POWER SECTOR

SOUTHERN REGION
QUALITY DEPARTMENT

TECHNICAL DIRECTIVE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------REF: PSSR-QLY-TD-PP-04-01, DATED 15.05.2004. ISSUED BY : K. PANDI, Sr. ENGINEER-QUALITY Sheet no.: 1 of 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ARGON PURITY LEVEL WHAT IS ARGON: Argon is chemically-inert, monatomic gas, heavy and available in quantity at reasonable cost. Its chemical symbol is Ar. Atomic weight is 40. Molecular weight is 40. APPLICATION OF ARGON IN BHEL : In the welding process, Argon is used for SHIELDING and BACKING purpose. The atmosphere in which we live is composed of about 4/5th of Nitrogen and 1/5th Oxygen. The welding process when exposed to air, most metals exhibit a strong tendency to combine with Oxygen, and to lesser extend with Nitrogen, especially when in the molten condition. The rate of oxide formation will vary with different metals, but even a thin film of oxide on the surface of metals to be welded can lead to difficulties. For the most part, the oxides are relatively weak, brittle materials that in no way resemble the metal from which they are formed. A layer of oxide can easily prevent the joining of two pieces by welding.
Argon is a shield gas used in Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), Root Shielding and Plasma cutting. Argon protects welds against oxidation as well as reduces fume emissions during welding.

PRODUCTION OF ARGON : A co-product of oxygen and nitrogen production, argon is manufactured commercially by means of air separation technology. In a cryogenic process, atmospheric air is compressed and cooled. Following liquefaction, the air is fractionally distilled based on the different boiling points of each component. ( The boiling point of argon is between those of nitrogen and oxygen.). During distillation, liquid nitrogen is the first product extracted from the high-pressure column. Next, a stream containing oxygen and argon (plus other gases) is withdrawn. The crude stream, containing approximately 10 percent argon, is refined in a separate distillation column to produce argon with 98 percent purity. Manufacturers can further refine the stream by mixing the argon with hydrogen, catalytically burning the trace oxygen to water, drying and, finally, distilling the stream to remove remaining hydrogen and nitrogen. Using this process, producers can achieve an argon product with 99.9995 percent purity.

TECHNICAL DIRECTIVE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------REF: PSSR-QLY-TD-PP-04-01, DATED 15.05.2004. ISSUED BY : K. PANDI, Sr. ENGINEER-QUALITY Sheet no.: 2 of 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The compressed argon is supplied in cylinders and liquid argon is supplied in tanks. The cylinder used for argon will have the body colour of BLUE without band, size of 25 cms dia. & 1.5 m length, capacity of 6.2 M3 and pressure when fully charged at 150C (approx) 137 Kg/Cm2 (1949 psi). PURITY LEVEL OF ARGON INDIAN STANDARD for ARGON, Compressed & Liquid Specification no. IS 5760 : 1998 shall be referred. There are 3 grades of argon, namely: Grade 1 : Ultra high purity argon for use in electronics and allied industries and indirect reading vacuum spectrograph, Grade 2 : High purity argon for use in lamp and allied industries and Grade 3 : Commercial grade argon for use in welding industry and for other metallurgical operations. Accordingly the argon shall comply with the requirements given below: REQUIREMENT Sl. no. CHARACTERISTIC Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 i. Oxygen, ppm, Max. 0.5 5.0 10.0 ii. Nitrogen, ppm, Max. 2.0 10.0 300 iii. Hydrogen, ppm, Max. 1.0 2.0 5.0 iv. Water vapours, ppm. Max. 0.5 4.0 7.0 v. Carbon dioxide, ppm, Max. 0.5 0.5 3.0 vi. Carbon monoxide, ppm, Max. 0.5 0.5 2.0 vii. Hydrocarbons, ppm, Max. 0.2 0.5 -

PURCHASE SPECIFICATION FOR ARGON : BHEL - WELDING TECHNOLOGY CENTRE, Trichy recommends the specifications for purchasing the Argon for welding process is, Argon as per Grade 3 of IS-5760 : 1998 with Oxygen & Water Vapours restricted to max. 6 PPM each and with Argon purity level of min. 99.99%. The supply should accompany Test Certificate for the batch indicating individual element PPM level and overall purity level. Hence, it is recommended to purchase the Argon with above specification by BHEL as well as by our Sub-contractors engaged at sites. ---- O ----