Enhancing personnel safety in automated pipe coating operations
Tenaris needed its robotic pipe-handling system to reliably detect anyone inside the hazardous area before moving. A Schmersal safety laser scanner solution now provides area-wide personnel protection.
- CLIENT
- Tenaris
- LOCATION
- Pipe coating facility
- MACHINE
- Robotic pipe handling system
- PRODUCT
- Schmersal safety laser scanners
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The challenge, hazard scenario, scanner coverage, installation and outcome.
Operators had to enter the red zone before the robot could lift the pipe.
Tenaris is one of the leading players in the energy sector, specializing in the production and coating of steel pipes used in demanding oil and gas applications. At one pipe coating facility, extremely large pipes with diameters exceeding 5 metres are handled during the coating process.
Pipes are lifted and positioned by an automated robotic handling system. Before the robotic arm could lift a pipe, operators were required to manually enter the designated red zone to ensure the pipe was properly clamped and secured.
Personnel could be inside the hazardous area even when the robot was stopped. Accidental or unexpected activation while a worker was inside the red zone could potentially result in serious injury, equipment damage, or loss of life.
Ensure that the robotic system can reliably detect the presence of personnel within the hazardous area before initiating movement.
Schmersal safety laser scanners protect the whole area around the robot.
A Schmersal safety laser scanner solution was implemented to provide area-wide personnel protection around the robotic operation. The scanner continuously monitors the defined hazardous area and detects people entering or remaining within the protected zone.
Wide-angle coverage of the critical area.
Source: Creative Industrial Automation project data sheet for this case study.
Schmersal safety scanners installed, with safety control panels, during the summer shutdown.
Tenaris receives a modern, reliable and automated approach to personnel safety while maintaining the operational requirements of the pipe coating process.
We are proud to have partnered with Tenaris on this important machine-safety project and to contribute to creating a safer working environment for their personnel.
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