Third Party Inspection

Tube Inspection

Tube failures could cause a stop in manufacturing processes, thus delaying and  or preventing product deliveries. A quality tube inspection program is necessary to detect the damage before failure occurs. Elite Services provides a wide-range of advanced tube inspection programs and techniques to determine the integrity of heat exchanger, air coolers, feed water  heaters, condensers tubing and similar items using a selection of inspection techniques. Elite Services combines the newest technology and inspection equipment  available with highly trained and skilled technicians to provide you with the most advanced tube inspection program offered. Coupled with an advanced and  comprehensive reporting software, the clients are provided with a precise and accurate condition overview as well as the results for the individual tubes.

Applications

The tubes are inspected periodically to detect and size discontinuities (e.g. pits,  erosion, cracks, grooves and wear). Correct technique selection is critical and  depends on the tube material (ferromagnetic or non-ferromagnetic) and the type  of discontinuities expected. No single inspection technique is adequate for all  tubing applications, all types of materials, and all defects. ECT is commonly  used to inspect non-ferromagnetic tubes, RFT and MFL are used to inspect  carbon steel and other ferromagnetic tubes, while IRIS ultrasonic testing is  perfect for metal loss measurements on both types of tubes.

Objectives

• Establish the overall condition of the heat exchanger.
• Identify any trends.
• Identify potential leakers.
• Classify each tube in terms of defect type and severity.
• Minimize or eliminate in-service tube failures.
• Reduce maintenance and re-tubing costs.
• Evaluate tube condition on a regular basis.
• Analyze the effectiveness of preventative maintenance.
• Provide invaluable data for strategic planning.

Tank Inspection

Storage tanks require inspection at regular intervals to ensure deterioration is detected  at an early stage. Effective inspection identifies the repairs required before the point where  leakage or other failure occurs, avoiding environmental contamination and product loss.

Elite Services provides comprehensive tank testing programs adhering to API-653 out of service inspections guidelines that allows owners to determine the  relative condition of their storage tanks. Certified trained and qualified inspectors provide inspection reports with targeted repair recommendations as well  as post-repair follow-up inspection and our NDT testing capabilities give our clients the needed documentation for regulatory compliance purposes.

Services

Our storage tank inspection services include:

• Visual inspections
• 3D tank floor mapping using magnetic flux leakage (MFL) with indications confirmed by ultrasonic testing
• Automated corrosion mapping
• Ultrasonic inspection of the tank shell and roof
• Vacuum box inspection of the bottom plate lap welds and internal shelf-to-bottom weld
• Pit gauging
• Dye Penetrant testing and Magnetic particle Inspection

Objectives

• Identify areas of degradation before failure occurs
• Provide trend information on deterioration so that life time and repair predictions can be made
• Minimize the out-of-service time to ensure maximum productivity of the tank
• Provide records of assessment that can be used to demonstrate compliance with operation standards and guidelines such as API 653 requirements
• Secure statutory operating license and negotiate lower TP insurance based validation that plant is in good condition

Guided Wave Ultrasonic Testing

Guided wave ultrasonic testing is one of the latest methods in the field  of non-destructive evaluation that provides a rapid and reliable new solution for pipe inspection.Also known as long range ultrasonic testing (LRUT), the technique is a fast and cost-effective method for inspecting long lengths of pipe for corrosion and  other defects from one single location allowing screening hundreds of meters of pipe in one day. The technique is used to detect internal and external  volumetric change allowing the inspection of 100% of the pipe wall for internal or external metal loss features such as corrosion and erosion. The piping can  be in operation, insulated, with protective coating and even be buried.

Capabilities

• Can be performed at elevated temperatures up to 125°C without taking the pipe out of service (300°C using special high temperature transducer ring).
• Minimal insulation removal for corrosion under insulation (CUI) inspections
• Inspection of pipe from 2 to 72inch diameter is possible
• Fluid and gas does not affect test
• Ability to detect (internal/external) metal loss and planar defects
• Up to ½ km per day can be inspected in ideal conditions
• Sensitivity can be as good as 1% loss of cross-section in ideal conditions
• Minimal cleaning at the test location
• Portable and battery powered equipment

Applications

• Sleeved road crossings
• Corrosion under insulation (CUI)
• Buried pipe
• Wall penetrations
• Pipe racks
• Corrosion under supports
• Offshore risers and caissons
• Subsea lines

EMAT – Medium Range Ultrasonic Testing

Corrosion under pipe supports is regarded as a worldwide integrity threat within  the oil and gas industry and has long been a problem for integrity departments,due to the lack of reliable technology to detect and quantify it.

MRUT (Medium Range Ultrasonic Testing) is one of the latest technique which uses Guided Waves technology to detect corrosion using EMAT  transducers. MRUT (Medium Range Ultrasound Testing) uses high frequency guided waves with a typical inspection range between 0.1m and 5m to detect  corrosion, cracks, and discontinuities on both pipes and plate, and is suitable for inaccessible geometries such as clamps, saddles and pipe supports.

The  inspection can be performed on rough and corroded surfaces, when covered with thin wraps or coatings (<3mm).

