Food / Dairy / Beverage
Orbital Welding of Stainless Steel Tubing for Biopharmaceutical, Food and Dairy Use
Welding of stainless steel assemblies at the "Quilmes" brewery in Argentina with an Arc Machines Model 79-6625 orbital weld head. Photo Courtesy of Soldadura-Mendoza.
Featuring

Model 79-6625

Model 8-4000

Synopsis: Several industry groups in the United States have recently published standards which recognize orbital welding as the preferred joining technology for stainless steel tubing which has direct or indirect contact with the product. This article examines the influence of recently published standards in the United States biopharmaceutical industry on fabrication technology in the pharmaceutical, food and dairy industries and breweries in the U.S. and Latin America.

The standards writing groups have had to deal with defining weld acceptance criteria and related issues including metallurgical considerations such as the optimal sulfur content of 316L stainless steel, and the amount of discoloration of the weld and heat-affected zone as a result of welding that should be permitted. Orbital welding procedures that resulted in high productivity for welded assemblies used in a brewery in Argentina are presented.

Reprinted from Tube International, September, 1999 from a presentation at OCTAVO CONGRESO ARGENTINO DE FARMACIA Y BIOQUÍMICA INDUSTRIAL, Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 1999

Click here for full article...