A & G is a premier firm offering unsurpassed turnkey packaging of surface preparation, scaffolding, insulation removal/reinstallation and inspection solutions for many industrial pipe inspection and high energy piping applications. A & G understands that the safe operation of their high energy equipment is an investment, and their experienced team takes it seriously. Skimming on surface preparation and inspection quality is ill-advised, particularly so in light of the costs incurred for outage time, scaffolding and insulation. Overall savings are best achieved through the thoughtful application of risk-based inspection programs that optimize inspection quality and timing of those inspections

The proper surface preparation technique is critical to obtaining accurate data and results in any Non – Destructive Examination (NDE) piping project. The use of A & G Industrial’s properly trained and supervised media blasting company is critical to the success of any good NDE inspection project.

A & G Industrial recommends grit blasting as a first choice, however there is nothing to prevent us from inspecting over ground surfaces if done properly, however it is paramount that the weld, weld toes, and 3 x’s the wall thickness of base metal on each side of the weld be ground smooth to bare metal. Undoubtedly, grinding can often lead to remnant scale not being removed from the surface of the pipe which can mask surface cracks from being detectable using MT.

It is A & G Industrial Services experience that has seen our competitors with the exclusive use of grinding and not grit blasting, this process often leads to suspect data and inspection results. The grinding process is more labor intensive, time consuming and in the short and long run is more expensive. Making grinding less expensive entails less grinding, which leads to inferior surface preparation and lower quality exams particularly for the detection of surface cracking. Additionally, remnant scale interferes with smooth transducer translation during ultrasonic testing, and local surface abruptions induced by non-uniform grinding can lead to transducer bridging and signal drop-outs.

For superior carbon reinforced systems for all construction, environmental and engineering applications, contact the experts at A & G Industrial. For over 15 years, A & G has served businesses in the power generation, heat exchanger, chemical processing, pulp and paper and mining industries.