HDPE Field inspection company 2

capablanca · Apr 4, 2005

Sirs:
We are looking for an american company that provides
Field Inspection for HDPE large diameter pipes installation.
Our interest is to work with them for inspecting ,in Chile,many mining projects that are underway.Please help us
on finding this company.
Capablanca

ApC2Kp · Apr 4, 2005

capablanca,
I would recommend that you contact the McElroy company that provides the fusion joining machines for HPDE piping. They provide training and expertise on HDPE fusion joint piping. They could advise you on the types of defects to examine in HDPE joints and possible contacts for inspection companies.

http://www.mcelroy.com

The fusion joining process is generally machine controlled to the extent that there is not much that is left to go wrong. One construction superintendent would visually check joints and would kick them several times before releasing the joints for burying them as part of a process sewer system. A good in-process visual examination of the pipe end preparation and a chart recording of the fusion process temperatures, pressures and times would be of more benefit than possible ultrasonic or neutron ray examination of joints.
There are possible flaws that could be introduced to the fusion joining process. It was reported that one fusion machine operator tried using a release lubricant on the faces of the heating paddles that melt the HDPE prior to the fusion step. The paddles were easier for him to clean off the HDPE residues on the paddles. However, almost every joint in the system leaked!

capablanca · Apr 4, 2005

Thanks ApC2Kp.I will contact Mcelroy but following issues
persists:
-In Chile sometimes old fusion equipment is used.
-We know of some leakage problems of an HDPE line visually inspected.With environmental consequences due
to the sulfuric solution inside pipes.That is the reason
that mining companies are asking for NDT inspection.
-The ideal for us is to contact an Inspection Company,
not related to any pipe or equipment furnisher.¿Such
companies exists?
-TOFD NDT techniques has been used in Chile.
-Also we are interested in knowing if some personal qualifications,
similar to those given for the steel piping welding,exists for HDPE.
Thanks again,regards,Capablanca
fusion welding.¿Any organization gives this?

TGS4 · Apr 4, 2005

Your problem sounds similar to something that I saw in a paper recently in the Pipeline and Gas Journal. It was titled "Novel High resolution Defect Detection For Thermoplastic Butt-Welds" by messer, Yarmuch and den Boer.

It appears that RTD Quality Services can do the work that you describe (no, I am not affiliated with them). I believe that their website is

http://www.rtdquality.com

Goos luck!

ApC2Kp · Apr 8, 2005

capablanca,
The mining companies asking for NDT inspection of existing HDPE pipelines would have a much different task than the examination of joints in new pipeline fabrication. There is a testing and examination company that seems to have studied the effects of sulfuric acid on HDPE piping, as well as the use of HDPE geomembranes for heap leach stacks;

http://www.vectoreng.com

http://www.vectoreng.com/eng/lab.htm/

If the mining companies are attempting to locate cracks and weak sections of pipe before any leak occurs, then it will require a combination of visual internal examination of the pipe plus a technique that detects subsurface flaws in the pipe wall. There are acoustic emission tests that detect cracking in metallic and fiberglass vessels or pipe. You might check if any HDPE pipe has been tested with acoustic emission technique.

http://www.stress.com

http://www.fitness4service.com

http://www.pacndt.com

http://www.appliedinspection.com

http://www.inspectioneering.com