We are in Greece to discover an “unusual” project executed by a specialized company in the marine field: ProDive Hellas Ltd, which has chosen for its own work a RITMO welder, BASIC 355 EASY LIFE.

The project plans to carry out a PEHD gas pipeline of Ø 355 mm that will lie on the seabed.

The choice of welding with a BASIC 355 EASY LIFE is not casual; the welder ease of use, combined with the reliability of a computer controlled cycle, makes it a necessary choice.

The EASY LIFE hydraulic unit is in fact able to manage the whole cycle in a semi-automatic way, thus eliminating the possible errors from the operator.
Additionally, the whole process is logged in an internal memory that can be saved an analyzed in a PC. Once the unit has been set, the operator is required to validate the sequence of the operations.

Recently Ritmo introduced the “EASY LIFE – fourth generation” tweaking the system and offering to the customer new functionalities such as: PDF reports, USB port, better settings system, date and time, a new keypad.

Speaking of reliability, the unit presents a new autodiagnose system, useful to detect eventual cable connection errors by the operator, and a simplified firmware upgrade-restore function if needed.

This advance in technology has allowed expanding the working range of “this welding system”, now available for diameters up to 630 mm.

Going back to the project, the welds are carried out one after the other on land; once completed some sections, they undergo pressure tests to verify their tightness.
After the tests, the pipes are transported to the beach, thus completing the first phase of the project.

Generally, in a traditional project at this time, the positioning of the pipe in the ditch would start… but in this case is quite different!

The pipes are dragged from the beach to the sea by a tugboat; and only then the positioning is performed. It is actually in this stage where the polyethylene flexibility is appreciated: we are in front of a long snake already set with specific marine transport floaters, as well as with concrete ballasts.

The stress factors that polyethylene faces in these phases are many: friction on sand and water, and ocean currents. However, the certified welds made by the Easy Life system hold perfectly the stress.

Once the established coordinates are reached, the pipe dive is initiated, with the help of a crane platform. Floaters are released and the pipe starts to descend to the sea bottom helped by the moving arm, where the concrete ballasts will maintain the pipe in position.

Once again, if there is plastic to weld and high technology and quality are needed, a Ritmo welder will be present!