TPT July 2010

I ndustry N ews

Lincoln Electric’s automated welding robot to be featured in movie sequel

A LINCOLN Electric automated welding robot cell, featuring a Lincoln Electric Power Wave ® i400 welding power source and a FANUC ® ARC Mate ® 100iC robotic arm, will co-star in the movie sequel, Iron Man 2 . Lincoln Electric’s welding equipment and consumables were used by actor Robert Downey Jr’s character, engineering genius Tony Stark, to fabricate his superhero suit in the film. “Being involved with the film was truly an incredible experience,” said Brian Simons, robotic programmer of the Automation Application Group at Lincoln Automation. “Responding to immediate client needs at Lincoln prepared me to react on the studio’s set at a moment’s notice. This was great exposure for Lincoln to demonstrate the level of technology involved in welding today.”

The original film, Iron Man , made more than $117mn at the box office in its first two weeks. Lincoln Electric MIG and TIG welding equipment was also featured in this film. The sequel is anticipated to be another box office success. In addition to Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow’s character, Pepper Potts, the film stars Mickey Rourke as villain Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff or the THE United Arab Emirates is among the countries with the most extensive oil and gas reserves in the world. However, these resources are not evenly distributed among the seven Emirates: Abu Dhabi, by far the largest in area, has over 90% of the total oil and gas reserves of the UAE. 220km to the south of the city of Abu Dhabi is the Asab gas field, currently the site of one of the largest upstream projects in the Middle East. Inconnectionwithworkby theoil company ADCO to expand the existing facilities and increase capacity, two EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contracts have been awarded. ADCO is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Shell, Total, ExxonMobil, BP and Partex. Package A covers further exploitation of the onshore Asab field by replacing and enhancing the existing gas production centres and oil and gas cleaning facilities.

Black Widow and Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury.
 As a takeaway, Downey and director of the original film as well as the sequel, Jon Favreau, autographed the Power Wave ® i400 and the robotic arm used on the Iron Man 2 movie set. The complete automation welding cell is currently on display in the lobby at the Lincoln Electric Automation Division in Cleveland.


Lincoln Electric is a leader in the design, development andmanufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. Lincoln Electric – USA Website: www.lincolnelectric.com

The welding arm that has found fame in Hollywood

Expansion of plant in the Asab gas field

Package B covers the exploitation of the neighbouring Sahil and Shah fields by establishing degassing stations, and laying plant and flowline pipes and the main oil pipelines connecting both Sahil and Shah to Asab. The $2.3bn Package A was awarded in 2009 to Petrofac, an international provider of plant solutions for the oil and gas exploration and production industry. German manufacturer H Butting GmbH & Co KG received an order from Petrofac for the production and delivery of stainless steel pipes in dimensions from 6" to 48", with the bulk of them being 30" x 35.6mm. The pipes are used as transport lines for the aggressive sour gas in various areas of the expanded plant. The resulting corrosion resistance requirements will be met by the use of super duplex material (UNS S32750). The wall thicknesses of the pipes range from 3.76 to 35.6mm, and the total delivery runs to around 1,400 tons.

The pipes were manufactured by Butting in 12m lengths and without circumferential weld, in its expanded manufacturing facilities. With the optimised production flow, the welded pipes do not need to leave the production hall from the point when they are shaped from 12m plates and worked into open-seam tubes to their final quality assurance inspection. This cost-effective method benefited Petrofac by enabling their requirements to be met while saving on circumferential welds on-site. Butting has to comply with a tight timetable: the investors have announced that the expanded plant will be completed some time in 2010. By producing and delivering the pipes between September 2009 and April 2010, Butting will help to achieve this ambitious goal. H Butting GmbH & Co KG – Germany

Email: info@butting.de Website: www.butting.de

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J uly 2010

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