German steel manufacturer Dillinger is to launch a unique operation system to automatically inspect the surface of heavy plate for localised hard spots.
The technology was developed by Dillinger to meet new requirements from oil and gas companies to find and remove hard spots on plate used for special pipelines transporting extremely corrosive medium called sour gas.
Since steel plates for these special pipelines are one of the company’s core products, Dillinger plates were previously first inspected for hard spots during a development phase using a trolley.
The new system is fully integrated into the production flow and represents a significant improvement over the previous labour-intensive and time-consuming method of the inspections with the help of the trolley.
The new automated systems requires no additional standby time for the inspection during the production and, in addition, the test results are becoming more precise by using highly advanced probes and exact documentation of the inspection, which simultaneously checks both surfaces of the plate.
As a consequence, the delivery times are shorter and the level of security for the customer is much higher. As well, the process detects these hardened areas more reliable and, since they have a thickness of only a few tenths of a millimetre, they can be removed with a light grinding.
As a result, the new automated system ensures the delivery of plate that is 100% tested to be free of hard spots.
This technology was developed by the steel manufacturer Dillinger, and it is currently being validated by major oil and gas companies and it will lead to Dillinger’s approval as a supplier of this plate.
Dillinger’s aim is to incorporate this technology into the standards as the definitive method. To underscore its unique nature, a new brand was created for the introduction of the method: all Dillinger plate tested with this method is marketed under the additional “DTECT” brand.
Get insights like this delivered straight to your inbox
5 Digital Briefings | 5 Front-of-Mind Topics | 5 Days a Week
- Monday: Manufacturing Innovation
- Tuesday: Manufacturing Leadership
- Wednesday: Digital Transformation
- Thursday: Industrial Automation
- Friday: Industrial Internet
Sign up for free here.
