In recent years, concerns about climate change and global carbon dioxide levels have brought green energy closer to the driver’s seat. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Global Energy Review, most experts predict that renewable energy will account for nearly 30% of all electricity in 2021, with wind and solar power generation increasing by 17% and 18%, respectively.

Despite the amazing growth and fossil fuels continue to dominate the market, the IEA predicts that coal demand alone will exceed all renewable energy combined by 60%. Therefore, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are expected to reach the second largest annual increase in history, eliminating any reduction in greenhouse gas concentrations caused by the pandemic.

Admittedly, this is a dynamic industry, but one thing is certain: global energy consumption—regardless of its form—will continue to create new opportunities for machine shops and other discrete manufacturers. Pump and turbine housings, gearboxes, windmill roots, wellheads and drilling components-these are just some of the parts produced daily by energy OEMs and their Tier 1 suppliers. Many of them are very large, heavy, and challenging. Made of materials such as Inconel and duplex steel. 

Large parts require large machines, large workpiece fixtures, and large cutting tools-all of which require large investments. Klaus Miller, vice president of sales at Absolute Machine Tools Inc. in Lorraine, Ohio, is happy to help solve the first problem. He pointed out that the energy and aerospace markets have been slow in the past two years, although both markets now seem to be picking up because the worst of the pandemic is expected to pass.

"We are an importer of You Ji and other brands of CNC machinery," Miller said. "Youji equipped some of their large equipment with hydrostatic table bearings, which makes them popular among energy component manufacturers. This is because these machine tools can handle the extremely heavy loads encountered in this and other processing areas, and Because of this feature it provides excellent long-term accuracy."

In a recent example, Absolute installed a You Ji vertical turret lathe (VTL) with a 4-meter workbench. The company that bought it processes large-scale energy components. Miller said that with the increase in clean energy investment in 2006, the company performed strongly, but about ten years later, as the manufacturing industry moved to China, Romania and other low-cost suppliers. Begin to decrease gradually. This new device may indicate a reversal of a long-term trend.

Earlier this year, Absolute also installed a large-capacity boring machine for local customers. Although the workshop managers did not disclose the specific application, they did tell Miller that it was used for energy work and that it must have a load capacity of 35,000 lbf (155.7 kN). "They already have a John Ford Bridge Mill, but they need larger equipment," he said. "Again, between the hydrostatic bearing and the absolute mass of the machine (130,000 pounds (58,967 kg)), it proved to be the correct solution."

When performing heavy cutting and striving to machine parts larger than pickup trucks, machine quality is obviously important. Miller and others suggested that few machine tool manufacturers today "make them like they did in the past," so many machining shops choose to use CNC control to transform their Lucas, Giddings & Lewis, and other old irons. Although this is an excellent way to extend the useful life of what is certainly a considerable investment, sometimes even the best equipment has disadvantages compared to modern similar equipment, no matter how many times it has been updated.

Another way for the shop to maximize these investments is to use its large part processing capabilities to expand beyond the energy market. For example, the defense industry is an important user of very large parts, as are the mining, agriculture, and construction industries. However, handling this type of work means that factories must invest in flexible machine tools that can easily adapt to various parts and have features that minimize downtime.

Bernard Otto, Technical Support Director and Product Manager of Methods Machine Tools Inc. Kiwa Japan and OKK Japan products in Sudbury, Massachusetts, offered several suggestions on how to achieve this goal. He pointed out that many Methods customers support the fracturing industry, producing pumps, housings, and similar large components. Being competitive here not only means effectively removing large amounts of material from steel castings and forgings, but also means keeping the spindle rotating at all times.

"The high spindle utilization rate requires that the personnel operating the machine can quickly, accurately, and most importantly safely put 17,000 pounds (7,711 kg) of parts into and out of the machine," he said. "In most cases, it's best to use a pallet changer to accomplish this."

Otto also pointed out that having a wide spindle speed range provides similar flexibility. He said that many machining centers in this field have a 50-taper gear headstock with only two ranges, high speed and low speed, with a maximum speed of 3,600 rpm. This limits its owner's ability to use small drills and milling cutters or to machine aluminum alloys.

"OKK is one of the few manufacturers that offers three gear ranges and up to 6,000 rpm, for example, allowing its customers to use large face milling cutters for very aggressive cutting and use smaller cutting tools when needed," Otto said. "This makes them more versatile for workshops that have to produce a variety of workpieces."

Other features to look for include high Z-axis thrust for heavy-duty drilling operations, integrated pipes for automatic hydraulic fixtures, and the ability to lock the quill shaft (W-axis) in place on a boring machine. Improve the rigidity of the pocket. It is for these and other reasons that Otto agrees with Absolute's Miller that keeping up with current machine tool technology is a clear way forward for workshops that want to remain as competitive as possible.

