KTN Belgium NV inspects oil refinery

The contract included the assessment of wall thickness, flaws and corrosion during a 3-week shutdown at the plant.

KTN Operations Manager, Alexis Paternottre, said: “We have our own inspection equipment, but it was necessary for us to rent additional equipment for such a large contract […] In total, we hired 20 portable ultrasonic inspection instruments from Ashtead Technology, which included the GE USM Go and the Olympus 38DL. All of the instruments were delivered on-time and in perfect condition, which was vital to the success of the project.”

KTN employed 35 people to conduct the work, which included the use of sub-contractors. Each of the inspection points was carefully chosen and documented, so that a repeat inspection could be undertaken in two years’ time. In addition to the measurements, imagery and the measurement method were recorded for every inspection point - the data collection and reporting capability of the instruments was therefore very important.

Following initial inspection, many of the pipes had to be scraped to remove corrosion. In some cases, the pipes had to be replaced completely. All such locations were subsequently retested.

Paternottre added: “In order to complete such a large project in such a short period of time, the quality, reliability and availability of the inspection instruments was crucial, and we were therefore delighted to be able to utilise Ashtead Technology’s impressive resources.”

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/25042017/ktn-belgium-nv-inspects-oil-refinery/