Entradas
Ensa collaborates with the University of Cantabria and the CSIC in a project on non-destructive ultrasonic testing techniques
Maliaño, December 17th, 2018 – Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E collaborated with the University of Cantabria and the Higher Council for Scientific Research in a project related to the techniques of non-destructive testing by ultrasound whose objective was that the Cantabrian company improve its training in two new generation techniques Phased Array and TOFD.
The execution of this project is translated in terms of innovation for Ensa, due to the fact that the advanced ultrasound tests can contribute to guarantee the quality of the welds in the welding station itself.
This collaboration has served to launch a new inspection technology project aimed at robotizing tests for the ITER project with which the Cantabrian company and the UC will continue working together.
The project was financed by the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Tourism and Trade of the Government of Cantabria through the European Regional Development Fund .
Ensa develops a mechanized welding machine for circular joints in ITER sectors
Maliaño, December 5, 2018 – The Automatic unit belonging to the Advanced Technology Centre together with the Welding Development of Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E have developed a mechanized welding machine for the accomplishment of the circular joints of the sector PS1 of ITER .
This machine has the particularity of having a rotary joint that allows continuous welding.
Ensa’s new success in ITER robot welding
Maliaño, November 16, 2018 – Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E continues with success the execution of welds of components destined to the ITER project .
The robotic TIG welding system developed in the Advanced Technology Centre by the Automatic Unit with the Welding Development Unit, in collaboration with the personnel of the Production Welding Unit, has made possible to complete the vertical upward welds on both sides of one of the ITER sector components assigned to the Cantabrian company, obtaining magnificent results in the quality and productivity of the process in the 3 welded components.
PARTICIPANTS IN THE COROMA PROJECT hold their general meeting in Ensa
Maliaño, November 13, 2018 – The European project COROMA, in which Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E participates as an end user, continues and the second anniversary of its beginning is celebrated, two working days were organized in the company’s facilities. The main objective was to expose the most significant advances of this important project whose aim is to develop an autonomous modular robot, easily programmable, safe in its interaction with humans and other machines and able to adapt to changes in its environment.
The first day was of a technical nature and served to share their experiences. In the different presentations details of their developments were shown and the operation of their modules was explained. At the end of the day, all the participants visited Ensa’s workshop and showed their interest in the processes and components it manufactures.
The second day was attended by two experts in charge of evaluating the work carried out. After the presentations of those responsible for each of the work packages and the subsequent analysis, the evaluators showed their good impression of the level reached so far in each of the sections.
In the following months, work will continue on the integration of the different modules, after which, in the last four months of 2019, final tests will begin on the applications proposed by end users.
The COROMA project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 723853.
Ensa welcomes ENUSA President
Ensa welcomes ENUSA President
Maliaño, October 22, 2018 – Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E received the visit of José Vicente Berlanga, president of ENUSA INDUSTRIAS AVANZADAS, S.A., S.M.E , who was accompanied by Pablo Zuloaga, Government delegate in Cantabria.
Eduardo González-Mesones, president of the Cantabrian company; Rafael Triviño, general manager and Ángel Cosío, director of Human Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility, explained some of the most relevant aspects of the company’s activity focused on the design and manufacture of large components for the nuclear industry, spent fuel management and which provides different services in the plant covering its entire life cycle, including dismantling.
During his visit to the workshop, Berlanga was able to gain first-hand knowledge of some of the equipment currently in different stages of manufacture and showed special interest in the fuel heads of the Spanish nuclear power plants that Ensa has been supplying to ENUSA since 1998. «I have been able to verify in situ that a Spanish company such as Ensa is a technical reference in the manufacturing of components for such a demanding sector as the nuclear sector», he declared.
For its part, Zuloaga valued this meeting very positively and expressed its commitment to visit the facilities of the company based in Maliaño on another occasion and in greater detail.
SEPI Group
Both companies belong to the SEPI Group, Ensa 100% owned and ENUSA 60% owned, a holding company that covers a total of 15 public companies directly and majority owned, with more than 74,000 professionals. It also has a supervised public foundation and minority direct shareholdings in nine other companies and indirect shareholdings in more than one hundred companies.
Ensa develops a new submerged arc welding system
Maliaño, October 17, 2018 – The Automatic unit belonging to the Advanced Technology Centre of Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E , in collaboration with the Welding Development unit and the Production Welding Unit, has designed a new submerged arc welding system that is being used in the union of parts that make up the Lower-Port of the PS4 of ITER .
This new advance allows welding inside the component whose complex geometry makes the joining process difficult, thus achieving significant improvements in the quality of the welds in compliance with the standards required by ITER.
Ensa participated in the SNE meeting with two conferences to present its advances in the ITER project and in the automation of the measurement of tube plate hole diameters
Maliaño, 11th October 2018.- Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E participated in the 44th annual meeting of the Spanish Nuclear Society with two presentations. The first one to present its advances in the ITER project and the second one focused on the automation of the measurement of tube plate hole diameters.
Sofia Corino, in charge of the Special Projects area, presented the latest novelties related to the assembly of the ITER vacuum chamber, as well as the validation of the prototypes developed.
Her, presentation was divided into two blocks to explain, on the one hand, the scope of Ensa within this project of international importance, as well as the challenges and technical difficulties that must be overcome, among which the limitation of space and access stands out. On the other hand, she talked about the prototypes already developed and the advance of their validation on the 1:1 models.
Domingo Lima, head of Ensa’s Advanced Technology Center , spoke about «Automation of the measurement of tube plate diameter holes».
In this sense, he explained that during the manufacture of the steam generators the drilling of the Tube Plate is carried out and that the difficulty in the quality control of these holes has made necessary the development of a new system and the improvement of the methodology to make the inspection in an automated and more efficient way.
Some of the advances of this robotic system are:
– Guarantee of 100% inspection of the holes.
– Calculation of measurements in real time without further processing.
– Registration of the acquired data.
– Automatic generation of reports with all measurements and non-conformities.
– Adaptable to all types of geometries.
– Improved productivity.
– Reliability of the system.
Ensa participated in the Nuclear South West Conference in Bristol
Maliaño, October 8, 2018 – Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E participated in the Annual South West Nuclear Conference held in Bristol where the state of the construction works of the Hinkley Point C power plant was explained and a description of the nuclear supply chain in the United Kingdom was given, as well as several platforms and organizations and success stories of companies that are collaborating in the Hinkley Point project.
For the Cantabrian company, attending this event was a «great opportunity to establish contacts with potential partners and obtain more information about possible business opportunities in the British market».
Ensa’s Advanced Technology Center develops a robotic lateral welding system forged bars to inner shell
The Automatic unit belonging to the Advanced Technology Centre of Equipos Nucleares S.A., S.M.E has developed a robotic welding system for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor , by means of an industrial robot and control and welding equipment developed by this unit.
The system allows welding with pulsed current on both sides of a piece, alternating beads according to the needs of the process and with it optimum results are obtained in vertical ascending welding.
With this development , Ensa remains at the forefront of mechanised welding, satisfying the most demanding needs of today’s nuclear market.
