Proof of Market Study for Non Destructive Testing of Plastic Pipe welds

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Plastic pipes offer significant advantages over other materials such a metals and concrete forthe transportation of fluids or gases (i.e., no corrosion, longer service life and less expensiveto install). However, the integrity of plastic pipelines greatly depends on the quality of thewelded joints. Typical installation and testing guidelines only cover the destructive testing of'sample' joints to test material and procedure compliance. This obviously does not test theactual joint in service so currently there is no route to check the quality of a welded joint. Ifsubstandard joints are made and not picked up during subsequent pressure testing, welds canfail in service giving sometimes catastrophic consequences or at best a discharge of fluids.To counter this, a number of various non destructive test methods (NDT) have beendeveloped but they have all been very high cost involving complex and bulky equipment andrequire 'expert' interpretation. This makes them unsuitable for all but the highest risk joints.Impact Laboratories patented technology developed with the support of StrathclydeUniversity is a highly innovative, low cost product that is designed to be user operated whichwill produce a huge advance in weld testing, opening up markets that are not available toexisting technologies. The equipment is very compact in comparison (hand held) and verysimilar to NDT equipment for steel welds. This technology can give the welder a similar levelof information to the testing of steel welds and is simple and cheap enough to be used onevery electrofusion weld installed.The project is to produce an assessment of commercial viability of the technology both in theUK and internationally which because of utility deregulation and diverse supply chains is notonly complex but allocated through schedules. The technology will be introduced anddemonstrated in field to key decision makers in order to understand the market.