In many instances it is physically impossible or undesirable to remove sections or samples from a component to make traditional laboratory based material assessments.

Rather than taking the sample to the laboratory we take the laboratory to the plant. All the techniques we use are based on traditional laboratory based methods but have been adapted to make them fully portable.

We have completed many on site evaluations all around the world for a variety of reasons. These have included:

• Assessment of in-service damage of processing vessels and reactors.
• Assessment of damage resulting from run away in service incidents.
• Assessment of damage resulting from fire.
• Assessment of contaminated products or cargoes.

There are a variety of different techniques used to assess a material on site. These included:

• Visual inspection.
• On site metallography. Detailed examination of the microstructure of a material by direct examination and use of replicas for later laboratory examination.
• Non destructive examination (NDE). Dye penetrant inspection (DPI), Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI) Ultrasonic Inspection (UT). Where necessary we use fully qualified NDE Engineering consultants to undertake this work on our behalf but under our control.
• Contamination assessment by direct sampling of deposits or by removal of extracts by swabbing.

A good example of the use of on site assessment is determining the degree of damage to plant or equipment that has been involved in fires.

There are many indications to the trained eye which allow the extent of damage to a fire affected structure to be determined, often a purely visual inspection is sufficient. If there is any doubt, the extent of the damage can be assessed by using a range of different tests. The microstructure and mechanical properties of metals can be changed by exposure to high temperature. By using a range of fully portable on site techniques we can determine if any changes have occurred that might prevent reuse or repair of a particular item.