The shipbuilding industry in Poland does not look as bad as it is commonly thought. Polish private shipyards, in particular, build more and more complex ships, adding more and more added value, competing as well as cooperating with global giants such as Scandinavian ones. We have recently participated, of course adequately to the nature of our activity, in the construction of a crucial piece of specialist equipment for the ship for laying undersea pipelines. This is a giant spool, used for transporting and laying a prefabricated pipeline (or, for example, an energy cable or optical fiber), which is simply wound on it. The spool is several meters in diameter and, of course, the surfaces to be treated. With these dimensions the diameter of the processed ring is over 10 meters. Achieving a total flatness of less than 1 mm and high surface quality is not easy and only possible if the appropriate rigidity of the machine is achieved and the cutting speed is optimally selected: peripheral and rotary milling cutter. Roll in assembly position on the ship.

In March 2017, ANDRITZ HYDRO begins supplying electromechanical equipment for a new hydro plant in the heart of Graz, the capital of the Austrian province of Styria. The start-up of the power plant is planned for the first half of 2019. Before the construction is completed, it is necessary to install the power plant equipment: turbines, generators, flaps, various types of drives and control systems. And here is the place for our services. Of course, as in a hydroelectric power plant, the main task is to process large-size flanges. It is a very avant-garde design, which can be seen in the following visualizations: More about the plant: The current state indicates that there is still a lot to be done. As usual, the work begins with accurate measurements. In the foreground, the measurement head of the Laser Tracker device, and the measured object deep in the background, behind the scaffolding. Initial setup of the machine at the workplace. Centering the machine using Laser Tracker. View from the top Machine ready During machining… Finished. Time to change the configuration – to process a larger flange in the same mounting Continued processing. This time the outer collar Time for a change, we move to a new processing place. Re-installation of the machine. As usual, under the supervision of Laser Tracker ™. Ready. Machine tool ready to work. Already during the treatment, it turned out that the surface damages of the workpiece are too deep. The customer decides to fill the cavities with padding. Here is the result. We continue processing Finished. Now a short rest and then the same next – on block 2. Note: the above photojournalism does not contain a description of the complete sequence of activities but only selected stages of work. All activities were performed in accordance with health and safety regulations.

Chemical Industry is very demanding customers. We are therefore glad that we are often chosen to carry out mobile machining services on elements of chemical installations. In this case, it was a heat exchanger on which we made three treatments: facing the face of the flange connection of the bottom of the heat exchanger and planning the face of the outlets together with machining the groove for the RTJ type seal (RT). While flanges planning is typical, routine work, the groove for the steel seal is a challenge – the requirements for dimensional accuracy and surface quality are much stricter than for other treatments. Confirmation of the right parameters of the groove is “blue print check”. The machining of the outlet flange with a trapezoidal groove for the steel gasket. Starring: Climax FF6200 lathe for the flanges. The machining of the outlet flange with a trapezoidal groove for the steel gasket. On the left side, finished – flange ready . The blue perimeter strip is the mark of the blue print check. Flange on the right during machining. Machining of the bottom of the exchanger – the same machine can handle a wide range of diameters: 508 to more than 1270 mm (20 – 50″)   More information about the equipment and machining of flanges: https://wwtech.com.pl/en/on-site-machining/boring-and-turning-using-portable-machinery/machining-of-flanges/   More information about flange facer FF6200: