Qatargas has awarded a five-year contract to Element Materials Technology (Element) to provide materials testing and failure analysis services.
The contract consists of mechanical testing and metallurgical analysis, to be conducted by Element’s Qatar laboratory. Additional specialist services will involve input from Element’s Middle East group and its laboratories in Italy, UK, The Netherlands and Singapore.
Work will be carried out both onsite and offsite, involving internal and external examination of pipework and pressure valves that have experienced demanding operational conditions. Metallurgical verification of the material condition will also be undertaken alongside chemical and corrosion testing.
The mechanical testing may also include routine fracture toughness work to confirm the durability of the material and joints under low temperature conditions. Additionally, concrete testing, polymer/elastomer testing, coating testing and microbiological analysis are included in the scope of the agreement.
Failure analysis projects are essential in establishing a root cause to minimize asset downtime, and are a vital component of any SHE (Safety, Health and Environment) program.
Dr. Rod Martin, EVP for Oil & Gas, Element, said: “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Qatargas. Our relationship has been in place for many years, and our leading metallurgists, technicians and engineers will continue to help ensure that the client’s assets and the surrounding environment are safe, compliant and fit for purpose.”
Element has one of the largest independent metallurgical testing service capabilities in the world. The company’s network of experts and specialist centers of excellence deliver an extensive range of destructive and static testing services from charpy and tensile testing, to more technically demanding fatigue and fracture toughness tests and sour gas corrosion testing services.
