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UT Quality/UT Quality USA industriesIndustries/Compressor & pump stations

Compressor & pump stations.Union nondestructive testing and weld inspection, UT Quality USA.

A station packs into a few acres the variety a mainline spreads over a hundred miles: small-bore and large-bore piping, manifolds, launchers and receivers, vessels, and the steel holding it all up. UT Quality USA inspects station welding with radiography, encoded ultrasonics and the four conventional methods.

API 1104
ASME B31.3
ASME B31.4 & B31.8
ASME Section VIII

What we inspect.

The scope UT Quality USA crews are asked for on this work.

Station & yard piping

Suction, discharge, fuel gas and utility piping welds, inspected by radiography or encoded ultrasonics to the ASME B31 code the specification names, with MT and PT for surface flaws.

Manifolds, launchers & receivers

Header and branch welding, closure and nozzle welds on pig launchers and receivers, and the associated supports.

Pressure vessels & scrubbers

Shell and head seams, nozzle and attachment welds on separators, scrubbers and receivers, inspected to ASME Section VIII.

Structural steel & supports

Pipe supports, racks, skid frames and building steel inspected by MT, PT, UT and VT against AWS D1.1.

Methods, codes and crews.

Methods

Automated ultrasonic testing, phased array and TOFD, semi-automated ultrasonics, radiography by film, computed, digital and real-time methods, and the four conventional methods — magnetic particle, liquid penetrant, ultrasonic and visual testing — plus positive material identification. UT Quality’s automated ultrasonic system is proprietary, designed and built in-house.

Codes and standards

Inspected and reported to the code your specification names: API 1104 where the weld is part of the pipeline system, ASME B31.4 and B31.8 for liquid and gas systems, ASME B31.3 for station process piping, ASME Section VIII for pressure equipment and AWS D1.1 for structural steel.

How the work is staffed

Station work is a lot of small welds in tight spaces on a short outage window, which usually means several methods on one job. The crews carry radiographic and ultrasonic capability plus MT, PT, UT and VT on the same mobilization, and report everything under one written practice.

Questions.

Which code governs a station weld?

It depends on where the weld sits. Pipeline-system welds are usually inspected to API 1104 with ASME B31.4 or B31.8 governing the system; station process piping is usually ASME B31.3. The specification decides, and inspection follows it.

Can radiography be avoided in a congested station?

Where the specification allows a volumetric method other than radiography, encoded phased array or TOFD removes the exclusion zone, so adjacent trades keep working.

Do you inspect small-bore piping?

Yes. Small-bore welds are covered by radiography and by the conventional methods, with the technique selected for the diameter and wall.

Do you inspect the vessels as well as the piping?

Yes. Separators, scrubbers and receivers are inspected to ASME Section VIII alongside the piping scope.

Technicians are certified Level I, II and III to our written practice under ASNT SNT-TC-1A / ANSI/ASNT CP-189, with Level III oversight of procedures and interpretation. UT Quality USA is a union operation.

Related services.

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Related industries.

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Building or tying in a station?

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