Weld Purging World - August 2019

ISSUE 4 August 2019

In August’s Issue:

• Weld of the Month: WeldTube and Travis Field
• 2019 Calendar of Exhibitions and Events
• HFT® News: First look at our New Training Room
• Product News: Flexible Welding Enclosures for Additive

Manufacturing, MultiStrike® Tungsten Electrodes and more
• Technical Article: Post Weld Purging - Why it’s necessary

WELD PURGING PRODUCTS
INNOVATORS, MANUFACTURERS and
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SPECIALIST

Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® are proud members of:

www.huntingdonfusion.com

2 CONTENT

WHAT’S IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE

Weld of the Month: WeldTube 3
HFT® News: Fabtech and New Training Room 4-5
Product News 6-7
More Product News
Technical Paper: Post Weld Purging 8
9

A WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Reader,

Welcome to August’s Weld Purging World.

In this month’s issue, we feature WeldTube’s Titanium
Tutorial featuring Travis Field.

We also give you a sneak peek of our state of the art
Training Room at our UK HQ. Look out for Weld Purging
Training Courses in the future!

If you have any news or would like to be featured in our
magazine, then please get in touch.

Thank you for reading!

Best wishes,
Michaela

Marketing and Social Media Manager
[email protected]

WELD OF THE MONTH 3

South Coast Welding Academy in Houston, Texas is home to WeldTube,
an educational welding channel on YouTube and Instagram.

They recently teamed up with top Canadian Welder, Travis Field and
created some welding videos including a titanium pipe welding tutorial
video.

During the tutorial, Travis uses our Weld Trailing Shield® for additional
inert gas coverage to prevent oxidation along with our Weld Purge
Monitors®.

Travis was also able to put this great comparison
photo together of our Weld Trailing Shield® (right)
against another brand (left).

Head over to WeldTube’s YouTube Channel to watch
the Titanium 6G Welding video and don’t forget to
give Travis a follow on Instagram @Fieldres!

Make sure your Weld Trailing Shield® is Argweld®
and from an Exclusive HFT® Distributor.

4 HFT® NEWS

HFT® NEWS 5

NEW TRAINING ROOM AT OUR UK HQ

For the last few years, we’ve
been designing and building our
new training and demonstration
room at our UK HQ and we are
delighted to be able to give you
a sneak peek of the finished
results!
Our CEO Georgia said: “It’s
finally here... Our brand new,
state of the art training and
demonstration room! Our new
facilities are going to help us
improve our training courses
and support for our Worldwide
Distributor Network.”
Look out for up and coming Weld Purging Training Courses in the future.

CALENDAR: EVENTS IN THE INDUSTRY

3 - 6 September 16 – 21 September
SPE Offshore EMO Hannover
Aberdeen, UK Hannover, Germany

18– 20 September Exhibiting!
11 - 14 November
tube Fabtech
McCormick Place, Chicago, IL, USA
Bangkok, Thailand
Distributor Exhibiting!
Exhibiting! 27 - 28 November
11 - 14 November MetalMadrid
Adipec Ifema, Madrid, Spain
Adnec, Abu Dhabi

26 - 28th November
Stainless Steel World
MECC Maastricht, The Netherlands

6 HFT / PRODUCT NEWS

1. Weld Purge Monitor for On-Site Conditions

WELDING ENCLOSURES FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

TWI (The Welding Institute) states that: “Wire arc additive
manufacturing uses arc welding power sources and
manipulators to build 3D shapes through arc deposition.
This process commonly uses wire as a material source and
follows a predetermined path to create the desired shape.
This method of additive manufacture is usually performed
using robotic welding equipment.”

The use of Flexible Welding Enclosures® during the Wire
Arc Additive Manufacturing process has helped to keep an
inert gas shield around the titanium and other reactive alloy components with special protective
enclosures designed and manufactured by Weld Purging Experts Huntingdon Fusion Techniques
HFT®.

Georgia Gascoyne, CEO for HFT® said: “We have built a large number of different shapes and
sizes, mostly to customer specification. Each one has its own identity with a variety of glove ports
and dimensions. Some can accommodate a complete robot system internally. They are in use
worldwide for applications including the aerospace, medical and motor sport sectors.”

