A first of its kind international workshop in India on ‘Fabrication and Processing of Grade 91 material' (FAB 91) here on Friday attracted nearly 400 delegates representing all segments in the sphere of welding from all over the globe, though organised at short notice by the Welding Research Institute (WRI), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and Indian Institute of Metals – Tiruchi (IIMT).
The immense contemporary relevance of the workshop accrues from the rapid strides being witnessed in the country's power scenario with coal-firing efficiency taking centre-stage what with India envisaging composition of about 70 per cent of super-critical units in thermal capacity for 12th plan and almost entire capacity of the coal-fired units in the 13th plan.
From the current installed capacity of 1.6 lakh MW, India intends to add eight lakh MW by 2032, which would mean mass capacity addition of 20,000 MW every year. In demand by power industry in various forms, Grade-91 material that withstands high temperature (up to 700 degree Celsius) and pressure was vital for manufacture of super critical, ultra super critical, and advanced ultra super critical boilers. Use of the material paves way for harnessing resources and extending the life of reserves, BHEL Director – Engineering, Research and Development, O.P. Bhutani said, inaugurating FAB 91. Welding consumables and appropriate welding processes pose the next big challenge, Mr. Bhutani said, calling for automation and process optimisation at power sector erection sites to ensure consistency in quality and avoidance of rework. He advocated empowerment of vendors with trainings in use of P-91 material.
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Presiding over, the Executive Director of BHEL Tiruchi and IIMT Patron A.V. Krishnan observed that pressure part manufacturers failing to handle such material in future face the risk of exiting from fabrication business. The BHEL, Tiruchi, has not come across any instance of cracks in any of the 1,000 plus bends with P-91 pipe.
However, there was a problem in removing highly adherent scales, which, in many cases have to be chiselled out, he said, exhorting the participants to arrive at a remedy for the entire boiler industry. BHEL, Tiruchi, has used over 12,000 tonnes of P91/ T91 materials last year, and the usage was expected to grow by four to five times with super critical sets gaining prominence, said Mr. Krishnan. Ranjan Sahi, Executive Director, BHEL, New Delhi, presented the first copy of the Conference CD to R. Sundar, Director of Boilers, Tamil Nadu.
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Speakers at the inaugural session complimented the IIMT for organising such unique events since 2000. The IIMT has the distinction of winning the Best Chapter Award for ten times and the Brahm Prakash Memorial Materials Quiz competition thrice.
S. Karunakaran, IIMT Chairman; R. Easwaran, Chairman, FAB 91, and S. Dharmalingam, General Manager – Research and Development, WRI and Labs, also addressed the delegates.