Tank Inspection by means of Industrial Rope Access

July 29, 2009 - PRLog -- Inspectors working for SGS Industrial Services who are serving the Energy, Oil & Gas or Industrial Manufacturing sectors often work at hard-to-reach locations. During the inspection of storage tanks in Jakarta, the SGS team faced a serious difficulty: the ultrasonic (UT) crawler could not pass through the stringer supports within the tank jeopardizing the next in the line periodic tank inspection.

Industrial rope access is the ideal solution in cases like this, and so the SGS Competence Center for Industrial Rope Access in Singapore was asked to find a quick solution to bypass the supports. A two-man team was mobilized within only 12 hours and carried out Ultrasonic Testing (http://www.sgs.com/ndt-conventional-ultrasonic-testing.htm) manually. The inspection work in Jakarta was thus completed on time and within budget.

Industrial Rope Access (http://www.sgs.com/industrial-rope-access.htm) is a form of work positioning developed from techniques used in caving. It solves difficult access problems and renders the involvement of machinery and other work equipment dispensable, thereby saving on cost.

The same problem often occurs in other sites in the Southeast Asian region. For this reason, SGS intends to extend its Industrial Rope Access services and set up a special tank inspection team to perform independent assessment, testing and verification of storage tanks where access could not be granted otherwise.

The Storage Tank Technical Audits by SGS are conducted in accordance with EN 14015, API 650 or 653, EEMUA 159, or based on clients’ specifications. These inspections include, but are not limited to the evaluation of the bottom, the shell and the roof of the tank, as well as the checking of security instruments. SGS’s inspection experts have the years of experience needed to manage a wide range of measurement situations.

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The SGS Group is the global leader and innovator in inspection, verification, testing and certification services. Founded in 1878, SGS is recognized as the global benchmark in quality and integrity. With more than 56,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,000 offices and laboratories around the world.