The High Purity Systems (HPS) team was excited for the opportunity to reach for the stars when we were contracted to build fourteen stainless process piping skids for ground support equipment for an unmanned rocket resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Designed collaboratively by a team of engineers who were working directly with our client in Dulles, VA, these skids were integral to the process piping system supporting a Liquid Fueling Facility (LFF) for the NASA launch facility at Wallops Island, Virginia.
We designed the facility skids with job specific components and precise specifications to operate in severe weather and operational conditions in adherence with the critical guidelines set up for the LFF program. Once the final drawings were approved for fabrication, the HPS team commenced production.
We built the skids (some as big as 8’ wide by 22’ long) with structural steel and then they were hot dip galvanized to ensure maximum corrosion resistance. To cut down on conductive electrolysis, we machined and installed micarta laminate sheets as standoffs between the steel supports and the stainless steel piping.
After we removed all possibilities for stainless steel to come in contact with the galvanized steel, we began the piping work. We laid out all the skids in order of schedule priority at our fabrication facility; this made the entire construction and fabrication process as efficient as possible.
The crews had to pay close attention to detail to adhere to welding codes ASME B31.1, as well as severe cyclic criteria for ASME B31.3 process piping. We took extreme care to guarantee that each weld would perform reliably for the life of the system. The project utilized equipment including TIG welders, tube and pipe flaring equipment, and our mandrel pipe bender. By bending the stainless steel pipe, we were able to increase productivity and reduce overall costs of the project.
