Are the welding of the heat exchanger tube sheet and heat exchange tubes satisfactory?
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Dear colleagues: As shown in the diagram, for this shell-and-tube heat exchanger, the heat exchange tubes and the tube sheet are all made of 316L. Please analyze whether the welding quality of these heat exchange tubes and tube sheet is satisfactory.
From the picture, it can be seen that argon welding was used; the skill level of the welder is not very high. As for whether it meets the standards or not, it depends on what requirements are in place
The operating environment is highly acidic wastewater with a pH of around 3-5. The operating pressure in the tube side is 0.58 MPa, while it is 0.69 MPa in the shell side. The operating temperature in the tube side is 108.4/80°C, and that in the shell side is 26.5/52.5°C
Check for pores using a PT test, and then use a helium detector to check for leaks in the shell side and tube side.
If pipe end welding is done using automatic tube plate welding, then why is manual welding still used?
The manufacturer replied that they do not have any equipment for automatic welding: L
The welding quality is terrible; how did they find such a manufacturer?
The ideal color of 316L after welding is silver-white; gold-yellow is the next best option. Blue is less desirable, but it needs to be removed. The current colors are mostly blue and golden yellow. The blue color is caused by excessive welding wire energy input (that is, the product of current and voltage is too high, while the welding speed is a bit slow). Increasing the welding speed will reduce the number of blue appearances. Additionally, the shape of the fillet weld should have a concave profile with smooth transitions. Everyone can see this, but it’s likely that everyone will give it a slightly different score. There are highs and lows.
This weld is not very good, but it’s not that bad either.