Water Injection Plasma Cutting Reduces Costs for Jacquet
Jacquet Metals, a fabricator of stainless steel and nickel alloy plates and parts recently purchased upgrades from ESAB to four plasma cutting machines to cut rings, discs, and shapes with clean cuts and high edge quality for metal distributors, fabricators in the chemical and petrochemical processing industries, the power generation industry and water waste treatment facilities.
Posted: July 25, 2012
Water injection capability is designed to reduce the cost of cutting stainless steel and aluminum while improving edge quality and reducing dross formation. Water injection cutting offers cutting speeds up to 100 percent faster than gas-shielded systems. The m3 system allows the torch to switch automatically between standard dual-gas cutting and water-injected plasma cutting.
Each of Jacquet’s six new cutting machines features a 600 Amp m3 plasma system, which gives them the capability to cut through stainless steel up to 6 inches thick. Water injection yields the best cut quality on materials up to 3 in thick. But the system is so flexible it can easily handle precision plasma cutting all the way down to 10 ga.
Thick plasma cutting of stainless steel and aluminum has traditionally been done using H-35 gas, a mixture of 65 percent argon and 35 percent hydrogen. Because water injection plasma uses only nitrogen gas and water, it is less expensive than plasma cutting with H-35. “We have definitely seen a decrease in our costs,” commented Hendrix.
“We are impressed with the cut quality, reduced gas consumption, and tolerance of the ESAB m3 plasma system,” stated Engle.
“The water injection cutting system provides a nicer finish on stainless steel plate than ordinary plasma cutting with a smaller heat affected zone (HAZ). Having less HAZ on the edges of the cuts is key to getting the clean finish customers want,” continued Hendrix.
“The bulk of our production goes across those machines,” stated Engle. “These new machines are a critical part of our business, and we have been completely impressed with the results – that’s why every Jacquet facility in North America uses ESAB. We’re switching over to the water injection plasma head in every facility.”
JACQUET Metals Southeast, 11301 Downs Road, Pineville, NC 28134, 704-588-3778, Fax: 704-588-3766, j.southeast@myjacquet.com, www.myjacquet.com.
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products, PO Box 100545, 411 South Ebenezer Road, Florence, SC 29501, 843-679-5823, Fax: 843-664-4258, www.esabna.com.
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