Other ultrasonic NDT methods no match for UltraAnalytix
UTComp’s global network of licensees includes Carpathia Consulting, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. With a background in chemical engineering and more than 20 years of composite industry experience, company principal Anca Ghetea provides specialized expertise and technical support for FRP/GRP design, manufacturing, installation and “cradle to grave” inspection services.
We talked with Anca about how UltraAnalytix® brings added value to customers in the water industry, and the evolution of the FRP/GRP market in South Africa.
Q: What impact has UltraAnalytix NDT had on the industry and your customers? How is it different from what you were doing before?
A: In South Africa, while the use of GRP or composites for industrial applications has not reached the level it has in western countries, there are applications such as in pulp and paper or chemical processing where GRP is the material of choice. When it comes to assessing existing assets, until UltraAnalytix became available, the only way to assess the condition of a GRP asset was by visual inspection that involves taking it out of service, emptying the contents, making it adequate for human access, and going inside to assess the condition of the corrosion barrier. This has serious drawbacks, including that the quality of the inspection is entirely dependent on the knowledge of the individual inspector, the accuracy of their vision and ability to identify what defective composite material might look like. Destructive testing, where you cut out a small piece of the tank or pipe and send it for analysis, then repair the equipment, also has its limitations. UltraAnalytix is changing all this. It is an avant-garde investigative method that relies on science and data unlike other conventional methods that are subjective. In addition, with the UltraAnalytix method, the end user is presented with a comprehensive analysis based on the data collected in the field, analysis which provides information regarding the remaining service life of the asset and its strength based on the percentage of design stiffness, which is not available with conventional methods.
Q: Is there a particular UltraAnalytix NDT inspection job that stands out for you? Why?
A: The one that stands out is actually the inspection that inspired me to become an UltraAnalytix licensee. In August 2017, I was invited to Namibia to assess the condition of a manifold at a water desalination plant that was less than 10 years old. Made from GRP, the manifold supplied first-stage filtered water for the plant’s reverse osmosis process. The plant operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — shutting down would have left a large part of the country without potable water, so the option of taking the manifold offline for visual inspection was dismissed at the outset. We tried a lot of things; we tried sending a camera through, but that manifold operates at a pressure of 6 bar — the turbulence in the pipe was intense and we saw nothing. It would have been nice to have a bypass that allowed us to open up the manifold and have a look inside — it was 700 mm in diameter so we could have seen something — but that option was not available.
That experience made me aware of the need for a non-intrusive, non-destructive way to assess the condition of GRP equipment that cannot be shut down and opened up it for visual inspection. After a period of in-depth research for a pertinent solution, I learned that Geoff Clarkson would be discussing UltraAnalytix at the FRP Unlimited Conference in Munich, Germany, in February 2018. That convinced me to go to the conference, where I was introduced to Geoff and Jo Anne by Michael Jaeger, the world-renowned ‘guru’ of vinyl ester resins who understood the value of UTComp’s technology. That spring, I travelled to UTComp’s offices in Cambridge, Ontario, where I completed the training and became an UltraAnalytix licensee. A month later, I was invited to conduct my first NDT inspection using UltraAnalytix at a water desalination plant in Oman.
Q: Is there an example of an assessment that clearly shows the value of the UltraAnalytix system in terms of insights for the customer compared to other methods?
A: After I became a UTComp licensee, the engineers from the plant in Namibia invited me to the desalination plant in Oman. I was asked to conduct an NDT investigation on a battery of 12 pressurized vessels, all made from FRP/GRP and used for water filtration prior to the reverse osmosis stage. The UltraAnalytix assessment was conducted while the vessels remained in service operating at 4.5 bar pressure, and while the plant was running. The analysis provided the engineers with accurate and comprehensive information regarding the condition of the vessels and an estimate of their remaining service life. The client was so impressed that they invited me to stay on longer. I ended up being there for about nine days, instead of the three that I’d planned, and I resolved other issues for them.
There are other companies that claim to do NDT with ultrasound equipment, but actually all they do is estimate laminate thickness, and in order to do that, they need to access the inside of the tank or the vessel, and, they can’t do it on a pipe. In fact, they don’t come anywhere near what the UltraAnalytix system has to offer.
Q: What’s it like working with UTComp as an UltraAnalytix licensee? What impact has it had on your business?
A: That’s been brilliant — because it could be quite daunting, you know, learning a new system and thinking that there’s so much to absorb and there’s so much to do. Right at the beginning you have all these questions and doubts. But the licensee training is excellent and they’re always available for questions and clarifications. When I was in Oman, for instance, I was worried that I might not have collected the data properly. I called Geoff, and we went through the entire process together, which was fantastic because, besides the collection of the data from the asset, there’s a lot of preparation prior to sending all the information for analysis. I wanted to make sure that I had all the elements that I needed to tick all the boxes before I sent the info. But I felt terrible about calling because it very early in the morning where Geoff was and I said, “I’m sorry but this is the only time I have.” One has peace of mind knowing that should you bump into some sort of difficulty, Geoff and Jo Anne are there, or they’ll put you in contact with one of the other engineers on the team who can help.
Q: Are there any new developments for your business that you’d like to share?
A: One area that has captured the attention of industry in the last few years has been the plant environment. In the past, end users would often overlook the impact that their own plant environment would have on other equipment — such as the floors or support structures — only focusing on the inside of equipment where a chemical reaction was taking place or an aggressive medium was being stored. But over time, we’ve proven that the plant environment is as important as what happens inside a tank, a vessel or a pipe. Asset owners have started to be more receptive, understanding that steel is no longer the first option for building the plant infrastructure that supports the variety of other equipment that they need. In this regard, a few years ago we had great success working with a major pulp producer in South Africa. There we demonstrated that the plant’s electrolyzers, which were supported on a platform made of concrete, would be far better and safer if supported by a structure made from FRP/GRP. It was a novel concept, but after a lot of meetings and demonstrations, testing and discussion during COVID, now there is a beautiful supportive structure made from FRP/GRP at the mill that supports all 24 electrolyzers, a total of 80 tonnes of weight at any given moment. During those discussions, I proposed having their other FRP equipment tested using the UltraAnalytix method. We’re still in dialogue with them as well as a few other potential clients and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to conduct some UltraAnalytix assessments for them soon.
Q: What new developments, challenges or opportunities do you see ahead for the industry in general?
A: Composites such as GRP/FRP have proven their worth over many years compared to other materials including non-metallics such as thermoplastics, demonstrating superior longevity and durability storing and transporting corrosive materials or containing chemical processes. But in some markets, potential end users have been reluctant to change from conventional materials and methods.
The more I talk about UltraAnalytix to engineers and asset owners in South Africa, the more they are realizing that this is a unique system with a lot of advantages. It opens up opportunities. Not only that they can see that GRP can be accurately assessed, it also increases the credibility and the confidence in GRP as a material in construction. Often you’ll hear steel veterans say ‘GRP can never be stronger than steel’ and, of course, they’re wrong. There’s a paradigm shift underway where GRP is no longer considered the Cinderella material of construction, and especially for chemical processes, it’s becoming the first choice.