Apollo Solar Welding, Inc.
Global HCE Tube Welding Services - Schott, Archimede, Huiyin Group, Rioglass, Royal Tech, Dacheng

Apollo Solar Welding, Inc. CSP Solar Trough HCE Joining System
for
Production / Shop HCE Double Joining
and
In-Trough Field Welding

Apollo Solar Welding's innovative, proprietary system includes methods, hardware and tooling for joining CSP Solar Trough Heat Collection Elements (HCE) or Receiver Tubes in the shop and in the field. Apollo's technology is specifically designed for joining Schott and Solel/Siemens HCEs with aerospace weld quality and full AWS and ASME code compliance.

Shop Fabrication: The Apollo HCE Double Joining System automatically circumferentially welds square-butted single HCE receiver tubes end to end into a three-tube assembly. The Apollo system is an automated stationary welding system that enables one trained technician to double the production throughput of welded assemblies and safely produce high quality results consistent one weld to the next.

In-Trough Welding: The pre-assembled double-joined HCEs are then joined in the field end to end, to make a complete welded loop assembly running the length of the trough. A portable remote in-place welding tool, which attaches to the positioned HCE joints, automatically circumferentially welds the square-butted pre-fabricated assemblies end-to-end in the trough, providing the same safety, quality, productivity as the Apollo Double Joining System..

The Apollo system solves multiple problems associated with HCE welding techniques and methodology, and specifically addresses future issues as CSP projects scale up to the mega level. Until recently, 50 to 75 MW were the largest CSP plants built, using only a small circle of experienced contractors and manual welders. Welding issues at the mega-level are yet to be experienced by constructors; however, as projects scale up, the problems only increase. The volume of welding and the demand for qualified welders will increase exponentially, while the pool of skilled talent will decrease. Increased errors, fatigue, loss, and poor quality will have a dramatic negative effect on cost and productivity. With Apollo's advanced welding technology, as scale increases so do the benefits.