Edison Chouest Offshore Welding column and booms Flexible robot

PEMAMEK CUSTOMER MAGAZINE 2010
Edison Chouest Offshore
–the world’s most diverse and dynamic
offshore shipping company
Flexible robot systems
Welding column and booms
–quality and productivity for heavy welding
Recession opens new opportunities
for the welding industry
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
Europe’s technology industry on the up
Dear Readers,
The key objective of the EU’s business policy is to create the opportunities for investment promoting
competitiveness and innovation.
The European Community considers aviation and biotechnology to
be important, but also the more
traditional fields of production like
engineering, shipbuilding and the
automotive industry have also been
taken into account. The EU has promised to strengthen the competitiveness of the metal industry, so that
it can remain at the cutting edge
of technological development. This
promise has led to many industryspecific initiatives and projects, the
aims of which include the identification and evaluation of relevant
policy questions, and the proposal
of solutions that take into account
economic, social and environmental
objectives.
In practice, these EU promises are
nowhere near enough.
It is good that the EU’s extensive
bureaucratic machinery is looking
favourably at the development of
metal industry competitiveness. It
is, however, pointless to be lulled
into a false sense of security by such
convincing-sounding public statements. Only companies themselves
can take care of the preservation
and strengthening of their own competitiveness.
In the European metal industry, people will definitely use their brains
and hands in the years to come, but
they should already start to use them
now. It is dangerous to draw conclusions according to which, if we can
survive the recession using operating
methods of old, they will also do in
future.
They won’t.
China, for instance, has already been
able significantly to improve its productivity, and is continuing to do so.
This is probably not good for European production companies that believe they can survive in a changing
world using old methods.
In order to succeed, European industry must get its unit production costs
so low that the country of production no longer has any significance.
It requires investments in technology that will increase productivity.
Change is inevitable. What’s good is
that this change is also financially
and technically profitable.
which we can respond to the needs
of our customers. But the work is
by no means complete. It continues.
From day to day.
The future belongs to those companies that can optimally meet the individual needs of their customers. This
requires flexibility. Life-cycle services
for products will become increasingly
important. PEMA has single-mindedly built up this capability. After
years of work, we are in a situation in
With best wishes,
A changing world requires us always
to be better than we were yesterday.
Pekka Heikonen
President
Contents
Editorial: Europe’s technology industry on the up.................................................................................... 2
Edison Chouest Offshore – the world’s most diverse and dynamic offshore shipping company............ 3
Flexible robot systems improve competitiveness.................................................................................... 6
Recession opens new opportunities for the welding industry................................................................ 8
Welding column and booms – quality and productivity for heavy welding............................................10
Systematic serial production revolutionises wind turbine production...................................................14
Vítkovice Machinery Group – over 180 years of engineering excellence................................................17
Newsflash................................................................................................................................................ 20
2
A tail view of a panel line delivered to the ECO Group’s newest shipyard, LA Ship in Louisiana. A similar line was also delivered to another
ECO yard, Tampa Ship in Florida.
Edison Chouest Offshore – the world’s most
diverse and dynamic offshore shipping
company
Founded in 1960, the Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) family of companies now represents
the most diverse and dynamic marine transportation operation in the world. The organisation’s in-house design and shipbuilding capabilities have made it unique in the offshore
boat service industry.
ECO’s aim is to provide each customer
with the right vessel for its needs at a
competitive price. Support of this objective with the company’s own design and building resources has made
its business very successful.
ECO owns and operates a growing
fleet of new generation offshore
service vessels supporting a vast
majority of the U.S. Gulf deepwater
market. The company also operates
a large independently owned fleet of
research vessels. The vessels’ sizes
range from 87 feet to 348 feet.
ECO has six shipyards, which build the
company’s vessels (see page 5). The
group also comprises other compa-
3
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
Edison Chouest
Offshore’s
shipyards
Gulfship
Founded in April 2006, Gulfship is located in the Bernard Bayou Industrial
Park at Gulfport in the state of Mississippi. The area of shipyard is about
15 hectares.
North American Shipbuilding (NAS)
The yard was founded in 1974 in Larose, Louisiana. Over the years, it has
built more specialised offshore vessels than anywhere else in the world.
NAS’s work force comprises about
800 shipbuilding professionals.
