5 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Mobile Heat Treating Company

Not all mobile heat treating companies are created equal. For pressure vessel fabricators, choosing the wrong vendor can mean schedule delays, execution problems, or a heat treat cycle that doesn’t meet code. Here are five questions worth asking before you award a job.

1. How Much Experience Does the Mobile Heat Treating Company Have With Your Application?

Not all mobile heat treating crews are the same. Ask how many large vessel jobs they run per year and what size and wall thickness they typically work on. A crew that’s mostly doing smaller components in a shop environment isn’t bringing the same field experience as one that’s regularly on-site with high-pressure, thick-walled vessels. Ask for references from similar projects and pay attention to the complexity of what they’ve actually treated.

2. What Does Their Execution Plan Look Like?

A credible contractor should provide a written execution plan before any work starts — detailing thermocouple placement, burner assignment, heat-up and cool-down rates, hold time, and documentation procedures. If a vendor shows up without a plan or can’t explain their approach in advance, that’s a red flag.

3. How Do They Handle Thermocouple Placement?

The number and placement of thermocouples determines how well you can demonstrate that the entire weld and heat affected zone reached the required temperature. Ask specifically how they handle thermocouple attachment — TAU capacitor discharge stud welding is the industry standard for secure, reliable attachment. Ask how many thermocouples they typically use on a vessel of your size and how they verify coverage across the full vessel length.

4. What Is the Mobile Heat Treating Company’s Mobilization Capability?

For on-site PWHT, a vendor’s ability to mobilize quickly and efficiently directly affects your schedule. Gulf Coast Combustion is available to mobilize anywhere in the U.S. and regularly works on short notice — most jobs come together within a week or less. Once we’re on a job, we work around the clock until it’s done. Timelines shift in fabrication and we expect that. The earlier you loop us in, the more flexibility we have on both ends.

5. Do They Understand the ASME Code Requirements Specific to Your Project?

Your heat treating contractor should be able to speak fluently about P-Numbers, thickness requirements, service conditions, and WPS requirements — not just execute a temperature profile you hand them. If they can’t discuss the code basis for what they’re doing, that’s a problem.

 

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Gulf Coast Combustion is happy to answer all five of these questions for any project you’re evaluating. If you’re looking for a mobile heat treating company for your next vessel job, call us at 713-425-3773.

For a full overview of our services, visit gulfcoastcombustion.com/services/. For the technical requirements that govern pressure vessel PWHT, see ASME Section VIII Division 1.