The Chilling Station Maintenance Supervisor and operators at the University of Texas at Austin are faced with the challenge of keeping several 5,000 ton chillers in peak operating condition.
US Fabricator Metalforms challenge was threefold: improve consistency while maintaining their high-quality standards, decrease the overall cost of the process, and increase the safety of their employees, in order to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace.
The manufacturer with the widest chiller solution and service portfolio in the world was working to overcome some challenges. Their main concern was regarding their employee’s health. The Sr Manufacturing and Environmental Engineer and the operators are amazed at the difference the Rapid Hawk has made in improving the ergonomics of the rolling process and absorbing the torque from the motor.
One of the most overlooked best practices for plugging a tube is to vent the tube beforehand. Tube venting is a process by which a small puncture is made inside of the tube, releasing any pressure or chemicals that may be trapped inside.
While mechanical tube plugs are strong enough to remain inside of tubes for long periods of time, in cases where they are going to be removed it is important to follow these three tips and tricks.
With parallel pin expansion, the rolls are set parallel with the mandrel with zero feed angle. This means that the mandrel will not self-feed as a traditional expander would. Instead, the mandrel is pushed through the expander by force, in most cases hydraulic, allowing the tube to expand.
The design of the wet pass boiler can be frustrating for Boilermakers due to the limited access to install tubes in the combustion return area of the boiler.
To ensure high-quality tube expansions, the tube wall must be reduced by a predetermined percentage and be consistent with each expansion. In order to complete the job efficiently, it is important to achieve the maximum expander tool life in order to reduce cost and downtime.
A mechanical tube joint is formed when the outer diameter of the tube is compressed against a fixed container. Rolling to the proper wall reduction will decrease the chances of under rolling and over rolling a tube, creating higher quality mechanical joints.
