BAYER STANDARD

Regional

ORBITAL WELDING OF INDUSTRIAL TUBING

SYSTEMS
BTS RS USA
12.03.05.00

01 Dec. 2013
Supersedes
revision: 2013-07

1 SCOPE

1.1 This Standard defines the welding requirements for industrial tubing systems. This includes the criteria for
the qualifications of the welders and procedures, welding equipment, purging, joint fit-up, weld types,
welding logs and acceptance criteria.

2 GENERAL

2.1 Welding on tubing shall be performed by using the automatic (or machine) welding technique of Orbital
Tube Welding (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding - GTAW), except where size or space will not permit.

2.2 In the case where Orbital Tube Welding is not possible or practical, the manual GTAW process can be
performed but only with the prior written approval from Bayer.

3 WELDING PROCEDURES AND QUALIFICATION

3.1 Welding procedures for machine or automatic or manual gas tungsten arc welding of industrial tubing sys-
tems shall be qualified in accordance with ASME, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX, with the
following additions:

 A change in the type or nominal composition of the purge gas shall require requalification.
 A change from one AWS classification of filler metal to another, or to a proprietary filler metal, shall
require requalification.

3.2 Welder and welding operator performance qualifications for manual or machine or automatic gas tungsten
arc welding of industrial tubing shall be in accordance with ASME, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Sec-
tion IX.

4 WELD SAMPLES

4.1 The Contractor shall supply welding procedure specifications, welder qualification records and samples of
weld quality for the various sizes of tubing to be welded for approval by Bayer prior to the start of work.

4.2 The contractor shall submit sample board standards of acceptable and unacceptable weld quality in each
tube size including standards of acceptable and unacceptable weld color to Bayer.

4.3 Each welder shall produce at least one acceptable weld coupon prior to the start of any production weld-
ing for each welding machine, welding procedure, welding specification, welding position, nominal tube
size and weld thickness change.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 1 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

4.4 Sample weld coupons shall be submitted at the beginning of the shift for each welding operator, material,
and welding machine. Additional weld coupons shall be submitted for the following reasons:

 Change of tube size

 Change of thickness
 Change of material
 Change of welding machine power supply
 Change of welding machine head
 Change of purge source
 Change of electrical circuit
 Change of tungsten electrode
 Immediately after a weld failure or weld discrepancy
 Work interruption of more than 1/2 hour
 Change in ambient temperature by + 20°F
 Closure welds (blind welds)
 Rejected welds or any other concern for weld quality.

5 WELDING EQUIPMENT

5.1 A log, which lists all major equipment and instruments, shall be maintained by the contractor (e.g. dial cal-
ipers, test gauges, profilometer, oxygen meter, moisture meter, orbital power supply, orbital weld heads,
manual welding equipment). The log shall include information as to brand name, model/serial number,
date of last calibration, periodic calibration or maintenance information, if applicable.

5.2 A fully automatic programmable orbital welding machine shall be used for all weldments.

5.3 The designated welding supervisor shall set up the welding equipment.

5.4 Each welding machine shall be calibrated on site and the records must be submitted for the documenta-
tion files.

5.5 Each automatic orbital welding machine shall be connected to a separate dedicated electrical circuit. A
dedicated circuit is one, which is separately fused at the main electrical panel so that the operation of no
other electrical devise will affect the smooth and uninterrupted delivery of power to the welding machine.

5.6 The electrodes shall be 2% thoriated or 2% ceriated tungsten. The electrodes shall be ground and or
sharpened in accordance with the welding machine manufacturer's suggestion.

6 PURGE AND SHIELD GAS

6.1 A high purity inert gas (e.g. Argon or Argon/Helium) from a cryogenic source is required on shielding the
tube OD and purging the tube ID during welding. The minimum overall purity of the purge gas shall be
99.9%. The maximum impurities by volume shall be:

Oxygen < 10 ppm

Moisture < 10 ppm

6.2 Purge containers shall be cryogenic cylinders. The vendor shall certify each container and the certifica-
tion shall accompany each container.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

6.3 The Contractor shall use portable cryogenic carts to transport the containers at the job site.

6.4 Gas analysis certificates and sampling records shall be included in the welding log.

7 PURGING

7.1 A purge manifold shall be assembled using clean components. The manifold shall have separate flow
meters for each line being purged. The manifold shall be made in such a way as to utilize a minimum of
two purge containers with separate two-stage regulators for each for each cryogenic container.

7.2 Purge restrictions shall be used to ensure that the purge gas flows continuously past the joint to be weld-
ed. Purge restrictors shall be non-contaminating and shall not injure the internal polish of the tube sys-
tem.

7.3 All the air shall be forced out of the fabrication system using the purge gas prior to any welding work.

7.4 The purge gas flow rate shall be sufficient enough to prevent oxidation during the welding process and to
maintain a post weld flow for a minimum of 60 seconds.

7.5 An oxygen meter shall be used to assure full blanketing.

7.6 A proper purge time needs to be established to ensure that the oxygen present in the exit purge stream is
less than one percent measured with an oxygen meter.

