What Is A PWE?
Pressurized Welding Enclosures (PWE) provide a safe and cost effective way to perform hot work (welding, grinding, torch cutting, etc.) within an operating petrochemical facility. Before the advent of Pressurized Welding Enclosures, petrochemical facilities were required to shut down entire production trains, units, or platforms to ensure a safe environment to perform hot work. Safe Arc PWEs allow for hot work to be conducted in a small isolated area of a facility while minimizing operational impacts on the rest of the facility.
A PWE is created by first enclosing a hot work area with modular flame-retardant panels. The design of the modular panels allows the Safe Arc enclosure to be erected around obstructions and allows for sealing against any piping or structural geometry. A ventilation system is added to provide clean air from a safe source to the workers inside the PWE while also pressurizing the enclosure's interior. The positive pressure inside the PWE prevents explosive gases from entering the hot work area.
The enclosure is equipped with numerous and redundant safety devices that will immediately disable all hot work if a potentially unsafe condition occurs. Safe Arc PWEs conform to the strict safety requirements of the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 14C (API RP14C) required by federal offshore production facilities.