Pan Gulf Technical Services (PGTS), a branch of Pan Gulf Welding Solutions (PGWS), which is a division of Pan Gulf Holding, has established a strong presence in Saudi Arabia and the success story has now moved on to Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
PGTS has appointed partners to represent it in the three states following great demand for its products and services, a company spokesman said.
It is preparing to meet upcoming requirements of the oil and gas industry and expansion projects that need massive heat application services there.
“We’re ready to take on this challenge,” the spokesman said.
Established in 2006, PGTS has introduced the heat induction process to Saudi Arabia and the region.
“We specialise in heat applications as a rental service provider in exclusive partnership with RHS (Rapid Heat Systems)-UK. We have the potential to grow further on other rental opportunities relating to Pan Gulf’s existing customer base,” the spokesman said.
The patented induction heating technology from RHS that PGTS has introduced in this region has applications throughout the oil and gas industry, power plants and petrochemical and iron and steel facilities for heating requirements up to 815 deg C including PWHT pre-hear shrink fitting.
Among PGTS’ clients are Saudi Aramco, Sabic and its affiliates including Saudi Kayan, Al Tawleed, Encocorp, Safami, Global Tech, J&P, Cameron Al Rushaid, CCC and Al-Qahtani.
Induction heating is a non-contact process of heating a metal object by electromagnetic induction. Heat is induced by placing the part in a high-frequency magnetic field which creates eddy currents inside the part, thereby exciting its molecules and generating heat. As heating occurs slightly below the metal surface, no heat is wasted.
The system is explained by the analogy of the microwave oven – the appliance (heater coils) remain cool while the food (metal) cooks within.
The induction heating unit that PGTS is marketing is RapidHeat 35.
With the rapid heat system, heating of materials happens quickly. For example a 24-inch x 2.34-inch-thick pipe material of carbon steel can be preheated to 450 deg F (232.22 C) in 7.61 minutes. The rapid heat system can also be used for shrink fit of shafts and bearings.
The safety element exists as operators/welders can touch the heater coils whilst the heating process takes place without risk of burning, allowing for reduction in welding times. There is lower power consumption due to efficient power to heat transfer. In many cases it will operate from a 30-amp 415-volt supply (normal welding socket) as opposed to a 63-amp 415-volt supply required for resistance transformers.
Storage of all documents for downloading later on to a PC is made possible by the use of a digital recorder. There are time savings in retrieval and managing documents. The rapid heat system eliminates the use of propane which creates an uneven temperature transfer and yields three kilos of water for every kilo of gas burned which can be a problem when welding.
Recently, leading Saudi pipe coating company Al-Qahtani utilised PGTS’ heat induction system in projects related to Aramco and Sabic to maintain accurate, well-controlled and uniform temperature in the work piece.
“With the help of the RHS machine, Al-Qahtani implemented the latest technology in pipe coating using automatic blasting to save time and increase productivity,” the spokesman said.
“Increase of productivity and accuracy with less manpower made Al-Qahtani happy as it was in a position to meet upcoming demand from Aramco and others.”
Training sessions have been held for staff and customers in which the managing director of RHS, Paul Graham, PGWS/PGTS general manager Andy Leigh and the PGTS team were closely involved.