Laser Welding On Pressure Vessels

Since pressurization lowers boiling points, pressure vessels can also be used to process—cook—products more quickly or for a lower energy cost than would be possible otherwise. They are used in food, pharmaceutical, and chemical processing and in nuclear power both to generate power and to store liquids and gasses.

With such a diverse range of applications, the types of pressure vessels in use and the types of welding used in pressure vessels are incredibly diverse. The main commonality of pressure vessels is that they store large amounts of potential energy. A flaw or weak point in a vessel can cause the vessel to fail and release all of its energy at once in an explosion. As a result, it is important that pressure vessel welds be reliable and free of defects. The type of welding used to create a pressure vessel will be determined by the purpose of that pressure vessel.

Pressure vessels are used to store and transfer liquids and gases under high pressure. Welding on pressure vessels must be extremely high quality to withstand working conditions. Properly preparing the surface for pressure vessel welding can reduce or even eliminate reworking, allowing more uptime for onsite nitrogen systems and other pressure vessels of a similar type.

The Types of Welding Used in Pressure Vessels
Pressure vessels are almost always spherical or cylindrical, as this shape has no corners that could form stress points in the structure. To contain high-pressure products, pressure vessels are almost always built using metal 3 millimeters (about ⅛ inch) or more in thickness.

The edges of the plates used to build a pressure vessel are usually machined to create an angled bevel that allows the root pass of the weld to fully penetrate through the joint. When two of the component plates are situated side by side they will form a deep v-shaped or u-shaped groove. Once the root pass connects the two plates, subsequent passes will fill in this groove with metal, resulting in a smooth, continuous expanse of uniform or very nearly uniform metal. This is much the same welding process as that used in big bore pipe welding and the narrow groove welding process. Familiarity with those two types of welding can give welders and weld supervisors a good idea of how to weld pressure vessels.

Using Orbital Welding to Weld Pressure Vessels
Orbital welding was developed due to the need to create high-quality welds on hydraulic and aviation tubing for aerospace projects. The cylindrical nature of these welds posed a challenge for manual welders, and the changes in pressure as planes changed altitude tended to cause leaks. HGTECH successfully produced high-quality welds that maintained integrity through these intense pressure changes. In the time since, it has been used to create equally high-quality welds in process piping and pressure vessels for the petroleum, biopharmaceutical, semiconductor and other industries.

Orbital welding is just one of many types of welding used in pressure vessels, but it is by far the best choice for welding pressure vessels with a high requirement for cleanliness and strength. The biopharmaceutical and semiconductor industries provide two examples of applications that could benefit from the consistency and hygiene of orbital welding.

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