A PEMA OSW one-sided welding station for LA Ship’s panel line. The station consists of a fixed portal with a welding carriage,
a magnetic clamping system for plates, and conveyor arrangements. PEMA OSW works as a push-through system fed with
up/down-moving conveyors.
structure makes ECO a very self-suffinies that support its marine transporcient and efficient company.
tation business, such as C-Port and
Martin Terminal, which specialise in
Co-operation initiated by
the service of offshore vessels, cargo
modernisation
handling, warehousing and stowing,
The co-operation between ECO and
International Marine Systems focusPEMA began from a chaling on shipboard electrical and electronic in- Fruitful co-opera- lenging project in 2007,
stallation and servicing, tion resulted from in which ECO wanted to
make the operations of
C-Logistics which prothis delivery.
its Gulfship yard in Gulfvides maritime logistics
port, Mississippi more
services,
C-Innovation
cost-effective, as well as those of its
that deals in the procurement, instalNorth American Shipbuilding (NAS)
lation and operation of underwater
yard in Larose, Louisiana. ECO wanted
remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs),
to increase the flexibility and capacFourchon Heavy Lift specialising in
ity of the welding of panel stiffeners.
fast loading and unloading on a 24/7
PEMA supplied a suitable portal with
basis, and Sealand Mechanical, a
a rotating welding boom, which enaHVAC company which also supplies
bles the welding of longitudinal and
galley equipment. This diverse group
4
transverse stiffeners. The PEMA SWP
12200/6 portals delivered can weld
three profiles simultaneously on
both sides with six MIG/MAG welding
heads. Fruitful co-operation resulted
from this delivery.
A further delivery to Brazil
Brazil’s offshore industry has been
growing strongly for many years. In
2006, ECO built the Estaleiro NavShip
yard in Navegantes, Brazil, in order to
be able to serve the region’s industry
as effectively as possible. Satisfied
with the deliveries to Gulfship and
NAS, ECO decided to order a similar
stiffener welding portal for NavShip.
The portal was delivered and installed in winter 2008-09.
The PEMA SWP 12200/6 stiffener welding portals can weld three profiles simultaneously
with six MIG/MAG welding heads. PEMA has delivered such portals to all but one of
ECO’s shipyards.
From welding portals to complete
panel lines
In 2009, ECO ordered two 12.2m
(40’)-wide panel lines from PEMA,
one of which was delivered to the
company’s new LA Ship yard in Houma, Louisiana and the other to the
Tampa Ship yard in Tampa, Florida.
The lines consist of a PEMA OSW onesided welding station, a PEMA SMP-R
rotating-type stiffener mounting station, a PEMA SWP stiffener welding
station with six welding heads, a
PEMA SSMP stiffener and bulkhead
backwelding and mounting portal, and a PEMA SP service gantry/
weld-out station. LA Ship’s panel line
also received a complete conveyor
system. In the Tampa Ship line, the
existing conveyor system was utilised as much as possible.
Estaleiro NavShip
The first ship built at the yard situated
at Navegantes in Brazil was launched
in September 2006. The vessels are
built in a hall covering 1.15 hectares,
which contains amongst other things
two 100-tonne and twelve 40-tonne
gantry cranes. NavShip employs
more than 800 shipbuilders.
North American Fabricators (NAF)
Established in 1996, NAF is located
in Houma, Louisiana, and employs
about 500 shipbuilders. The yard
specialises in the building of service
vessels in excess of 200 feet.
Tampa Ship
The Tampa Ship panel line was deTampa Ship’s history extends back
livered from PEMA in June 2010. LA
three generations. The company has
Ship’s line is currently being combeen part of the ECO family since the
missioned, and during this year it is
end of 2008. The yard specialises in
still set to receive a patented PEMA
the conversion, repair and overhaul
VRWP vision twin-robot welding
of different types of vessel.
portal, by which itPEMA
will beboiler
possiblemanufacturing
to weld pre-mounted structures
comprising deep automation
bulkheads, stiff-range:LA Ship
LA Ship is ECO newest yard, and, like
eners and other profiles.
• stationary welding machines
NAF, is located in Houma, Louisiana.
• gantry-type welding machines
• panel conveyor lines LA Ship is currently being completed
• fin-bar prefabricationand will commence operations in the
• tube prefabrication near future.
• automatic material feeding
5
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
tailored, flexible welding production
solution based on three welding robot stations, for the production of the
front chassis of earth-moving machines. The stations are in constant
24/7 production and require just a
single operator. In solutions such as
this, the salary costs for the operators
no longer have a significant impact
on competitiveness.
Multiva trailers made using a heavy
robot welding station
Dometal Oy from Loimaa, Finland,
develops and manufactures Multiva
agricultural machines: large-size,
high-power spring line harrows, cultivators, disc cultivators and tractors
trailers. The company decided to
modernise the production of its Multiva tractor-trailer frames and bodies, and chose robot welding as its
production method. The bodies and
frames were previously welded by
hand. The aim was to improve an already good level of productivity and
quality.
In spring 2010, PEMA designed and
delivered a heavy robot welding station with two identical welding cells.
In the cells, work-pieces are handled
by two automated head and tailstock
positioner units combined on rails.