7.7 The purge stream shall continue in one direction; purging from two directions is not allowed. A branch line
may be capped off during installation to allow the purge flow through the main or in the direction of the
work.

8 WELD JOINT FIT-UP

8.1 Tube end preparation facing equipment shall be used to ensure end squareness and end flatness. Both
the ID and OD shall be burr free with no chamfer.

8.2 The gap between parts to be welded shall be in accordance with the machine manufacturer’s specifica-
tions.

8.3 Wall thickness variations at the weld zone should be + 10% of the nominal wall thickness.

8.4 Alignment mismatch (high-low) shall be avoided by using engineering stands and clamps to align the two
tubes to be welded.

8.5 Any transition to different dimensions and tolerances shall be smooth and not violate the slope direction.

9 TACK WELDS

9.1 Only as many tacks as required to maintain proper alignment and fit-up of the joint shall be made but no
more than 4 will be allowed. Only skin tacks are allowed; tack welds that penetrate to the internal diame-
ter of the tube are not permissible.

9.2 Tack welding shall be accomplished so as not to cause any distortion of the completed weld.
Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

9.3 Any tack that can be distinguished through the completed weldment will be considered an excessive tack
and the entire weld shall be rejected.

9.4 All purging parameters apply to tack welds.

10 WELDING PARAMETERS

10.1 All welds are to be made using only the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding process.

10.2 Welding shall consist of a butt fusion weld with no filler metal added (Filler metal may be used for larger
diameter or thicker wall tubing, but requires prior approval from Bayer). The weld closest to the purge
shall be welded first.

10.3 Components containing heat sensitive parts, such as non-metallics, shall be disassembled prior to weld-
ing and reassembled after the weld has cooled.

10.4 Cooling of the welds with a wet cloth is not allowed.

10.5 Once a weld is completed, the post weld purge gas flow shall continue for a minimum of another 60 sec-
onds to minimize discoloration to the weld.

11 MANUAL WELDS

11.1 Manual welds are not permitted without the prior written consent from Bayer.

11.2 Care must be taken in the design and execution of the welding program to prevent manual welds.

11.3 The cleaning, purging and acceptance criteria used for automatic welding shall apply to manual welds.

12 CLOSURE WELDS (BLIND WELDS)

12.1 The tubing system shall be designed to eliminate closure welds (blind welds).

12.2 Closure welds that cannot be visually examined from both sides are subject to radiography by Bayer.

12.3 The closure weld parameters (welder, welding machine and purge gas) shall be identical to the previous
and succeeding welds.

12.4 The prior and following welds must have been examined and accepted by the Inspector.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

13 WELDING LOG

13.1 A Daily Automatic Welding Log Sheet shall be maintained for each automatic welding machine. Every
weld including test welds, accepted welds, rejected welds and qualification welds must be logged on a
Daily Automatic Welding Log Sheet. The weld number shall include a designation indicating the welding
machine used to make the weld. The following information should be recorded for every weld:

 Weld numbers should comply with the naming scheme unless the Contractor's system has been ac-
cepted by Bayer:
 Welds shall have the prefix W
 Sample weld coupons shall have the prefix C
 The second digit will be an alpha character to define the welding machine such as A, B, C,
etc.
 The weld numbers will then follow in sequential order separated with a hyphen such as -42, -
43, etc.
 Example: WB-42; Indicates the 42nd weld that was made on machine "B"
 Example: CA-12; Indicates the 12th sample weld coupon that was made on machine "A"

 Date and time of day:

 Drawing number locating the weld
 Welding machine serial number
 Purge gas cylinder identification
 Weld head serial number
 Weld schedule (program) number
 Tube size and wall thickness
 Welder's identification
 Type of inspection
 Inspector's signature
 Inspector's acceptance or rejection
 Mill heat numbers
 Joint description
 A page containing each welder's printed name, signature, initials and identification

 Some of these items may be included in the log sheet header as appropriate and previously agreed
to by Bayer.

13.2 All rejected test and qualification welds shall be permanently numbered and retained for evaluation. All
welds removed from the system, for any reason, shall be similarly numbered and retained. All welds not
included in the system shall be placed in the weld documentation file for final disposition.

13.3 Every weld number must be unique with no duplicate weld numbers being permitted for any reason.

13.4 After the weld has cooled, every weld must be permanently marked on the tubing with the weld number
and welder identification.

13.5 Welds shall be marked by vibra-peen or by a similar method of etching that will not adversely impact the
properties of the tube. Marking welds with sharp tools, indenters or indelible ink is not acceptable.

13.6 No rejected test or qualification weld shall be chemically or mechanically cleaned or treated in any way.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

13.7 Documentation regarding all equipment used shall be provided for inclusion in the weld documentation
file. Documentation should include but not be limited to the manufacture's names, model numbers, serial
numbers and all other relevant identification numbers.

13.8 As built isometric drawing weld maps with weld numbers shall be submitted to the owner. The as built
drawings shall identify each weld and be submitted on a daily basis attached to the welding log.