But for energy manufacturers and others with fluctuating demand, the most important advice may be to keep their machines on and fully running. This is especially true for the cyclical oil and gas industry and companies that own machinery assets, which have already been paid for their machinery assets and are often left unused between work.

Otto said: "In these cases, our service department often receives calls from customers who try to start a machine that has been in use for months or even years, only to find that the shaft is frozen or the electronic components are broken. This That’s why we tell the store to recycle their machines on a regular basis. Better yet, let authorized dealers include them in a preventive maintenance plan. Doing so can help avoid some unpleasant accidents, regardless of machine brand, size or job type. how."

Braden Damman agreed with the need for hydraulic fixtures, although he was quick to point out that the aforementioned integrated pipeline is not a prerequisite. Application engineers at Vektek LLC, a supplier of workholding components in Emporia, Kansas, pointed out that there are several additional configuration options available, including the option of connecting the workholding device itself to the hydraulic system and being powered by an external "accumulator". This is a device that maintains pressure on the system during processing. 

No matter which method is used, hydraulic clamps are a clear winner in terms of consistency and reliability, if not in terms of price. "In most applications, hydraulics is the most expensive solution, although the initial cost will soon be offset by increased productivity," Daman said. "It eliminates the changes seen with manual clamping methods and is a necessary condition for automated processes."

Ironically, most of the large energy component work fixtures that Damman was asked to assist with were used for secondary operations. "We see quite a few gas turbine components with some kind of fine detail and very tight tolerances," he said. "In these applications, customers usually want to mount parts on CNC grinders for finishing, and they also need to be automated. Because of their high repeatability, hydraulic fixtures are almost always the preferred method."

Larry Robbins is the president of SMW Autoblok Corp., a workholding specialist in Wheeling, Illinois. He is a loyal supporter of repeatable clamping, but he points out that due to the variability of large parts, they often need to be repositioned. "Whether it is a forging or a casting, as long as the diameter exceeds a meter or so, you almost always need a way to adjust its position in the chuck," he said. "For about 25 years, we have provided independent jaw adjustment for our manual and hydraulic chucks, but in the past few years, we have extended this function to our electric clamp product line."

Robbins explained that the company’s MM e-motion chuck has a patented linear positioning system (LPS), which allows the operator to automatically or otherwise measure the position of parts in the machine through contact probes and send the position information Go to the controller and have the chuck to center the part accordingly. Each jaw is powered and controlled by its own "motor", which in turn is driven by an inductive coupler, allowing the system to be used for stationary or rotating applications. It can accommodate parts of various shapes and sizes up to 1,250 mm, and the clamping force can be modified even when the parts are processed.

As several others here have said, Robbins and SMW Autoblok have experienced a slowdown in the energy and aerospace sectors in the past two years, despite recent growth in both. Interestingly, he began to see the oil and gas industry's demand for chucks that can clamp larger pipes. This requirement is challenging from the point of view of workpiece fixtures and machine tools.

"In the past, we redesigned the main jaw to increase the capacity of the existing chuck, but given the requirement for a 24-inch (610 mm) through hole, we are now facing a completely new product design," he said. Such a large diameter will also put a heavy load on the spindle bearings of the lathe. We can alleviate this situation by using a stabilizer, but here, we are once again close to the limit of existing workpiece clamping technology. Energy suppliers are creating a whole new market. "

Fastems LLC USA, an automation system supplier based in West Chester, Ohio, has also seen similar demand for new technologies. Regional sales manager Loy McEldowney said that the energy industry has traditionally adopted automated parts processing at a slow pace, although this mentality has begun to change due to the continuing shortage of skilled labor. "Like many industries, they are losing their expertise and have no choice but to automate as much as possible."

This requires several things. One of the pallet change machining centers described earlier is a good starting point, followed closely by some form of automated workpiece clamping. In addition to the hydraulic and electronic fixtures already discussed, a pneumatically or mechanically activated zero-point positioning system can also be used. McEldowney said that the fixed knobs of this type of system are usually mounted directly on large workpieces and connected to the pallet with a receiver.  

Perhaps the most important thing is to develop stable and predictable processes. This task is challenging for any machined part, but this is especially true for the small batch, high-mix work that is common in energy manufacturing. Even so, more and more oil and gas component suppliers are doing this.

"Proving the rationale for investment in automation and subsequent process development does not require large quantities, because it requires fairly repeatable orders," McEldowney said. "For companies that have long-term agreements with customers and can see what will happen in the next 18 to 24 months, spend money to buy special fixtures, pallets, and automated or even semi-automatic storage systems for placing them. When an order appears At the time, all they have to do is load the pallet, call the program and run the parts. For those who have our MMS (manufacturing management software) system and integrated unit controller, they can turn off the lights. Either way, it Both can make small batch production very efficient."