The load capacity of the station is
5,000 kg, and it can weld work-pieces
up to 17 metres in length. The welding robot is programmed remotely
based on the customer’s 3D model
created in product design. The welding method is single MIG/MAG.
This turnkey delivery included a complete set of robot welding equipment
with gantry structures, work-piece
handling equipment, rails, required
software, installation, operator training and commissioning.
As is often the case in demanding
systems like this, a key feature in the
success of the delivery was open and
honest partnership and communication between the system supplier
and the customer.
A MIG/MAG robot welding station for Multiva tractor trailers, whose two identical welding cells can handle work-pieces up to 17 metres
in length with PEMA head and tailstock positioners.
Flexible robot systems
improve competitiveness
In global competition, customer-conformability is a vital condition for the European metal
industry. It requires good competitiveness: ability to react quickly and short throughput
times for products. In addition to the development of operational capability, a company
must also continuously improve its productivity. One solution to these requirements offered by PEMA is robotised welding automation that is advanced yet simple to use.
Flexibility increases the utilisation
production either with minimal surate of production capacity, and
pervision or no supervision at all for
thereby improves the basic prereqa considerable part of its operating
uisites for production
time. Efficient materiinvestments. PEMA’s Efficient material han- al handling is also an
dling is an important important part of a
aim is to enable the
manufacture of many part of a total solution total solution for prowork-piece versions
duction. It must be
for production.
and completely new
possible for automatwork-pieces as efficiently as in mass
ed systems to adapt to the exceeding
production.
of tolerances and deviations that occur in a work-piece: reality is rarely
the same as in CAD drawings. In orIt must be possible for a flexible
der to achieve improved flexibility,
system to maintain uninterrupted
6
PEMA is constantly developing new
applications in identification technology, such as the 3D measurement of
joints and optical seam tracking.
Volvo’s competitiveness improves
with robot welding
Competitiveness can be developed
by improving the productivity, flexibility and controllability of production as well as the resultant quality. A good example of this is Volvo
Construction Equipment, for which,
as early as 2007, PEMA produced a
Volvo uses PEMA robot welding stations in their Arvika plant for wheel loader front frame welding. The work-pieces can be two meters
high with a weight of two tons.
7
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
The European welding industry has
witnessed a drastic increase in orders from the Near and Far East, especially from within the mechanical
engineering and car production industries. The demand for steel – and
consequently for welding products –
has grown worldwide.
New joining technologies are
needed
But what will be the role of welding
in the future? What kind of tools and
technologies will be needed within
the next five to ten years?
terials and material combinations
call for new joining technologies. For
example, mechanical joining technologies such as riveting, as well
as brazing, soldering and adhesive
bonding are becoming increasingly
important.”
More mechanisation, automation
and robotics
The recession showed that in order
to maintain competitiveness in the
globalised market, industrial production needs to be willing to implement
new ideas, technologies, materials
and production logistics.
According to Dr. Dilthey, the increasing use of higher-strength steels
“Each crisis also contains opportumeans that decreased
nities.
High-wage
Welding is a key tech- countries will only
wall thicknesses are
made possible. This nology in production, be able to reach high
may lead to a decrease and its significance will productivity, excelin the consumption of grow: no welding, no lent product quality
filler materials, but
and high flexibility at
production.
welding processes and
a competitive price
materials will continue to be needby increasing the use of mechanisaed. Welding is a key technology in
tion, automation and robotics,” Dr.
production, and its significance will
Dilthey points out.
grow: no welding, no production.
According to Dr. Dilthey, the lack of
“New high-tech processes such as
qualified welders in the most inlaser beam welding and cutting,
dustrialised countries can only be
electron beam welding and friction
overcome by employing intelligent
stir welding open new fields of apmachines instead. “It has been the
plication and are increasingly used
secret of success and prosperity
in industrial production,” Dr. Dilthey
since the beginning of industrialisacontinues. “But joining means much
tion – and the basis for our affluent
more than just welding; modern masociety.”
PEMA production lines provide profitable manufacturing flexibility between one-off, small-series and product family-based production.
Here, an assembled crane beam is fitted and finished in a robotised PEMA welding cell.
Recession opens new opportunities
for the welding industry
Text: Marjaana Lehtinen
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Prof. h.c. Ulrich Dilthey, President of the International Institute of Welding
(IIW), shared his views on today’s welding industry with PEMA in an interview.
“With a short delay, every rise and
fall in steel production is reflected
in demand for welding, as well as
in the sales of filler materials and
equipment,” says Dr. Dilthey. “In the
worldwide economic crisis, the superstars of the world economy – steel
producers, the mechanical engineer-
8
ing and automotive industries and
their suppliers – were especially affected, which also affected the welding technology sector.”
