China's First Intelligent Welding Equipment for Ultra-Deep Vertical Shafts Goes Into Operation, Boosting Efficiency by Over 65%

On November 3, Three Gorges Group announced that China's first intelligent welding equipment set dedicated to pressure steel pipes in ultra-deep vertical shafts has officially entered operation at the Songyang pumped-storage power station in Zhejiang. Independently developed for extreme conditions in narrow deep shafts in deep underground engineering, the equipment fills a gap in the automated welding of high-strength steel pipes in ultra-deep vertical shafts, marking another key step forward in the independent development of equipment for ultra-deep underground projects in China. The newly deployed system includes an outer circumferential seam welding robot and an automatic inner circumferential seam horizontal welding machine. Equipped with 5G control, laser seam tracking, and a welding expert database, it can automatically identify weld positions and match welding parameters. With this equipment, pressure steel pipe installation can achieve integrated lifting, welding, flaw detection, and anti-corrosion operations. Welding speed can reach 30 to 50 centimeters per minute, improving welding efficiency by more than 65% compared with traditional manual welding, and the one-time weld qualification rate reaches 99%. (CCTV News)