A LNG Carrier has long pipe line which reaches almost 2 kilometers.
After the welding process to connect the pipes is completed, the result of the welding is inspected, and cleaning work to remove undesired substances is performed if necessary. As the interior of the pipe is very dark and narrow, working inside had been regarded as very difficult. Moreover, the possibility of existence of the poisonous gas, which were used during welding, makes the job very dangerous. Therefore, there have been continuous necessities to make the working environment more secure and to increase working speed.

After 2 years of R&D activities on these issues, SHI has developed a robot system which conducts inspection and cleaning at the same time. This robot system inspects inside of the pipe using camera system, and cleans the inspected space using brush and suction system. 2 cameras are located on robot's front and rear sides, and 1 camera is attached on the robotic arm. The robotic arm has 360 degree rotating range. When the robot detects undesired substances, it uses the robotic arm to remove the substance. Thanks to this robot, the quality of the pipe inspection has increased. Annually, this system contributes both in cost reduction up to hundreds of million and in reducing risks of working hazardous environment.

By using a robot to weld pipes, Samsung Heavy
Industries (SHI) has significantly improved the
precision of its welding, while substantially shortening the time required to build LNG carriers.
LNG carriers use stainless steel pipes to deliver liquid gas at an extremely low temperature (approximately -163℃). To maintain pipe strength in such extreme conditions, it is critical for the welding of the pipes to be absolutely perfect.
To weld two pipes precisely, SHI has developed a robot, which makes all welding spots on the stainless steel pipes the perfect size and shape.

This robot precisely and easily connects the stainless steel pipes in the LNG carrier. Before welding the pipes, it corrects any part of the pipe that is distorted, adjusts its roundness, gauges difference and gap using a six-axle motion- robot, and reduces the weight of the 600kg pipes using a weight balancer to allow the robot to operate smoothly. With this robot, welding work is done more precisely and easily than before. It has also shortened the time spent for the welding of the pipes from 3.2 hours to 0.5 hours, significantly improving the competitiveness of shipbuilding work.