Gassed Up - Creating Safer Workplaces Through Advanced Air Quality Solutions

With a long history as an industrial gas supplier to Australian businesses, BOC and its parent company Linde are investing in new technologies to help lift productivity and improve safety.

Richard Fowles, manufacturing gases application manager for BOC South Pacific, says that recent changes to Australian welding fume exposure standards has put a focus on new technologies.

“We released a range of prevention line shielding gases that are proven to lower fume emission rates for gas metal arc welding (GMAW), flux cored arc welding (FCAW) and metal cored arc welding (MCAW) of carbon and low alloy steels,” he says.

“We are also using advanced gas mixing and analysis to enable doping of shielding gases to ppm levels, and facilitating the continuous analysis of these on-site gas mixes to ensure compliance with AS/NZS ISO 14175.”

Fowles adds that BOC has been investing in research and development to drive improvements in both productivity and health and safety.

“This includes the use of alternative fuel gases for heating and cutting applications, welding fume emission rate studies for flux cored arc welding (FCAW) and metal cored arc welding (MCAW),” he says.

“We have also developed a shielding gases range that reduces welding fume exposure for welding operators and co-workers, and supported development of doped shielding gases that offer advantages over traditional shielding gases for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) and tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding applications on certain stainless-steel grades.”

Delivered through BOC’s DigiGas mixing and analysis systems, the WAAM gases offer applicators the possibility of improved quality and faster achievement of near final dimension with a more stable arc, Fowles says.

“Hydrogen, from the perspective of welding and cutting used in fabrication, offers some interesting possibilities, such as hydrogen doped argon for the TIG welding process on austenitic stainless steels and its use as a forming/backing gas,” he says.

“This offers less distortion and less oxidation of the fabricated component. Hydrogen has a definite role to play in oxy-fuel cutting applications and is an interesting alternative to LPG and acetylene under the right conditions provided the customer can properly analyse the cost and environmental benefits.”

“BOC is developing a user-friendly tool to aid a customer’s decision-making process to enable the choice of fuel gas that offers the best outcome for that customer’s needs,” he adds.

The WAAM gases will be on display at this year’s Australian Manufacturing Week, with BOC also demonstrating high speed MIG/MAG welding of thin gauge stainless steel and aluminium alloys using industrial and cobot automation, coupled with the React waveform-controlled metal transfer technology developed by German welding giant EWM.

“Through our long-term partnership with EWM, we offer digital welding monitoring and control including the Xnet welding management software and latest waveform-controlled metal transfer processes such as EWM React,” Fowles says.

“These solutions help any fabrication business implement Industry 5.0 principles to improve productivity and quality.”

Fowles says that there has been a strong shift in the focus on new technologies following a change to the workplace exposure standard for welding, while global competition continues to challenge local manufacturers.

The rise of collaborative robots has been a bright spot, but Fowles stresses that manufacturers need to keep evolving. “Businesses need to keep adapting by finding smarter and more efficient ways to fabricate, inspect, and commission welded products to stay in the game in Australia,” he says.

Fowles adds that succeeding locally against global competition is the most significant challenge the industry faces today.

“The reasons are complex but businesses can prepare themselves by investing in training of new industry entrants, building the availability of skilled labour, and being open to new technologies that can create productivity,” he says.

Looking ahead, Fowles expects demand to evolve rapidly as Industry 5.0 principles, intelligent gas management and AI‑assisted workflows become more mainstream.

He anticipates significant breakthroughs in humanoid robotics capable of learning from human operators to take on hazardous tasks, though trained welding professionals will remain essential.

In the nearer term, he sees wider adoption of cobot technology and continued growth in controlled waveform welding.

“These advancements and innovations also require the ongoing evolution of our standards and health and safety management systems because they are here to stay,” he says.