“Inert gas such as argon is used to fill the enclosure and expel the air until the oxygen content is
below 50 parts per million (ppm). It is essential when producing metallic components from alloys of
titanium, zirconium and other reactive materials that the welding zone is purged of oxygen to a level
lower than 50 ppm.”

HFT®’s Flexible Welding Enclosures® provide a solution where a rigid chamber may not be
economically viable or where space may be at a premium.

Luke Keane, Technical Support at HFT® said: “For many years the enormous cost of a metal
enclosure prevented all but the major companies taking on work involving the fabrication of zirconium
and titanium alloys. To the rescue came HFT® a decade or so ago with the introduction of purpose
made Flexible Welding Enclosures®.”

The enclosures are manufactured with a number of glove ports.
The upper half of the enclosure is made of optically clear ultra-
violet resistant engineering grade pvc, providing excellent vision.
Transfer sleeves makes it possible to pass small parts in or out of
the enclosure without affecting the purge quality.

Operator comfort and ease of use with Argweld® Flexible Welding
Enclosures® when compared with rigid chambers, make the
HFT® versions a big hit with welding personnel.

HFT / PRODUCT NEWS 7

HYDROCARBON RESISTANT PETROCHEM® STOPPERS

Pipe blocking and stopping pipes containing hydrocarbons such as petroleum products and natural
gas can often pose challenges, with standard Pipestoppers unable to withstand such intense
conditions.

The Pipestoppers® Division of Huntingdon Fusion Techniques
HFT® manufacture a range of hydrocarbon resistant stoppers
called PetroChem® Stoppers. Manufactured from a high-grade
latex, the PetroChem® Stoppers offer a rubber internal inflatable
bag covered with a petrochemical resistant layer, which has a tough,
woven impregnated nylon outer cover, capable of withstanding
temperatures up to 80ºC (176ºF).

Ron Sewell, Chairman for HFT® said: “Inflatable Stoppers are often used for various applications
such as debris stopping, leak testing, low-pressure hydrostatic tests, blocking the release of
hydrocarbon gases and a variety of plumbing operations.”

“The Pipestoppers® Inflatable Stoppers are used to service a wide variety of industrial applications.
As “overnight stoppers” they provide a strong barrier in pipeline activities, to prevent foreign bodies
entering the line during downtime. In machining applications, they can be inserted below a horizontal
flange on a vertical pipe, to prevent machining fluid, swarf and tools from falling into expensive
machinery such as pumps and heat exchangers etc.”

INCREASE THE LIFE OF YOUR TUNGSTEN ELECTRODE WITH MULTISTRIKE®

Thoriated tungsten electrodes are still widely used in GTAW/TIG welding despite the potential health
hazards. Thoria is added primarily to stabilize the arc but it is radio-toxic and radio-toxic dust is
generated during electrode grinding.

To overcome the risk posed by harmful products Huntingdon
Fusion Techniques HFT®’s blue-tipped MultiStrike®
Tungsten Electrodes contain a mix of rare earth stabilizing
compounds without thoria and are thus radio-toxic free.
They also offer a life extension of up to ten times that of
other stabilized electrodes.

Each packet comes with a traceability number to ensure
that companies with a quality control procedure have
traceability over another aspect of their joining processes.

MultiStrikes® can be used for welding aluminium with the AC process, as well as steels and alloys
with the DC process, which allows the welder to have just one type of Tungsten Electrode to weld
all materials and reduce the amount of stock and purchasing requisitions.

8 HFT / PRODUCT NEWS

1. Weld Purge Monitor for On-Site Conditions
INFLATABLE PIPE PURGING SYSTEMS DRASTICALLY RESTRICT PURGE VOLUMES

Inflatable Pipe Weld Purging Systems are in use worldwide, restricting weld purge volumes, making
huge savings in time and inert gas.

Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® design and
manufacture PurgElite®, a range of low cost Tube and
Pipe Purging Systems to achieve a clean, oxide free, zero
colour weld in just minutes, available from 1” (25 mm)
diamter.

Ron Sewell, Chairman for HFT® said: “Without restricting
the purge zone with an inflatable pipe purging system
when welding stainless steel, titanium or zirconium tube and pipes, displacing the oxygen in entire
pipelines with an inert gas (usually argon), can cause a lot of wasted time and gas. PurgElite®
reduces argon use and increases weld production.”

