Oil Industry Joins World Of 3D Printing

Fuel nozzles, which feeds combustion in a gas turbine, are currently made by welding together a number of sub-components, a process hugely simplified by printing it in one piece.

The other piece of kit that GE Oil and Gas is looking to produce using 3D printers is electric submersible pumps used to artificially bring oil to the surface.

"Most of these are about four or five inches in diameter and then about an inch or two in height. It's the right size to put into some of the additive manufacturing," Gebhardt said.

Rapid Prototyping

The technology is still mainly used for prototyping, but even in this seemingly basic use, improvements can be dramatic.

At GE's pipeline inspection plant in Newcastle, where monitoring robots known as pigs are assembled, the design loop which once took 12 weeks is now done in 12 hours thanks to an on-site 3D printer the size of a hotel minibar fridge.

Pigs are custom designed to deal with the particular pipeline, whether it be hundreds of metres under the sea or full of corrosive sour gas.

Trial parts can now be printed on location, in plastic, to see whether they fit and work properly. Only then is the part ordered, paid for and delivered in the final material.


123

View Full Article

WHAT DO YOU THINK?


Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.


Most Popular Articles