14 ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

14.1 Bayer or his designated representative will have the authority to approve or disapprove materials, equip-
ment or workmanship done by the contractor. He shall have full technical jurisdiction over the contractor
in matters relating to quality and control of the cleaning, fabrication, installation and testing of the systems.
All problems, requests, questions, etc. relating to this specification, methods, procedures, field changes
and revisions shall be subject to his approval. The pressure and purity testing shall be conducted, wit-
nessed and/or verified by him/her.

14.2 All welds shall meet the acceptance criteria established during the qualification of the welding program
used to make the weld. A weld board shall be fabricated which identifies acceptable and rejectable sam-
ple coupons.

14.3 The weld bead width should be two times the tube wall thickness + 25%.

14.4 The exterior of the weld bead shall be straight and uniform around the entire weld circumference. The
minimum weld bead width shall not be less than 50% of the maximum weld bead width. The maximum
weld bead meander shall be 20% of the weld bead width measured as deviation from the weld centerline.

14.5 All welds shall be full penetration to the ID of the wall thickness. Tack welds must be fully consumed by
the process.

14.6 The inside weld ID shall be smooth with a minimum internal weld bead. While weld ID matching is ideal,
minute convexity (raised bead) is preferred to concavity (recessed bead). ID convexity is limited to 10%
of the wall thickness and OD convexity is limited to 0.015 inch. ID and OD concavity combined shall not
exceed 10% of the wall thickness.

14.7 Tubing shall be aligned so as to prevent hold up volume areas that would contribute to contamination of
the product. The maximum misalignment (mismatch) of the components is 15% of the wall thickness.
Angular misalignment shall not exceed 2 degrees.

14.8 Arc strikes are not permitted. They may be removed by mechanical polishing as long as the minimum de-
sign wall thickness is not compromised and the system polishing requirements are maintained.

14.9 Discoloration should be minimized on all process surfaces. The weld bead shall be free of discoloration
on the ID. The contractor and Bayer shall agree on the amount of discoloration permitted in the heat-
affected zone, if any.

14.10 The interior surface of the weldment shall be free of wavy black, dark blue grain type (sugaring) oxidation.

14.11 Weld craters are not permitted for automatic weld processes. A weld crater is defined as a solidified weld
pool indication, where the depth is more than 10% of the wall thickness of the tubing.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

14.12 The following weld defects are not permitted:

 Lack of fusion
 Cracks
 Undercut
 Crater crack
 Burn through
 Icicles
 Porosity
 Pinholes
 Slag and other inclusions

14.13 Before further action, the reason for the defect needs to be determined and documented. The problem
that caused the defect shall then be corrected before any further welding is done.

14.14 Rewelds are not acceptable. The following corrective procedure shall be used:

 The weld shall be cut on the center of the weld bead.

 The cut surfaces shall be refaced to remove the heat affected zone and as much material as needed
to completely remove the defect.
 Fittings shall not be reused after a cut out.
 Polishing of the ID to remove any discoloration that caused the weld to be rejected is not permitted.

14.15 No weld spatter, tool marks, or other surface defects may be accepted in the finished product. Polished
surfaces shall be devoid of any defects as visible to the unassisted eye. There are to be no crevices, pits,
voids, dents, etc.

14.16 Fabrication shall be performed in an area where only stainless steel and high alloy is fabricated and with
tools that have not been used on carbon steel.

15 WELD DOCUMENTATION

15.1 The following documentation shall be presented to Bayer as a minimum.

15.1.1 Welding documentation including:

 Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS)

 Procedure Qualification Records (PQR)
 Welder Welding Procedure Qualifications (WPQ)
 Welder certification
 Sample weld coupons marked and identified properly
 Equipment lists and calibration records
 Daily automatic welding log sheet
 Manual welding log sheet
 Weld maps (Isometric and orthographic tube as built drawings showing all welds labeled by
weld number and welder identification)
 Welding certification and inspection logs (including type and date of inspection)
 Corrective action reports

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

15.1.2 Material Test Reports and Certificates of Compliance for tube and tubing components including
valves and other in-line components.

15.1.3 Gas analysis certificates and sample records.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4
 BTS RS USA 12.03.05.00 Revision: 2013-12

Document Information
This document is uncontrolled when printed. The latest version can be found on the Bayer Technology Services
TechNET website.

This is revision 3, published 2013-12.

Previous editions
This document was originally issued on 2004-02.

For previous editions, refer to the Historical Documents published on the Bayer Technology Services TechNET
website.

For information on changes from previous editions, refer to the Revision Notes published on the Bayer Technol-
ogy Services TechNET website.

Bayer Regional Standards are the property of Bayer Business and Technology Services LLC, Americas. A Bayer Standard or copy thereof shall not be distributed (except with express approval of Bayer) to
any individual or firm beyond the intended recipient firm or individual. Firms or individuals acting contrary to the above may be subject to suit, ineligibility for continued or future employment, or removal
from Bayer's "Approved Manufacturers and Specialty Contractors List."
Page 2 of 4