African Fusion June 2019

Welding and cutting

Air Products’ R100-million CO 2

upgrade

robust industrial solution in applications requiring frequent rotational flexingwhen cutting with an XPR170 and XPR300, the only two X-Definition capable systems in the world. A combination of engineer- ing advances and refined high definition plasma processes helps X-Definition class plasma to deliver unmatched plasma cut quality on mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminium. Laboratory testing shows ISO- 9013 Range 2 cut quality on thinmild steel and extended ISO Range 3 cuts on thicker metals. Both X-Definition systems contain patent-pending processes such as Vented Water Injection TM (VWI), plasma dampen- ing, and Cool Nozzle technologies for squarer cut edges, markedly less angu- not be assesseduntil the equipmentwas dismantled and internally inspected. Dos Santos adds that the project also included improvements with regards to water utilisation and energy efficiency. “Even though there was an extremely tight deadline, the project was com- pleted on time and exceeded its design performance,” he says. “Air Products is fortunate to have highly skilled employeeswith the neces- sary skills sets to execute projects of this complexity. As withmost projects of this nature, we encounteredchallenges, but I ampleased to say that the teamadapted andmanaged the challenges exception- ally well. We are extremely focused on maintaining high safety standards, and this remained a key priority,” he says. Besides the On-Sites teams, the Sup- ply Chain and Quality teams were also instrumental in this project’s success. Quality is an important aspect of Air Products’ operations and depending on the application there are varying specifi- cations required by our customers. CO 2 is produced for Air Products from two different sources – the Newcastle Facil- ity and the Natref refinery in Sasolburg. CO 2 is produced at both these fa- cilities according to the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT) specifications as a minimum quality specification and is used for food and beverage applications. The CO 2 used for the food and beverage customer applications is required to be tested and supplied with a Certificate of Analysis (COA). The COA is issued to the customer upon delivery of the product. www.airproducts.co.za

A ir Products was well-poised to re- spond when the market demanded an increase in the supply of carbon di- oxide (CO 2 ) and took action by investing R100-million in a significant CO 2 expan- sion and refurbishment project at its Newcastle Facility inKwaZulu-Natal and an upgrade at the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa (Natref) Facility in Sasolburg. The growing food and beverage industry, which is the largest consumer of CO 2 , has been identified as a target market in line with the long-term stra- tegic vision for the CO 2 business. Air Products’ gaseous CO 2 facility in Newcastle has the capacity to produce and recover large quantities of carbon dioxide from blast furnace off-gas. The facility’s capacity to liquefy gas was extremely limited, however. Following Air Products’ bulk business being awarded a large tender to supply one of South Africa’s largest beverage manufacturers, there was a need to in- vest inanewliquefier tocomplement the

existing liquefaction plant and to utilise the excess gaseous CO 2 production ca- pacity available at theNewcastle facility. Charles Dos Santos, general man- ager for On-Sites explains what the project entailed: “The scope of the CO 2 expansion and refurbishment project, which started early in 2017, was quite extensive. The project was executed in three parallel streams, which required the installation of a new liquefier, the addition of two liquid storage tanks on the facility as well as the refurbishment of the existing gaseous CO 2 production facility. “The refurbishment part of the proj- ect was extremely challenging as the work had to be done on a facility that was operational, only allowing the refur- bishment team limited opportunities to undertake the necessary refurbishment, upgrades and tie-ins,” he notes. As the existing plant was completed in 1998, and its full capacity had not been used since 2013, the condition of the equipment and scope of work could

Air Products’ bulk tanker ready to load from the two new carbon dioxide storage tanks at the Newcastle Facility.

Hypertherm introduces XPR rotational torch sleeves H ype r t he rm, t he

The newsleeves, available in short,me- dium, and extended lengths, are ideal for bevel or 3D/robotic cutting applications when using either an XPR170 or XPR300 X-Definition Plasma system. The sleeves include several engineering advances: an outside diameter of 76 mm allows for an increased wall thickness and eliminates compression caused by clamping; and pre-sealed, highprecisionbearings reduce axial play by 90% and radial play by 81%. This keeps out dirt and other particulates associated with plasma cutting and greatly extends the life of the sleeve and lead system. When used with Hypertherm’s special- ised robotic/bevel lead sets, the rotational sleeve will afford customers an especially

manufacturer of in- dustrial cutting sys- tems and software, is introducing three new torch sleeves for XPR plasma cut- ting torches and lead

sets. The sleeves allow the torch and lead sets to remain axially fixed while the torchholding de- vice rotates 360° in either a clockwise or counter- clockwise direction. This capability greatly enhances torch lead life in high-flex applications.

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June 2019

AFRICAN FUSION