We’ve been learning a lot about pipe welding and creating a localized purge dam for a new customer who’s working on a liquified natural gas (LNG) plant.
Purge bladders are popular in Europe. Not so much here in the U.S. In fact, some folks still purge an entire pipe system for welding. You can spend a lot of money on shield gas doing it that way. There are a lot of options for creating a purge dam, but our LNG customer has opted for the inflatable purge bladders as a way to improve their weld quality, lower the purge volume (and gas consumption and expense) and minimize downtime (time waiting to flood an entire system in purge gas).
A few things to keep in mind regarding purge bladders for pipe welding.
First, for pipe IDs larger than 12, it is highly recommended that you use the quick purge system, especially if you’re doing field pipe welding as opposed to pipe fabrication in the shop.
The larger standard inflatable purge bladders can be difficult and cumbersome to situate, and if they are twisted up at all, you can get creases in the bladders which allow oxygen to seep in. This ultimately will negatively affect your weld quality.
The connection between each bladder in the quick purge system is more rigid, which facilitates correct placement of the bladders.
These quick purge systems are brand new products, available now from Arc-Zone.com. Give us a call (800-944-2243 :: toll free US or 760-931-1500 world wide) We can get you a quote or an order right quick!