Sanitary Welding & Fabricationin Northwest Indiana

What is sanitary welding and fabrication?

Sanitary welding and fabrication is building stainless steel tube and pipe systems with smooth, crevice-free, fully fused welds so product cannot hang up and the line cleans easily. SSI does this work with orbital and manual TIG welding and a full inert-gas purge. We build in our Portage, Indiana shop and install on site.

In a sanitary line, the inside of the weld matters as much as the outside. A weld that looks fine from the outside can hide sugaring, crevices or a lip that traps product. Those spots resist cleaning, hold bacteria and corrode faster. Our job is to make the inside of the line as clean as the outside.

What makes a weld sanitary?

A sanitary weld is fully penetrated, smooth on the inside, free of crevices and pits, and protected from oxidation by a purge while it forms. The tube ends have to be cut square and fit tight before the arc ever strikes. Here is how that compares with a general process weld.

	Sanitary weld	General process weld
Material	Polished stainless tube	Carbon steel or stainless pipe
Process	Orbital or manual TIG	TIG, stick or MIG
Back side	Full inert-gas purge	Purge only where the spec calls for it
Inside surface	Smooth, flush, no crevices	Sound, but finish is less critical
Inspection	Profile, color, often borescope	Visual plus any NDT the spec requires

Orbital and TIG welding

Orbital welding uses a weld head that turns the tungsten around the tube. It gives very repeatable welds on long runs of the same size tube. Manual TIG welding still has a place. It handles tight access, odd fittings and repairs where a weld head will not fit. Our AWS certified welders do both.

Purge and heat tint

We purge the inside of the tube with inert gas until oxygen is cleared, then hold the purge through the weld. That protects the back side from oxidation. Heavy discoloration on the inside, called heat tint, is a sign the purge failed. It weakens the corrosion resistance of the stainless.

Which hygienic standards apply?

The standard that applies depends on your plant and product. Food and dairy equipment often references 3-A Sanitary Standards. Pharmaceutical and bioprocessing systems often reference ASME BPE. Many plants also have their own internal spec covering material, surface finish, slope and documentation.

We build to the specification your plant sets. Send it with the request, along with any weld log, inspection or material documentation your quality team needs. Our welders are AWS certified. If your project requires a specific certification or standard, tell us up front so the job is scoped correctly.

After welding, many hygienic systems are cleaned and passivated. Passivation removes free iron from the surface and helps stainless rebuild its protective oxide layer. We can coordinate cleaning and passivation as part of the job when your spec calls for it.

Where does SSI do sanitary work?

We do sanitary welding and fabrication for food and beverage plants and hygienic processes in chemical processing across Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. Typical work includes:

• new sanitary lines for tanks, fillers and process skids;
• reroutes and extensions during a line change;
• tank nozzles, ports and tie-ins;
• replacing bad welds and old field repairs;
• stainless supports and hangers that hold slope.

Sanitary work often sits inside a bigger project. We also handle general process pipe fabrication, equipment installation and specialty and field welding. Our article on sanitary vs. process vs. jacketed pipe explains when each one fits.

How do you plan sanitary work in a running plant?

We plan sanitary work around your production and sanitation schedule, fabricate as much as possible in the shop, and keep on-site welding to the tie-ins. Every job starts with a job hazard analysis (JHA). We follow your food safety, lockout/tagout and hot work rules.

Send the product, the run, your plant standard and a few photos through the quote request form, or call (219) 386-1506. No shortcuts, no excuses.