Press Releases

SPEEDORANGE™ Induction Bolt Heating Technology Reduces Project Time, Saves Costs

Pasadena, TX – Monday. 08 November 2010

SPEEDORANGE™ is ready to assist you in overcoming the challenges you will face in your next turbine outage in tightening and loosening steam turbine bolts in fossil fuel and nuclear powered generation plants. SPEEDORANGE’s technology enables reduced project time, saving costs for customers and ensuring the company’s availability to meet their needs.

Induction bolt heating method is much safer than cartridge heaters or gas heating. Skin burns are eliminated — the inductor is not a heating element. There are no high voltage risks with inductor, no torque or load requirements, no flame and no water hoses.
 
How it works

Induction heating occurs when a material capable of conducting electrical current is placed in a varying magnetic field. The material becomes heated as a result of eddy current losses. Eddy currents are electrical currents induced by an alternating magnetic field. Simply stated, the induction heating coil acts as a primary side of a transformer and the bolt acts as a secondary side, with the eddy currents flowing around within the mass of the bolt. Heating of the bolt occurs according to simple electrical principles. Because of relatively high power consumption by the current depth of penetration, heat cannot be dissipated rapidly, and the bolt thermally expands axially, thereby relieving preload stresses. The rapid heating process occurs from the stud hole out into the bolt with the heating area controlled by coil design, ideally concentrating thermal expansion in the bolt shank or mid-section area of the stud away from the threaded ends.
 
Designed to connect to any power source

Most of SPEEDORANGE’s competitors ask the customer to install a 100-amperage line plus a water line to run their bolt heating system. “By experience, SPEEDORANGE engineers know how expensive and time consuming this could be, which is why the company designed the system to be adaptable anywhere in the world,” said Aaron Knopp, operations manager.

With an adaptable power source requirement (from 380, 400, 440, 460, 480 or 500V), amperage requirement (32, 64 or 100 amps), SPEEDORANGE technicians can start working within minutes. Each machine carries 90-foot long electrical power connection and pigtail to adapt to the customer's plug design. This feature allows for immediate servicing, which means no more wasted time and money!

No external water connection

SPEEDORANGE engineers opt for a self-contained design — no external water supply is needed. The closed loop water system used in the induction bolt heating system shows the company’s passion for a faster turnaround time for its customers. “This allows the SPEEDORANGE team to setup quickly, and avoids the need for the power plant team to install two water lines per machine as in other systems,” said Knopp. The water is unable to exceed 100 F due to its very powerful, built-in cooling system (which features a highly-effective plate heat exchanger).

For more information, visit www.speedorange.com or call (855) SPEEDORANGE [773-3367].