News - SPED - Society of Piping Engineers and Designers

Act Now to Fix the Skills Crisis in Piping Design

EPC firms, their clients and technology vendors need to act now to blunt the coming skills crisis in piping design, advises Bill Beazley, SPED Executive Director. Dr. Beazley made his comments in a keynot address, "The Skills Crisis in Piping Design" at Valve World 2013, June 25th in Houston, TX. Dr. Beazley's full comments are listed below:

Take the Twelfth Man Pledge

This column as a call to all employers to add a “twelfth man “to every 11 workers, drawn from the soon-to-be or newly trained workforce. It draws from the Texas A&M tradition of E. King Gill who during a game where the team only had limited reserves, was called from the stands, suited up, and stood ready throughout the rest of the game. Lack of job experience is a barrier to both employment and further training. We need an “on-ramp” from training to employment. This idea was suggested by Ken Harbord, President of the SPED Houston Chapter.

Portable UT Units Set to Transform Welding Workflow

Portable UT Units Set to Transform Welding Workflow

Newly developed portable Ultrasonic Testing (UT) units could drastically alter welding workflow by allowing weld inspection as often as after each pass. Normal weld inspection at depth, called “Volumetric Testing,” normally requires X-ray or ultrasonic test setups. Both normally require specialized equipment be brought to the site and the area be cleared and/or the weld be cooled before inspection can begin. With today’s sensor technology, the weld need not be as cool and lowered energy levels make the UT technology portable. The result is almost immediate testing of weld passes before a defect is covered and repairs are expensive.

“Even good welders introduce defects,” says Scott Witkowski, President, Maverick Testing Labs in Houston, TX (http://www.mavlabs.co/). “Normal defect rates can be as high as 5% but with training and experience, it can drop to less than 2%.” Maverick specializes in qualifying welders for specific weld processes and working environments by asking them to weld under simulated task conditions and extensively testing the welds.

After welder qualification, the only way to monitor welder performance is inspect the weld made in the shop or field. A variety of techniques are available for such “non-destructive testing” or NDT but most can check for defects at or close to the surface. Despite their relative lower cost, surface or near surface techniques lack the in-depth results that volumetric testing can give. Except for visual inspection, most techniques require specialized training for good results.

Enter shearwave UT with the new Electro Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT). Ulrasonic Testing transmits a sound into the weld which is disrupted or reflected by the defect. Piezoelectric UT uses a couplant liquid or get help transmit the sound into the part. EMAT, in contrast, generates the sound in the part inspected instead of the transducer. It is a dry technology that can operate at high temperatures, 200°C or up to 650°C with cooling.

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Figure 1 EMAT Eliminates couplant by inducing wave in material.

Because the technology can tolerate higher temperatures, is handheld and needs no special setup, it can be used by trained welders to inspect welds as soon after a layer is added to the weld. Innerspec Technologies Inc. demonstrated the new technology at the API Inspection Summit 2013.

standard signal

Figure 2 EMAT UT sensor shows Standard Signal.

signal attenuation

Figure 3EMAT UT sensor shows Attenuated Signal

Using this technology, welders and their helpers can quickly determine if their welds contain defects and correct them before adding to the weld. This could make 100% volumetric testing of welds economically feasible on many project with higher reliability and increasing welder skill through immediate feedback.

For more information, consult http://www.innerspec.com/

PIP Chairman Says Piping Best Practices Lie in Codes

PIP Chairman Says Piping Best Practices Lie in Codes, Standards, Author/Collaborator Networks

The new repositories of “Best Practices,” are in the professional codes, standards and the networks of authors that write them according to industry expert, Wayne Dolbec. Mr. Dolbec is a former SPED President and currently is Middough Manager of Engineering and 2012 Process Industry Practices (PIP) Chairman. He made his comments at SPED 2012 in October.

PIP is well known as a consortium of member companies harmonizing their internal standards for design, procurement, construction, and maintenance. PIP publishes these harmonized documents as “Practices” in multiple disciplines with many of them related to the piping, valves, fittings and equipment. (see chart below)

chart-for-december-article-2012-1

2012 SPED Conference Photos

Not published yet

2012 SPED CONFERENCE





32ND ANNUAL GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING

Jack Belden, President	Wayne Dolbec, Keynote Speaker	Ken harbord, Houston Chapter President Pro Tempore

AGBM Attendees	Ron Waldon, Midwest Chapter President	C&I Engineers Door Prize winner

Total CAD Systems, Inc. Door Prize Winner	Plant Design Solutions, Inc. Door Prize Winner	3D-Printing Solutions, Inc. Door Prize Winner

LISEGA Door Prize Winner	MatriceTex Door Prize Winner	PipingSolutions Door Prize Winner
TECHNICAL BRIEFS

Tablet Applications in Piping Design and Construction

TABLET APPLICATIONS IN PIPING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

by William (Bill) Beazley, PhD, Executive Director, SPED

There are an increasing number of tablet and smartphone applications that are being used in piping design and construction, since I reported on this last year. (BIC Magazine, September, 2011 http://epubs.democratprinting.com/publication/?i=79652 ) Since then, it have become clear that targeted tablet and smartphone apps are useful at all levels of the plant lifecycle.

AutoCAD WS Mobile is already widely used to take drawings out on the job site. Today, though, there are multiple apps available. Lee Smith, Senior Project Designer at Willbros Engineers, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma, says, “I use alot of iPhone and iPad apps …to aid in gathering field information and design.”

What makes some of these apps really interesting is the use of the built-in sensors for Global Positioning System (GPS), maps, inclinometer, camera, magnetometer, etc., to aid the app. For example, Theodolite is a multi-function augmented reality app that combines a compass, GPS, map, photo/movie camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite overlays real time information about position, altitude, bearing, range, and inclination on the iPhone’s live camera image, like an electronic viewfinder.

Others integrate photos and field notes. My Measures adds dimension arrows, angels or custom text to object on photo. No need to hold paper sketches in your pocket.