Dr. Dilthey is glad that the deep, dark
future predicted a year ago didn’t
turn out to be as bad as expected.
The worst of the financial crisis is
past; many international economies
have been gathering momentum
thanks to strongly developing countries such as China, India and Brazil,
which act as new motors in the world
economy.
The International Institute of
Welding, IIW
•Founded in 1948
•Acts as the global body for the science and application of joining technology
•Provides a forum for networking and knowledge exchange among scientists,
researchers and industry
•Established a worldwide unified system of training and education and of
personal and company certification in the field of joining supports and
promotes international welding standardisation
•Members from societies in 53 countries around the world.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Prof. h.c. Ulrich Dilthey,
President of the International Institute of Welding
9
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
booms meant for very heavy and
A heavy series for professionals
demanding welding applications are
The PEMA MD is a family of mediumalways tailored to suit the special
heavy welding column and booms
needs of the customthat are suitable for
Up to now, there has er’s production. This
use together with
roller beds and po- been a lack of advanced range consists of four
sitioners. The MD solutions on the market column and booms,
whose reaches vary
range has three
from 7 x 7 metres to 10 x 10 metres.
types of column and booms with
reaches varying between three and
Adaptation and optimisation
five metres. The MD is a flexible and
increase productivity
cost-effective solution, particularly
The structure of PEMA welding colfor submerged arc welding with one
umn and booms is modular, and a
or two wires, but is also very suitable
wide range of optional equipment
for the MIG/MAG and TIG methods.
is also available. Each column and
boom is tailored to the welding
The PEMA HD range is meant for
method and welding material being
heavy welding and the demanding
used, and geometries of the proautomation applications of welding
The PEMA EHD welding column and booms are excellent in very heavy and demanding welding applications.
Pictured a PEMA EHD 8 x 8.
Welding column and booms – quality and
productivity for heavy welding
In spring 2010, PEMA introduced a completely new group of
products to the market. The range of modular PEMA welding column and booms consisting of three product families has been developed to improve the productivity of the
welding industry, and to meet the requirements of highquality production. In addition to the MD, HD and EHD families of column and boom products, PEMA also offers the
PEMA WMP welding platforms especially for heavy applications.
10
PEMA welding column and booms
have been developed in co-operation
with the best expertise in the industry. Pemamek’s 40 years of experience in the design and production
of demanding welding automation
solutions is evident in the technology
and safety of the column and booms:
they meet all the standards of the
European EN safety norms and are
CE-certified.
with optimal standard modules and
options significantly boosts the productivity of any welding production
cell.
A wide range of application possibilities
PEMA column and booms and their
accessories have been developed to
the requirements of welding methods. The key objective of the design
has been to ensure that they can be
used to take maximum advantage
of whatever method is being used.
What’s more, the column and boom
can, for example, be combined with a
pair of PEMA rollerbeds or a positioner, thereby forming an efficient production cell. PEMA’s long and diverse
Combining a PEMA column and boom with a PEMA positioner or a pair of PEMA rollerbeds forms an efficient production cell.
Here, a PEMA HD 6x6 is combined with a PEMA APS positioner.
production cells. The connection to
the PEMA rollerbeds and positioners
is a standard feature, and there is
also a wide range of options, such as
an operator’s chair for the boom approved by the safety authorities. The
HD is ideally suited for tandem submerged arc welding, but can also be
used for submerged arc welding with
one or two wires and for MIG/MAG
and TIG methods. The reaches of the
five models in this family range from
4 x 4 metres to 7 x 7 metres (column
reach x boom reach).
The heaviest welding column and
boom family, PEMA EHD, comprises
four models. The EHD column and
duced work-pieces. The customer can
choose the most suitable solution for
its production from three different
product families: each product family has several dimensional alternatives for columns and booms, and
the reaches of these families partially
overlap.
Possible welding methods are TIG,
MIG/MAG and the main submerged
arc welding methods. Several alternatives are also available for crossslide arrangements, installation orientation of the welding head, flux
processing, wire feed, the operation
panel, seam tracking, etc. A PEMA
welding column and boom equipped
experience as a supplier of welding
automation and mechanisation helps
its customers to find the optimal solution, which can most effectively
improve the productivity of the given
application.
Up to now, there has been a lack of
advanced solutions on the market
and there is a clear need for solutions
that can be flexibly optimised for
heavy welding column and booms.
During the past year, PEMA has delivered about 20 customer-optimised
welding column and booms to customers both in Finland and in other
parts of Europe.
11
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
The advanced control interface developed for PEMA welding column and
booms enables their versatile and efficient utilisation.
Column and boom application examples, standard solutions
Welding of longitudinal seams of shells
or beams. Both internal and external
welding is possible.
Welding of a circumferential seam.
Welding of flanges is also possible in
this application.
