【Petrochemical Craftsman】Chen Junlong: 20 Years Perfecting a Welding Gun
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At noon on December 7th, at the Sinopec Guangxi Petrochemical Refining Project site in Qinzhou Port, Chen Junlong and the repair team he led had been thoroughly discussing and studying the technical issues related to the bending and welding of hydrogen production furnaces for a full 5 hours, starting from 8 a.m. At the end of November, a pipeline repair task was assigned. As the head of the Model Worker Innovation Studio at China National Petroleum Corporation’s Sixth Construction Company, Chen Junlong rushed from Guilin to Qinzhou. Over the past ten-odd days, he has spent almost every day in this way: coming up with solutions and putting them into practice. By overcoming difficulties time and again to break foreign technological monopolies, the welding torch refined by Chen Junlong over nearly 20 years earned him the reputation of a \"Gold Medal Welder\". Becoming an expert welder: Wearing heavy blue work clothes and a sealed mask, kneeling on the ground, the welder gently touches the welding torch – sparks fly, and the arc light is dazzling. The welding rod melts into a liquid state in an instant under the blue arc light of thousands of degrees Celsius, sticking to the weld seam… In this trade, having skills alone is not enough; one also needs patience and must be completely focused during welding. ”Chen Junlong said, “Don’t underestimate this small interface; even a tiny crack in the entire structure can lead to catastrophic consequences.” ” In 1997, 19-year-old Chen Junlong became a welder at Petroleum Company No. 6. Chen Junlong still remembers vividly his first exam after entering the school. “Why is the shape of your welds so poor? The X-rays showed many pores; go back to the furnace and practice more*. ”The examiner’s evaluation of him was like a blow to the head, extremely embarrassing. These words made the stubborn Chen Junlong resolve to master excellent welding skills and create high-quality welds that others could not produce. There were not enough welders at the construction site, so he took every opportunity to practice tirelessly during the breaks when his colleagues were resting. He welded almost all the steel scrap that could be found on the site. ” Chen Junlong’s mentor is Ou Xinnan, a veteran in industrial welding. This well-known national model worker in the oil industry had a profound influence on Chen Junlong. “The master used to say that welding is like painting; the molten iron serves as the paint, while the welding torch acts as the brush. When done well, it results in a fine piece of work.” ” Treating welding as a craft, Chen Junlong dedicated himself to refining both his \"welding gun\" and his inner perseverance. Half a year later, Chen Junlong was sent by the company to Xinjiang to participate in the construction of a petrochemical plant. Over the following 10-plus years, Chen Junlong was involved in the globally renowned West-East Gas Pipeline Project, the construction of the Fushun Petrochemical HCC unit which set a new record for Chinese enterprises, as well as the development of nearly 20 other key projects at home and abroad. Through repeated trials and exercises, the once inexperienced young man grew into a key welding specialist at the company. He figured out the optimal welding parameters, resulting in a 100% pass rate for the welds when inspected using X-rays. His welding speed was far ahead of that of his peers, which earned him the nickname \"the fast shooter\". In 2007, years of experience with welding torches enabled him to achieve sudden success. Back then, he represented Guangxi in the 8th National Welding Skills Competition for the engineering sector, where he won first place in Group B individually.
Breaking foreign technological monopolies: In 2008, at the age of just 30, Chen Junlong took on this important role from his mentor Ou Xinnan, becoming the youngest leader in the team of senior welding experts at Petroleum Company No. 6. From frontline workers to technical experts who overcome challenges, this change in role brings new challenges as well. In 2009, China’s first LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) project in Dalian, which used domestically produced Ni9 steel plates, began construction. Petroleum Company No. 6 is tasked with one of the most important technical challenges related to this project: the application of domestically produced Ni9 steel plates in the construction of LNG storage tanks. “At that time, I knew nothing about domestically produced Ni9 steel plates; the pressure and anxiety were indescribable. ”Recalling those days and nights from back then, Chen Junlong still remembers them vividly. Experts and skilled technicians from the workshop were organized to work on solving these technical challenges. The best results were selected from the company’s more than 600 welding evaluation reports, and 34 welding procedure specifications were developed. Mechanical property tests were conducted repeatedly… Eventually, Chen Junlong and his team mastered the core technologies related to the welding of Ni9 steel plates, breaking the foreign monopoly on this technology. After 3 years of construction, the Dalian LNG receiving station was successfully put into operation in November 2011, laying the foundation for PetroChina’s concerted efforts to advance its strategy of domestic LNG production. As there are more and more LNG project construction tasks, the technical challenges that Chen Junlong and his team have to overcome also continue to increase. In the research project focused on welding techniques for copper-nickel alloy pipes in LNG projects, the training materials they developed for 6G welding of such pipes made a significant contribution to the company’s ability to master copper-nickel alloy welding technology for the first time ； During the construction of Asia’s largest 200,000 cubic meter LNG storage tank, they developed a complete set of welding techniques for 9%Ni steel, which are now widely used in the project’s construction. “I often hear people complain about their low educational background and poor starting point. I believe that the most important thing at work is attitude; no matter how low one’s starting point is or what kind of job one has, as long as one is willing to work hard, there will always be room for improvement. ”Chen Junlong said.
He passed on his skills to more people. His exceptional craftsmanship made Chen Junlong well-known, and many companies offered him high salaries as an incentive, but he remained unmoved. \"There are different pursuits in life; I feel that my value lies within this team, in this position.\" ” These days, Chen Junlong is most concerned with how to train more excellent apprentices and pass on his welding skills to as many people as possible. Over the past 5 years, Chen Junlong and the members of his team have traveled everywhere to provide on-site guidance more than 100 times, training over 1,500 welders; the pass rate for these welders in their exams was over 98%. Among the welders he trained, over 40 became technicians, senior technicians, skill experts at the group company, as well as technical experts in Guangxi and across the country. “Be an honest person, speak the truth, and do honest work. ”This is a phrase that Chen Junlong often says to his apprentices. “\"Honesty\" means perseverance, persistence, upholding integrity, and passing it on. (Reporter Luo Wanli)
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