Welding consumables and procedures for the energy sector

There is a worldwide increasing demand for steel and welding consumables in the energy sector, specifically in power plant applications and storage of liquefied gasses. Power plants, as the demand for electric power has been growing dramatically, and storage of liquefied gasses in order to be less dependent on unstable prices and risks of supplies of oil. As LNG exploits the gassy side-product of oil exploration and is a less polluting fuel with lower CO2 and S emissions, it all contributes to a better control of global environment. Power plant applications involve high pressure and high temperature, where main focus is on high structural integrity for service at elevated temperature as well as increase of life cycle, using materials with higher creep strength. With the current energy demands in the world, a large number of new power plants are required in addition to maintenance and repair of existing units. Base materials involved, include traditional CrMo steels as well as enhanced grades like P23, P24, P911 and P92. For storage of liquefied gasses, cryogenic temperatures are applied where material focus is on structural integrity in combination with toughness at -196C. LNG facilities make use of various materials for the conditions that they will be subject to, including concrete, aluminium, austenitic stainless steels and 9% nickel steel. For more than five decades, storage facilities for LNG are being built with 9% nickel steel. Although research has been carried out with matching welding consumables for the welding of these applications, at present still only nickel-base consumables have proved to meet the requirements such as mechanical properties. Pipe work for distribution is often made from austenitic stainless steel.