Outside welding of a circumferential
seam. The work-piece is rotated by a
pair of PEMA rollerbeds.
– professionals in the
heavy metals industry
from Kokemäki, Finland
Application examples, engineered solutions
Simultaneous external or internal welding of two or more circumferential seams
using several welding torches.
Simultaneous welding of several
longitudinal seams in beams. In this
example, the column & boom is moved
on rails. Automatic seam-tracking is
recommended.
Tilting and turning movement of a PEMA
positioner can be interfaced to a colum &
boom, e.g. in case of automatic welding
of demanding dish ends or similar workpieces.
Penzkhimmash,
based in Penza, Russia, manufactures a
range of tanks, mainly for use of the oil and chemical industries. In early autumn 2010, the company received a
PEMA EHD 8 x 8 welding column and boom for the demanding welding of circumferential joints for the tanks.
VDL KTI
VDL KTI of Belgium manufactures process equipment for the
oil, gas and petrochemical industries. In summer 2010, the
company bought two PEMA HD welding column and booms
equipped with reliable Lincoln Electric power sources.
12
In 1923, Arvo Lehtonen established a machine shop
in Merikarvia on the west
coast of Finland. At the
end of the Second World
War, after many stages
and coincidences, Arvo
and his workshop ended
up in Kokemäki, some 90
kilometres southeast from
Merikarvia, where operations at the present location were launched in 1947.
Today, 120 professionally-skilled employees work alongside Managing
Director Erkki Lehtonen, producing an
annual total of 5,000 tonnes of finished
machinery and equipment, machine
REFERENCES
Penzkhimmash
Lehtosen
Konepaja Oy
Navacel Group
Navacel of Spain specialises in the production of heavy cylindrical work-pieces and pressure vessels for the wind-,
solar-, sea- and offshore energy industries. In autumn 2010,
the company received three PEMA HD welding column
and booms, the reach of the largest of which is 9 x 6 m.
The column and booms are equipped with Lincoln Electric
PowerWave AC/DC 1000 SD power sources. PowerWave
has been proven to deliver about 30% better productivity
than traditional power source technologies.
bodies and components machined from
customers’ semi-finished products. The
company’s activities are based on the
SFS-EN ISO 9001:2000 quality management system. The welding production
is certified according to the SFS-EN ISO
3834-2 quality system. The company’s
machine stock is modern, versatile and
extensive.
New technology even for heavy
production
About half the working hours at Lehtosen Konepaja are taken up with welding. The sizes and wall thicknesses of
work-pieces are constantly increasing,
so the amount of welding has also increased. Submerged arc welding is the
only possible welding method. ”In the
manufacture of large work-pieces, the
amount of welding automation and robotics should be increased in order to
improve quality and productivity. Technical development has made this possible for us too”, says Erkki Lehtonen.
”As recently as just a few years ago,
the welding automation and mechanisation solutions on the market were
only suitable for thinner plate thicknesses, but now they are also available
for heavier production. Prices have also
fallen to a reasonable level” says Erkki.
A boost for welding
In spring 2010, Erkki Lehtonen decided
to invest in a PEMA MD 4 x 5 welding
column and boom with a Lincoln Electric PowerWave AC/DC 1000 SD power
source. The column and boom has been
combined with a previously delivered
Tuomisen Sepänliike L.S. Tuominen Kumpp.
Tuomisen Sepänliike is Finland’s leading manufacturer of
oil tanks and combustible liquid storage tanks. In summer
2010, the company acquired a PEMA MD 3 x 3 welding column and boom and PEMA rollerbeds for the welding of circumferential and longitudinal joints on the tanks.
PEMA 25000 AHMA positioner. Behind
the decision to purchase lay a need to
increase welding capacity in production
and a desire to invest in the market’s
most advanced technology.
PEMA took care of the installation and
commissioning of the column and
boom. ”The range and versatility of the
column and boom’s operating system
was surprising. The user interface is
rational and logical, but requires more
training, learning and experience from
us, if we are to take full advantage of
the equipment’s potential”, says Production Supervisor, Janne Korsman.
”Three professionally-skilled welders
have been selected to be the column
and boom’s main operators, and they
will be trained to be responsible for operations, once the equipment has been
fully commissioned”.
The company previously used two
welding column and booms that it had
made itself in addition to four that it
had bought. “In welding tests, we have
been able to achieve 90% better productivity using PEMA’s new column and
boom-power source combination than
with the previous solutions. In practise,
we can now weld seams with three
runs, whereas previously six were required”, says Janne.
Lehtosen Konepaja’s order book has
remained strong even during the current economic downturn. In March this
year, production moved to a three-shift
system. Expectations of the servicing
and maintenance provided by PEMA
are great, because three-shift working
cannot withstand any shutdowns.