Benifits

• Permit coverage up to 5m in front of the sensors (typical distance 0-1m) using reflection technique (circumferential scanning)
• Ideal for inspection of corrosion under supports and air-to-soil interfaces on exposed or thinly coated parts (<3mm).
• Sensitive to both internal and external surface degradation
• Works on any conductive material (ferrous and non-ferrous).
• Dry inspection where no couplant is needed.
• Insensitive to surface conditions where it is capable of inspecting rough, dirty, oxidized or uneven surfaces

Applications

• Inspection under supports: It works for either pipelines that are welded or those resting on supports.
• Air-to-soil interfaces: the technique can be used for inspection of the first 1-2m of an inaccessible structure (buried or hidden).
• Free-standing pipeline: Detects smooth corrosion, pitting, and cracks on free-standing pipelines with minimum insulation (less than 3mm).

Ultrasonic Corrosion Mapping

Ultrasonic corrosion mapping is a key method in non-intrusive inspection  strategies and an effective way of finding, revealing and measuring corrosion,erosion and other service induced defects.

The main advantage of corrosion mapping is that it guarantees 100 percent scan coverage of the area under examination. This gives a much improved  effectiveness over standard ‘random’ UT wall thickness scans. Another practical advantage is that corrosion mapping produces a permanent record of  corrosion measurements with a high degree of reproducibility which makes it an interesting tool for corrosion monitoring allowing the corrosion rate of the  material to be calculated efficiently. Furthermore, due to the speed of modern systems, considerable coverage can be completed on a daily basis.

Benifits

• Permanent record of inspection results.
• High degree of repeatability.
• A greatly improved probability of detection.
• Guaranteed 100% coverage of the inspection area.
• Improved sizing and characterization comparing to conventional techniques
• Improved speed versus manual UT.
• Thickness measurements in an easily Understandable topographical color map.
• Inspection can be performed on in service equipment

Applications

• Improvements in accuracy result in more reliable estimates and more cost effective integrity management.
• Accurate wall thickness measurements permit more reliable identification of the corrosion mechanism and can assist in decisions on operation and corrosion control.
• Determination of degradation characteristics and dimensions for fitness for service assessment.
• Estimation of corrosion growth rates for remaining life assessment.

Phased Array Weld Inspection

Elite Services offers fully code compliant Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) as a replacement  to on-site radiography. Developments in construction codes have allowed PAUT to be used as  a direct replacement to Radiography to meet the quality control requirements of ASME Codes.

Phased array is an advanced ultrasonic technique utilizing multiple miniaturized transducers and time-delays to shape the ultrasonic sound beam in a  desired angle and focus. PAUT enables reduced inspection time by simultaneously collecting multiple angle ultrasonic data in a one pass scan from either  side of the weld. By ensuring accurate scan plans and specifically designed techniques, the defects are easily detected, sized and characterized.

Advantages

• Rapid inspections with digital recording of data
• Radiation free. No safety hazards
• Improved defect detection and sizing
• Highly sensitive to fusion face flaws
• Great flexibility in parameter range
• Many special techniques are possible.
• Visualization of indications in weld and/or base material, using B, C, D and S-scans
• Facilitate inspections of complex geometries
• Compliant with all known codes

Applications

• Weld inspection of vessels, pipelines and plates
• Weld inspection of complex geometries, such as nozzle-welds
• Flange face corrosion inspection
• Fast corrosion scanning utilizing 0 degree angled wedges
• Code case inspection in combination with Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD) and/or pulse-echo
• Turbine component inspection
• Shaft and axle inspections

Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD)

Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD) technique is widely used in the oil and gas,  petrochemical and power generation industries and is even more reliable than  traditional radiographic, manual and automated UT weld testing methods.

TOFD is a fast fully computerized technique able to scan, store, and evaluate indications in terms of height, length, and position with a grade of accuracy  never achieved by other ultrasonic techniques. TOFD is able to measure defect length and through thickness height, which are the key parameters in  mechanical strength. The accuracy of greater than ±1mm can be obtained in a wide range of material thickness from which pressurized components are  constructed. As a ”stand alone“ inspection, TOFD has the highest reliability with respect to defect detection and excluding false calls.

Advantages

• Radiation free. No safety hazards
• Defect detection does not depend on orientation.
• Sensitive to all kinds of defects
• Very accurate determination of defect height and length.
• Higher Probability of Detection (POD)
• High degree of repeatability
• Inspection results are immediately available and the interpretation is possible directly on-site
• High data collection speeds possible (250mm/ second).
• Can be used between 6mm up to 300mm thick welds and even more.

Applications

• Pre-service inspections – Weld inspection of vessels, pipelines and plates
• In-service Weldments for preferential corrosion/erosion loss at the root and heat affected zone (HAZ).
• In-service Weldments and material for fatigue or service related cracking problems
• New construction HDPE fusion weld inspection.
• Defect monitoring
• Cladding thickness measurement

Lifting Equipment Inspection

Lifting Equipment inspection is a detailed visual and operational inspection whereby individual lifting Equipment items are examined to ensure their integrity and ongoing safe operation for lifting operations.

Lifting Equipment inspections are performed on a regular basis depending on the standards and specifications of the equipment and its usage. Generally 6 monthly inspection is used as the guideline.

Crane Inspection is performed as often as quarterly or/and semi-annual based on the service requirements.

Elite Engineering  has the capability to inspect all fixed and loose lifting Equipment types and providing the following related services:

• All loose lifting tackle Inspection (slings, shackles, webbing …..etc.)
• Test Weights / Water Bags Rental