Welding Tips and Tricks

I was talking to an old timer at work (I'm a pipe welder in a shipyard) and he told me that pretty much every refinery uses tig root and hot pass and 7018 the rest of the way out instead of using a 6010 root. We live in Washington state and he said that the refineries in Washington are pretty much the only ones in the us that still use a 6010 root and will soon change to tig. I'm curious if this is true or not, anyone have any refinery experience?

Hey,

Ive got a pipe fitter mate over here in Aus, working on a Liquid Natural Gas refinery said that everything is Tig root, some full tig out, some flux cored and a little stick. Lots of SS pipe though.

Mick

In the 1970s I worked in a lot of refineries in California. All new construction. I'm not a pipe welder by trade, but worked around enough of them to see what they were doing. Everything was SMAW, even most of the stainless steel pipe. The smaller stainless steel pipe was prefabbed in welding sheds with Tig rigs. Last refinery I was in was in the early 1980s. Standard Oil in Richmond Beach north of Seattle. We installed new stairways around the holding tanks. No pipe welders on site then.

Im in SLC, UT. There are 2 major Chevron refineries here as well as Lauren Engineering (A company that specializes in the energy industry, refurbishing refineries and erecting new facilities around the globe). I know for a fact that all shop fabricated parts built by Lauren is Tig root and Tig out. In the field they hire combo welders doing Tig root and flux core out, occasionally 7018 out depending on the nature of the job. I am not positive about how Chevron does their work but everything I see on job listings is Tig root and Flux Core out. Most of the 6010 root I see in Utah is in the field, like out in the sticks or at a raw facility. I think Tig and Flux core/Tig and sub-arc are the future of pipe welding.

Jake