When stainless steel pipes are welded, they need to have the air purged from the insides with an inert gas such as Argon.
When there are openings in the Piping assemblies, re-usable weld purging systems can be withdrawn, however, sometimes the weld being made is a “Closing” or a “repair” weld in a piping system where no openings are available.
For such applications, The Argweld® water soluble Weld Purge Film has been developed by Huntingdon Fusion Techniques Limited.
Soluble Film barriers can be inserted into the ends of pipes to be joined, so the welder can introduce Argon to purge the inside of the weld, without filling the whole piping system with expensive gas.
The use of purge dams made from Argweld® water soluble Purge Film isolates a small volume of pipe around the weld that can be filled quickly with argon, to reduce waiting time and saving wastage of expensive gas.
Argweld® Purge Film makes a very tough barrier once positioned in but as soon as the pipes are washed out or hydrostatically tested, the film and adhesive dissolves to molecular size, so that it cannot clog sensitive components like filters, before being washed away completely.
This new product is available in ready to use kits comprising 20M length of 1M wide film, folded lengthwise and rolled onto a 0.5 M long spool.
For small diameter tube welding, the Film can be rolled into a ball and pushed inside the ends.
When the Pipe diameter is large enough, a circular dam can be cut out of the material for fixing in place with the water soluble adhesive provided.
The kit includes a safety knife to cut dams, 2 bottles of water soluble adhesive & an instruction book.
Argweld® Water Soluble Purge Film is available with trace element and chemical analysis certification.