SAM - Stroje a Mechanizmy
SAM of Slovakia produces railway tank wagons complying
with very high quality standards. The company uses a
PEMA MD 4 x 4 welding column and boom with a Lincoln
PowerWave power source as well as four sets of PEMA roller beds for the welding of circumferential and longitudinal
joints on the tanks.
Lehtosen Konepaja
In autumn 2010, Lehtosen Konepaja received a PEMA MD 4
x 5 welding column and boom to be combined with a PEMA
25000 AHMA positioner. More on this above.
13
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
of Europe blows so strongly that, if all
bine foundations requires the abilthe potential energy were recovered,
ity to weld very thick plates and to
it would meet Europe’s energy needs
handle heavy work-pieces. PEMA can
seven-fold. The continent is also the
offer ready-made, tested welding
world’s leading utiliser of offshore wind
stations for the efficient production
energy: 39 offshore wind farms produce
of both large, thick-walled monomore than 2,000 MW of power in nine
pile foundations and jacket-type,
European countries, mostly in Denmark
geometrically complex foundations.
and the UK. EWEA estimates that, durUsing PEMA work-piece handling
ing 2010, about 1,000 MW of additional
equipment and hydraulic jigs, the
offshore wind energy capacity is being
geometry of even very heavy workmanufactured, and
pieces
remains
more than 100 GW EWEA estimates an average closely in accordof additional capac- of 28% annual growth for ance with plans.
ity is at different
The
productivity
stages of planning. offshore wind power for the of the manufacIf all the planned
ture of work-pieces
next 12 years.
projects are realthat are difficult to
ised, the built capacity will meet about
manoeuvre, production capacity and
10% of the EU’s electricity requirements
also the resultant quality all improve
and at the same time reduce CO2 emissignificantly. This is a key objective
for those manufacturers that intend
sions by about 200 million tonnes per
to survive in increasingly fierce comyear.
petition as offshore wind energy
power plant production increases
The EWEA’s objective is 40 GW of offstrongly in the coming years.
shore wind power by 2020. This would
mean an average of 28% annual
The Beatrice wind farm on the Scottish coast: pictured wind turbines
have jacket-type foundations designed by OWEC Tower (OWEC Jacket
Quattropods). Picture: Talisman Energy
Systematic serial production revolutionises
wind turbine production
During the last two years, Europe has built more wind power capacity than any other form
of energy production: during 2009, of all the new power plants connected to the electricity
grid, 39% were powered by wind. Growth over the previous year was 23%. The wind power
industry employs about 192,000 people. Against this background, increasing productivity in
the manufacture of wind turbines is a key objective in the industry.
14
Offshore wind turbines have either geometrically complex jacket-type foundations (on the
left, OWEC Jacket Quattropods designed by OWEC Tower) or sturdy monopile foundations
(on the right). Photo: OWEC Tower.
The European Wind Energy Association
(EWEA) is the mouthpiece for the wind
power industry, and is endeavouring to
promote the utilisation of wind energy
both in Europe and worldwide. According to the association, in 2009 Europe
invested about €13 billion in wind
farms: of that €1.5 billion went to offshore wind power.
The strength of the sea wind
Each year the wind around the coasts
growth for the next 12 years. This target
cannot be reached without a significant
increase in the productivity of wind
energy power plant production.
Increasing production capacity by improving productivity
PEMA provides welding production
solutions for the construction of the
foundations and towers of both landbased and offshore wind turbines.
The production of offshore wind tur-
Superior welding solutions
Lincoln Electric’s unequalled welding technology work in tandem with
PEMA’s wide range of heavy automated welding solutions. To maximise
customer value, PEMA has access to
Lincoln Electric’s welding know-how,
the world’s leading welding knowledge base. Lincoln provides PEMA
with unique welding technology such
as its comprehensive submerged-arc
Power Wave platform, world-class
15
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
EMA supply welding and handling
platforms, head- and tailstock positioners developed for the circumferential welding of heavy conical workpieces, rollerbeds used at different
stages of work and transportation,
conveyors between welding stations, and perhaps robotised cutting
and welding stations developed for
the welding of tower doors. Further
information on this matter can be
downloaded at www.pemamek.com.
equipment for manufacturing of
offshore towers and foundations
The key features of PEMA production
stations include their easy adjustability for varying plate widths and
PEMA wind energy
manufacturing packages
are always tailored to
customer need
frame unit diameters, reduction to
the minimum of unproductive time
using high-speed turning, welding
and transportation, the good stability of work-pieces at different stages
of work, fast and high-quality multiwire submerged arc welding using
efficient Lincoln PowerWave power
source technology, fast and easy
positioning of work-pieces and joint
tracking that minimises set-up times.
