Welding Tips and Tricks

Have to replace this ammonia compressor suction stop valve because it is stuffed (leaking gland and not repairable) and it's obsolete, no chance of getting another flanged valve to fit. Nothing for it but to fab up a weld valve and flange. I'll take out the rusty elbow too which is stick welded and could be full of slag inclusions from 6013, don't want to fight with it on a Saturday ammonia pumpout and shutdown of coldstore.
Here's the new valve, its French made and a nice drop forged body. Drew up a 3/4" plate flange and and gave to local machine shop. Drew up a gasket and took to local manufacturer.
The body comes with 37* butt preps but a bit much land for my liking, I'll give it a knife edge.
A couple of root passes.
Elbow goes on
Ready for flange which just came in
And ready for site tomorrow including another 1/2" bypass they added this afternoon "it'll only take you a minute"

Nice! Looks like a typical compressor room. Lots of oil barrels to stand on to cut out the old pipe.

Yer. And half of it in the floor. Gonna degrease it before I start if they have not done it already as asked.

Hey my NH3 brother, what's is on a Vilter Recip or a Howden Screw lol. I have did a LOT of work on Anhydrous Ammonia pipeline and cold storage facilities. The average people think of household ammonia, they have no idea what a whiff of the stuff you deal with is like. Have you guys ever shrunk paper money with the ammonia over there?

And you know when you shut down cold storage tomorrow the barometer will be falling not rising, always happens that way, flare working?

No kidding had a leak awhile back, evacuated the dept till we could find the leak and repair....the smell literally takes your breath away.

Nice job! Gotta love those last min additions, only take a min always adds some hours.

Yep, I have spent time running sulfur sticks around flanges and things to find those stinkers. On a sad note, I lost a good friend years ago connecting a cold storage river barge to unload into a land based anhydrous cryo tank, it is nothing to mess with.

Welded many times with the MSA canister mask with the welding lense in it.

The compressor is a sabroe mk1. My wife and daughter developed a chemical free method of shrinking money without further experimentation from me.
Been sucking ammonia for many years now and getting tired of it. Actually looked up the price of a speedglas supplied air helmet and 3 stage compressed air filter the other day. Oh well...mustn't complain about ammonia.

I hear Jackson will release a supplied air helmet later this year.

Coldman wrote:...My wife and daughter developed a chemical free method of shrinking money without further experimentation from me...

I know THAT feeling...

Steve S

And here it is installed:
And here is the 1/2" bypass. This sob took longer than the 3" valve. The measurements sent me were wrong, I had to cut and modify and all the existing pipes were on the piss, nothing square or plumb.

Nice work, Coldie.

Don't mind saying that ammonia scares the hell out of me. Mind you, most things that run through pipes scare the hell out of me to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the pressure involved.


Kym