Thursday, April 21, 2011

Differing degrees of automation in Flame Cutting in different countries




In certain countries like the USA, China and India the level of automation in the oxy-fuel cutting process is alarmingly low. The lack of automation means that most cutting machine operators are constantly having to adjust the cutting height or modify other cutting parameters. The oxy-fuel cutting process is more complex than most people believe and I estimate that only 10% of all people working with it actually fully understand the oxy cutting process. This is true for both machine builders and end users. Take for example the initial piercing of the metal, I am surprised that how often I see that the piercing process takes too long or that slag is sprayed in all directions. This is often simply due to the wrong gas settings being used.