Improving the productivity of the manufacturing process for heavy and geometrically
complex jacket-type foundations requires special expertise. Picture: OWEC Tower/ OWEC
Jacket Quattropods
welding wire and other consumables.
This way, PEMA is able to provide
high-capacity, high-quality welding
solutions in MIG/MAG and Tandem
MIG, single and Tandem SAW, laser
OWEC Jacket Quattrop
high-power
lasers with
photo is published withhybrid-MIG,
approval from OWEC
Tower
fibre power transfer, plasma and TIG.
PEMA welding automation solutions
enable the systematic, productive
serial production even of heavy wind
External circumferential welding of 3 joints simultaneously
turbine towers and foundations.
need, whose delivery content may,
for example, comprise PEMA welding column and booms or welding
Serial production improves margins
Over the years PEMA, together with
its customers, has developed both
total production lines and individual
welding stations for the welding
and assembly of wind energy power
plant structures, the welding of longitudinal and circumferential joints and
flanges, sand-blasting and surface
treatment.
There are many possibilities for
solutions. In any case, they are alPEMA robotic welding of leg nodes
ways packages tailored to customer
16
Fit-up of section parts
The production of offshore wind energy requires the ability to weld very thick plates
and to handle heavy work-pieces. The easy set-up of work-pieces minimises installation
times. PEMA provides both complete production lines and individual welding stations for
the welding and assembly of wind energy power plant structures.
The out-feed side of Vitkovice’s PEMA 2 x 2000/6 membrane wall panel welding line with two stationary welding machines seen in the
back, conveyor lines on the front.
Vítkovice Machinery Group – over 180 years
of engineering excellence
Vítkovice Machinery Group is a major Czech engineering
conglomerate with a strong position in selected segments
of machinery production and as a supplier of large investment assemblies. The group incorporates approximately
thirty companies with a modern, extensive and unique
production base and know-how based on research and development.
Vítkovice steelworks were established in 1828 to Ostrava in the eastern part of today’s Czech Republic. In
less than ten years of operations, the
steelworks had already turned to a
unique, self-sufficient industrial complex and one of the biggest monopoly group in Europe. It manufactured
steam machines, bridges, railway
wagons, mining tools, machines for
the steelworks, railway wheels and
railway switches.
During its over 180 years of operation, Vítkovice and its production has
become one of the key factors for the
overall development of the Czech national economy. Among other things,
the group manufactures products for
power engineering and devices for
steel production, secondary metallurgy, continuous casting, agglomeration, coking plants and large scale
excavators for surface mining, just to
name a few production areas.
The joint stock company Vítkovice
was established in 1992. In 2003, the
engineering part of the company was
privatised with Czech capital. After
the privatisation, Vítkovice set out to
become a global leader in production
of selected engineering products and
technologies.
Power plant engineering
Power engineering is a key business
area for Vítkovice. A main segment in
the area is manufacturing of powder
granulation boilers with output capacities exceeding 100 MW. In close
co-operation with its carefully developed subcontractor and logistics network, Vítkovice Power Engineering is
able to supply boiler parts and blocks,
including entire boiler pressure sections, heavy-weight and light-weight
steel structures of boiler houses, cir-
17
PEMANEWS
PEMANEWS
PEMA CBF fin-bar calibrating machine. The calibrating machine straightens, calibrates
the width and cuts the fin-bar to a pre-set length.
welding line. Cleaned by shot-blasting and with ends bevelled, the tubes
are welded together by a butt welding machine with an induction preheating system and programmable
welding equipment. After welding,
the tubes are cut to a pre-set panel
length in an automatic cutting unit
with a length measuring system. The
working cycles of the tube prefabrication line are automatic.
A finished, welded membrane wall
panel has to have an exactly correct
width. Fine-tuning of the panel width
is done by calibrating the fin-bar to
the correct size. PEMA CBF fin-bar
calibrating machine straightens, cali-
The in-feed side of the membrane wall panel welding line:
the welding machines in the back, paternoster buffer storage
for sub-panels on the left, conveyor lines on the front.
cular and rectangular channels like
air piping, flue gas channels and fly
ash flow routes, fan mills, low-emission powder burners, assembly and
installation services, and follow-up
technology, service and operating
diagnostics of its power engineering
solutions.
Early in 2009, Vítkovice decided to
invest in a high-output PEMA membrane wall panel welding line to
complement its boiler pressure part
production ability. The line was deliv-
18
ered to Vítkovice in autumn 2009 for
commissioning.
working environment without welding
fumes, spatters or arc radiation.
Productivity and high quality
Vitkovice’s PEMA 2 x 2000/6 membrane wall panel welding line was
designed to customer’s requirements.
It is based on two stationary welding machines each equipped with six
submerged-arc welding torches both
serviced by the same conveyor line.
