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In maunfacturing situations the incorrect choice of fabrication material  for chemical plant assets like storage tanks and processessing machinery can be critical.  The wrong material that is incompatible with the chemical contents can result in production downtime or contamination of the products. Equally poor tank building or protective liner coating practices during fabrication can also open the tank to attack by the chemical contents and early life failure despite thie intiailly apparent appropriate selection of materials. Tanks, plant assets and seals can be made from metals, ceramics, plastics, elastomers, silicones or composite materials such as resin impregnated GFRP (Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic) all can be at risk.

LPD Lab Services uses its combination of experience and materials failure investigation techniques such as optical microscopy, SEM/EDX, FTIR, IR microscopy, pyrolysis GC-MS, XPS, metallurgical preparation and metallography to reverse engineer plant components to look for signs of insufficient chemical compatibility or poor plant fabrication practices including issues like porosity.

Typical failure investigations carried out include: -

• Metal tank corrosion or poor welding practices investigated by the laboratory’s senior metallurgist
• Poor resin impregnation in glass fibre reinforced tank.
• Incomplete or inadequate coating of liner of storage vessel.
• Incorrect choice of adhesive or solvent welding cement in pipe or pump joints.
• Failed valves, gaskets and fittings
• Deposit and blockage determination
• Foreign body or foreign particulate matter (FPM) identification and analysis
• Material chemical and lifetime degradation resistance
• Metallurgy and failure analysis consultancy
• Polymer or elastomer seal and joint degradation
• Unknown contamination identification
• Particle contamination isolation and identification
• Identification of residual oil, grease and cleaning detergent residues or stains on surfaces by FTIR, FTIR Microscopy or pyrolysis GC-MS.