SES, LLC recently designed and built an automated pipe handling system with product tracking for United States Steel Corp.’s Lorain, Ohio, facility.

The pipe handling system transfers pipes from the grinding stations to the ultrasonic test equipment. Alternately, the ultrasonic test equipment can be bypassed via a hydraulic roll conveyor, transferring the pipes down a chain-driven roll conveyor to one of four cut-off machines. The pipe handling system includes the following functions:

• Transfer capacity of 8,000 pounds.
• Pipe lengths ranging from 16 to 50 feet with outer diameters ranging from 10 5/8 to 26 inches.
• Chain-driven roll conveyor with multiple drive zones.
• Hydraulic roll conveyor with multiple drive zones.
• Heavy-duty hydraulic and pneumatic transfer arms.
• Bi-directional pneumatic transfer arms.
• Butterfly kick-off mechanisms.
• Disappearing end stops.
• Product tracking system.
• Panel view screens for overall system setup, system status, and extensive diagnostics.
• Individual local operator stations for manual control.

Located in Alliance, Ohio, SES offers a unique combination of services that include complete custom design and build of manufacturing systems for material handling and industrial processing systems. SES also offers reconditioning and redesign of existing equipment by applying a continuous improvement philosophy to lower repair and operating costs associated with existing equipment, while significantly increasing campaign life.