Element Materials expands oil and gas testing capabilities

Element Materials Technology, the fastest-growing global independent materials testing company, is significantly expanding the scope of its in-house oil and gas services at its Element Broken Arrow, OK, laboratory through a new X-ray diffraction (XRD) testing capability.

The new XRD capability removes the need to outsource corrosion product and mineral analysis testing, and will reduce lead times by 50% for clients.

XRD is an important characterisation technique in materials science for the analysis of crystalline compounds. From the XRD patterns, the composition of materials can be determined, including corrosion products or scale, minerals, ceramics, fillers in plastics, contaminants, and unknown materials. It can be applied to requests for phase identification, semi-quantitative analysis, material confirmation, reverse engineering and forensic investigations. For Element’s Oil and Gas clients, XRD analysis of corrosion products is often an important aspect of a failure analysis investigation.

Element’s Broken Arrow laboratory is also in the process of adding this testing to its ISO 17025 accreditation, which is expected to be confirmed later this year.

On bringing this technology in-house, Rod Martin, Element’s EVP, Oil and Gas, comments: “Reducing the standard corrosion analysis lead time by 50% through this new capability will have significant benefits for our clients and the entire Element platform. Our laboratories around the world involved in corrosion prevention and failure analysis will significantly benefit from this expertise that is vital to the Oil and Gas sector.”

Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/29082014/element-materials-expands-oil-and-gas-testing-capabilities/