“PurgElite®, our double Inflatable Pipe Weld Purging Systems create a seal either side of the weld.
The systems are inserted in the pipe and positioned with the aid of the luminous RootGlo®. When
the gas flow is started, the dams inflate, seal inside the pipe and argon then purges the interspace
automatically. A Weld Purge Monitor® connection is standard on each PurgElite®, so the welder can
monitor the oxygen content of the purge volume throughout the entire welding process.”

Each PurgElite® features IntaCal®, a purge gas feed device, which means there is no complicated
valving for the operator to adjust and set. A centrepiece glow positioning indicator RootGlo® comes
as standard to ensure the system can be positioned accurately inside the tube or pipe. In addition

there is no metal braiding on the high temperature resistant
gas hose connecting the two inflatable dams, which could
be accidentally welded to the root of a joint or which could
scratch the internal bore of an electro polished tube on entry
or on removal.

Quick connect/disconnect fittings with collets and ‘O’ ring
seals for gas tight sealing, fitted with anti-release circlips are
fitted to all systems to prevent parts accidentally separating
inside pipes.

HFT®’s innovative PurgeGate® Valve is available as an accessory, a unique one way valve suitable
for all types of Inflatable Pipe Weld Purging Systems. PurgeGate® regulates the gas flow and
pressure during weld purging to prevent the dams from over inflating and bursting.

Heat Resistant Covers with a rating up to a temperature of 300ºC are available as accessories to
protect the inflatable dams. These are attached with ties sewn into the covers.

POST WELD PURGING - WHY IT IS NECESSARY 9

Whilst most welders recognise the need for inert gas purging when making quality joints, it is not
obvious why purging should be continued after the weld has been completed.
Hot metal oxidises in the presence of air so the weld and any metal surrounding it will discolour until
it has cooled below the oxidation temperature for the metal being welded. This applies equally to the
top and bottom weld bead and to the heat affective zones on either side.
Although nominal oxidation is quite acceptable in some cases, and in any event can perhaps be
cleaned at a later stage, some applications require total absence from contamination of this type.
This is particularly so in the pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries where installations are
normally completed in the ‘as welded’ condition.
The solution is:
Continue the flow of inert purge gas over the hot metal until it has cooled—typically to below 150ºC
(300ºF). On the subject of purging, let’s have a closer look at purging practice and dispel a few
myths that seem to abound.
Sealing the pipe:
Having recognised the need to use gas purging, many welders think that just passing inert gas
through a pipe or tube is adequate. This is poor practice. Even with small diameter tubes, the cost
of continuously passing gas through is often greater than the cost of purchasing an argon inflatable
purging system with its effective seals either side of the weld root. Increasing flow rate simply leads
to turbulence, trapping air around the joint.
It’s a fallacy that using crumpled paper or discs of cardboard or wood gives a good seal. Even if
these apparent solutions appear to be a good fit, the chances of leaks are high. There is also the
possibility of burning if the weld line is too close. Bear in mind also that all three materials probably
contain contamination and some residual moisture. It’s all bad for the welding procedure.
Proprietary sheet plastics have been developed which are contaminant free and can even be used
when making joints for use for example in nuclear and pharmaceutical engineering. These are
water soluble and can be removed effectively and easily after welding but care is needed during
application.
Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® manufactures a unique re-usable range of purging equipment
to meet every tube and pipe diameter from 25 to 2,235 mm (1 to 88 inch). They have all been
scientifically designed specifically to meet exacting sealing demands, use the minimum quantity of
inert gas, are easy to install and remove and greatly speed up the overall welding process.

PurgElite® and
QuickPurge® Inflatable

Tube and Pipe Weld
Purge Systems

PurgEye®

Weld Purge Monitors®

PurgEye® 100 IP65

PurgEye® 300 Nano

PurgEye® 500 Desk

PurgEye® 200 IP65

PurgEye® 600 Touch

PurgEye® 1000 Remote
PurgEye® 1500 Site

INVENTORS, INNOVATORS,
DEVELOPERS and MANUFACTURERS of

WELD PURGE MONITORS®
www.huntingdonfusion.com