Automated Tank Welding

How The Automated Tank Welding System Was Created

In 2013, the booming oil market in Canada created a surge in demand for 400bbl and 1.000bbl storage tanks. This brought out some issues:

Scarce labor supply in particular in the North Dakota region
Antiquated, ineffective and inefficient existing equipment

With that, there was a need for replacing the current manual (labor dependent) equipment with automated, highly functioning equipment to help improve through-put, efficiency, safety and repeatability, i.e, equipment to solve both issues simultaneously.

The Solution (Automated Tank Welding System)

Existing proven-efficient components added to the new system:

Metavision laser/vision seam tracking
Specialized Fronius welding equipment
Xiris camera systems
Fully integrated welding/handling systems

We were able to develop a 400 barrel tank welding cell capable of up to double the output of the existing system, while at the same time eliminating numerous safety hazards and steps that were previously required. This is how:

Preparation is done by cutting the plate in advance
Sheets are rolled & seams welded + Offline simulations are performed
Rolled sheets are ready for assembly and top and bottom cans are prepared
The rolled sheets are placed on the prepared caps for robotic welding
The welding cell interior and exterior fillet are robotically welded
Tank fit-up rolls with closing clamps are used to support the thin walled tank
Cans are then assembled along with the tops and bottoms of the tank
The welds are done in one pass using a 12'x12' column and boom welding manipulator.

Read the full case study here: https://www.ljwelding.com/blog/specialized-tank-manufacturing-equipment

SUCCES STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS

Robert Hoffman

Facilities Manager, Saipem Construction Canada Inc.

LJ Welding Automation consistently displays a high degree of integrity, excellent customer service, and technical expertise. In addition to their excellent customer service, their equipment has become the standard within our company division, as we have utilized LJ equipment exclusively for our large Alberta oil-sands construction workshop expansion.

Aubrey C.

MR Technical Services, Production Team Leader, GE Healthcare

“Within five minutes of reporting a seam tracking issue, I received a text and email explaining how to correct the vision tracking system, including detailed screenshots indicating what parameters to adjust. In under ten minutes the welding robot was back up and running. We have other robotic cells in the facility and at times we would wait days for a response, even though those integrators are just minutes down the road. LJ provides unparalleled service.”

L. P.

Production Manager, Aecon Mining

"This new equipment took a process that took us several hours with several guys to do, and reduced it to minutes with only one guy. The time savings and safety improvements are remarkable"

S. M.

QA/QC Inspector, Black & McDonald Limited

"LJ [Welding] Automation products and service are in my opinion, unquestionably in the top percentile in industry today. Going forward I hope we have many further dealings with each other."

AUTOMATED TANK WELDING

With our automated tank welding solution, LJ Welding aids construction clients in overcoming key challenges in tank fabrication. While reducing your reliance on welders, our automated tank welding system lets you enhance welding quality today.