Advanced submerged-arc welding
process ensures not only the welding
quality and high speed, but also a good
The welding machines can be used
for sub- and full-panel welding and
economiser tube welding. High welding quality and perfectly straight tube
panels are achieved by proper material
preparation and heavy-duty tube and
fin-bar guiding during welding phase.
An advanced panel welding line like
this can easily weld 5 kilometres of
seam in sub-panel production within
an 8-hour shift.
brates the width and cuts the fin-bar
to a pre-set length. Bevelling is carried out at the same time. Before
calibration, the fin-bar is cleaned by
shot-blasting.
Proud to be able to serve
A global leader in the design and
production of complete membrane
wall-panel welding lines for industrial power boilers, PEMA is always
committed to provide better productivity for its customers. Proud to have
had the opportunity to help Vitkovice
to reach their objectives, we see it as
one of the results of decades of uncompromising work.
Efficient material flows ensured by
proper prefabrication
The conveyor line is designed for
handling 2 metres wide and 24 metres long panels. A paternoster-type
in-process buffer storage lays up the
sub-panels waiting to be welded together. An automatic tube and finbar in-feeding system is incorporated
to comply with the high throughput
capacity of the welding machines.
Proper tube and fin-bar prefabrication ensures good welding quality,
high welding speed and accurate
panel dimensions.
An automatic tube prefabrication
line produces the tubes for the panel
Cleaned and bevelled tubes waiting for butt-welding on the tube prefabrication line.
Fin-bar coils visible on the right.
19
Newsflash
More heavy-duty positioners and rollerbeds
for China
The repeat order of the China National Erzhong
Group, two heavy positioners and sets of rollerbeds, was delivered to the customer in October.
The load capacities of the positioners built for
very heavy work-piece handling are 120 and
250 tonnes and for the rollerbed sets 250 and
850 tonnes. The rollerbeds are equipped with
the most precise anti-creep mechanism on the
market, which is a requirement for the highquality welding of narrow joints and is often
used in the nuclear energy industry amongst
others.
New PEMA super-durable welding heads
for submerged arc welding
PEMA has developed a completely new range
of welding head products for submerged arc
welding. For the time being, the nozzles suitable for 25 mm- and 35 mm-diameter PEMA
nozzle pipes are being manufactured for 3 mmand 4 mm welding wires and for 2.4 mm dualwire welding, and more alternatives are on the
way. In tests, the nozzles have proved to be
considerably longer-lasting than other products
on the market, and it has been possible to keep
their prices at a very competitive level. Feel free
to ask for more information!
Rollerbeds for Vladivostock
In summer 2010, VDC (Vladivostock Development Company), a regional development company operating in Russia’s Far East, made a
follow-on order for 7 sets of PEMA 10 TNA roller
beds for the welding of pipes to be delivered
to the Sakhalin 1 project. The operator of the
rollerbeds is Aker Solutions, which is leasing
production facilities and equipment from VDC.
The reason for the follow-on order is the good
quality of the products and the attention to the
needs of the customer, says VDC.
New PEMA rollerbed models on the market
A new representative in Sweden
The new self-aligning PEMA A and conventional
PEMA N-series rollerbeds are replacing the old
TA and TNA-series products. The new rollerbed
models offer better operating features than
ever before thanks to their super-durable roller
material, functional design and user-friendliness. The load capacities of the range vary from
10 to 1,600 tonnes. A wide range of accessories
are also available.
In summer 2010, Svetsmaskinservice AB assumed the role of representative of PEMA products in Sweden. The company is headquartered
in Gothenberg, and has two branch offices in
Stockholm and one in Uddevalla. Svetsmaskinservice’s long experience in the industry, excellent professional skills and extensive range of
contacts with the Swedish welding industry will
bring more added value for all users of PEMA
products in Sweden.
New web pages for PEMA
PEMA’s website www.pemamek.com has been
upgraded. The new web pages provide the latest information about PEMA products and services, business lines, future events, corporate
information etc. in a modern package. One of
the several new handy features of the site is the
possibility to download up-to-date PEMA positioner, rollerbed and column & boom technical
data sheets in PDF format.
PEMANEWS is the customer magazine of Pemamek Oy Ltd.
P.O. Box 50, 32201 Loimaa, Finland, tel. +358 (0)2 760 771
fax +358 (0)2 762 8660, www.pemamek.com
Lincoln Electric – PEMA coaching days in
Loimaa, Finland
In June, Lincoln Electric’s European sales management team and experts in the field of automation, convened for a few days at PEMA factory in Loimaa, Finland, to plan the development
of sales and marketing of welding column and
booms, positioners and rollerbeds on a European level. Because of the football World Cup that
was taking place at the time, the theme was
the coaching of the joint FC Spark team from
victory to victory.