News
Cutting and beveling pipes Wachs and Orbitalum are ideal partners
Powerful assistance for manufacturing, repair and maintenance
Innovative, high-quality, durable, portable, versatile and user-friendly. E.H. Wachs in Illinois established itself in many industries with these traits and the advantages of its pipe-processing machines for cutting and beveling: In oil and gas exploration on land and at sea, pipeline and ship construction etc. in the preproduction, maintenance, repair and dismantling of installations.
E.H. Wachs and Orbitalum Tools GmbH in Singen are subsidiaries of the listed company Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW).
Both divisions act under the common umbrella name of “ITW Orbital Cutting & Welding”.
Since the beginning of 2012, Orbitalum Tools GmbH has expanded its product range exclusively with the product lines of its sister company. The services provided by the Singen team also include training as well as demonstrations at the factory or at the customer’s premises.
Renting: flexible and economical
As a special service, Orbitalum also offer all of its devices to rent. This is an economical alternative to purchasing the device when a pipe is only cut or a seam is only prepared occasionally. It is also practical when repairs are necessary at short notice but the company’s own plant does not have the required equipment.
Selecting the best processing system is based on the use and surrounding area: Is cutting and/or beveling required? How thick are the walls, how large is the diameter? Which material should be processed?
Low space requirements
With the light, mobile LCSF “Low Clearance Split Frame”, cutting and beveling results can be achieved that were previously not possible using portable machine tools. On pipes of any wall thickness, made of structural and carbon steel, high-temperature tempered steels such as P91 and P92…
Machine frame diameters of 175 to 1231 mm in electric, pneumatic or hydraulic drive options are available in the LCSF range, based on the customers’ site requirements.
The smaller brother of the LCSF, the SDSF “Small Diameter Split Frame”, is used on smaller pipes with wall thicknesses up to
9.5 millimeters. It is also suitable for cutting socket welded seams, beveling, and chipless cutting without sparking. In addition, with its precise machining characteristics and compact dimensions, it is a valuable tool for installation manufacturers in the high-purity industries.
Around the pipe on a chain
The portable Trav-L-cutter is characterized by the concept of “simultaneous cold cutting and beveling using an independently moving machine”. This high-performance milling cutter is guided around the pipe by a tensioning chain. With it, pipes and cylinders (e.g. tanks and tower constructions) made of carbon steel, soft steel and cast iron, as well as various alloys up to nearly two meters in diameter can be cut and beveled simultaneously. It can be operated either hydraulically or pneumatically. This compact and easy-to-operate model can run both horizontally or vertically as the position of the pipe dictates.
Off with the pipe
The saw for rough conditions is the classic tool for cutting pipes – the Guillotine saw from E.H. Wachs. It is still an innovation today,
60 years after its invention, because it can manage most sawing jobs, even in harsh surroundings, in any position and nearly any material. Four types are available for nominal pipe diameters between DN 50 and DN 800.
EP 424: Manual clamping and auto centering
The EP (end prep) 424 has a special feature for the perfect pipe end processing on outer dimensions of 100 to 600 and wall thicknesses up to 165 millimeters. When this machine is manually clamped it centers itself automatically, in both axial and radial positions to the pipe. The required weld seam bevel angle can be set prior to fabrication, with the machine’s patented “Speed Prep” feed system. Beveling, compound beveling, U-groove seams, squaring and counterboring of pipes, fittings and mountings become effortless and precise without mechanical templates.
Abbinder:
Orbitalum Tools GmbH is a world leader in the provision of complete solutions for orbital metal pipe cutting, beveling and welding technology.
ORBmax: Residual oxygen under control
Patent applied for – ORBmax for increased efficiency and quality
With Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG)-welding, oxygen as a protective and forming gas atmosphere is generally undesirable, as it is detrimental to the welded joint.
With the new ORBmax residual oxygen meter, the market leader for orbital welding technology, Orbitalum Tools GmbH of Singen, Germany, sets a milestone for fast, exact detection of residual oxygen, and with it complete documentation of these parameters. At the same time, the new measuring method results in greater efficiency and higher quality.
Advantages help save
The “Optical oxygen measurement via fluorescence extinction” method for welding technology (patent pending) is far superior to the conventional methods, using zirconium sensors: It requires no warm-up time whatsoever; reliably, quickly and precisely detects the oxygen share in the gas; unchecked alleged increasing of the measured value due to the formation of ozone is eliminated; the measurement is possible in all gas mixtures without manual switch-over (even with forming gas with a variable percentage of hydrogen).
The exact, fast detection of the oxygen content reduces the otherwise long flooding time of the forming gas. The operator can start the safe welding process considerably earlier. As a result, precious working time is saved and the gas consumption reduced.
In addition, ORBmax requires no maintenance of any kind. Calibration once a year in accordance with the standard ISO 9001 is sufficient.
Only inert gases (oxygen-free gases which do not react with the surrounding air) may be used for TIG welding, e.g. argon of the purity level 4.6 or ultrapure 4.8. A low hydrogen share in the protective gas is recommended in many cases, as hydrogen reduces the residual oxygen which may be present in the welded seam which is important, as even the smallest amount of oxygen results in blue discoloration (oxidation) of the tungsten electrode and causes a zone with annealing colors in the material. Oxygen has an active combustion effect and it increases the temperature in the welding bath and the heat input into the basic material; it diffuses into the surface of the seam, also making stainless steel susceptible to corrosion in the long term.
Documented quality
For welding pipes in plant and equipment construction for the food processing, beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries, medical and bio-technology as well as fine chemicals, comprehensive quality assurance is required and a procedure qualification is specified for the welded seams. For quality certification, not only the values from the power source, but also the residual oxygen values can be documented with the ORBmax. The need for a more in-depth inspection, for example with x-rays, is therefore eliminated.
When used as a stand-alone solution, ORBmax records a digital log with a time stamp. In conjunction with the ORBIMAT welding power source, the joining process can be monitored in real-time and automatically switched off when increased oxygen content occurs.