2018.
Red-D-Arc recently supplied a variety of equipment to a UAE based company that is fabricating pile piping and jackets for the largest offshore wind farm project in the world. The company had to meet a strict time line of only 6 months, and would require a massive amount of welding and weld automation equipment immediately. Through consultation with Red-D-Arc, the customer determined that renting the majority of the equipment would be the most economical option. Red-D-Arc was able to fulfil the customers equipment needs immediately thanks to our vast and diverse fleet of equipment.
This massive order involved equipment and support from Red-D-Arc North America, Red-D-Arc UK and Red-D-Arc Middle East. The order consisted of a variety of welding and weld automation equipment including:
• 23 column and booms with single and tandem submerged arc welders
• 20 submerged arc tractors
• 200 rotators
• 167 jack-up rotators
• 400 CC/CV inverter welders
• 200 FCAW wirefeeders
• 10 Induction Heating Systems
By renting the majority of the equipment the fabrication company avoided the need to invest heavily in specialized equipment and ensured they would meet their deadline. Red-D-Arc works with customers to address their unique challenges and develops specialized solutions. Learn more about customized turnkey packages here.
Red-D-Arc provided ProHeat 35 induction heating systems during the construction of The Wilshire Grand Centre in Los Angeles. Large box columns of various sizes and weights needed to be pre-heated during the fabricating and erecting process. Red-D-Arc suggested the use of Pro Heat 35 induction heating systems and helped design fixtures for the heating cables so the box columns could be pre-heated safely and effectively. The 73 story, 1100 foot tower is planned to be completed in 2017 and will become the tallest tower in California!
