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Knowledge from the field

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Technical resource

RockBlock TesTex Supervan Packages

RockBlock  5-Day & 7-Day Inspection Packages   Structured NDT Solutions Built for Outages, Turnarounds, and Critical Inspections The TesTex RockBlock packages provide a simplified, high-value approach to…

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Technical resource

In‑Service Pipeline & API Inspection Solutions

In‑Service Pipeline & API Inspection Solutions   Advanced API & Pipeline Inspections—Without Taking Your Assets Offline At TesTex Inc., we specialize in delivering accurate, code‑compliant inspections while…

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Technical resource

TesTex Graphitization Status Update Report

TesTex Graphitization Status Update Report Shawn Gowatski TesTex, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA Introduction TexTex is working on developing examination procedures for the detection and possibly classification of graphitization…

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Technical resource

ASNT Crack Detection Paper

ASNT Crack Detection Paper Shawn Gowatski TesTex, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA Introduction The inspection of welds on piping, pressure vessels, columns, etc. is a major priority for plant…

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Technical resource

IPEIA LFET Inspection for ID Corrosion in SAG-D Piping

IPEIA: LFET Inspection for ID Corrosion in SAG-D Piping Using Low Frequency Electromagnetic Technique (LFET) Southern Pacific Resource Corporation’s Senlac Thermal Project Facility Regan L ‘Heureux’ Southern…

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Technical resource

BP Alaskan Pipeline Inspection

TNT NDT Technician Article: BP Alaskan Pipeline Inspection In August of 2006, a major petroleum company experienced the second loss of containment incident within the year on…

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Technical resource

Corrosion Fatigue Cracking Paper

Corrosion Fatigue Cracking Paper Section A: Introduction Corrosion fatigue cracking is the leading cause of boiler tube failures. A tube failure due to corrosion fatigue cracking can…

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Technical resource

Socket Weld Inspection

Socket Weld Inspection Reduce RT/X-Ray Requirements of Socket Welds In general, socket welded joints present complications for follow up NDE. Until recently, RT/X-Ray has been the method…

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Technical resource

Mirant Graphitization Study

Mirant Graphitization Study Mirant provided 6 boiler tubes to TesTex that were suspected of containing graphitization. Four of the tubes were removed from Bowline Station and two…

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Hawkeye Crack Detection

Hawkeye Crack Detection Problem A prominent, high volume manufacturing company in Montana was experiencing generating bank tube failures due to cracking in one area of their Riley…

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Technical resource

Furnace Tubing in Reducing Gas Furnace

Furnace Tubing in Reducing Gas Furnace Problem A mining company in Venezuela was experiencing localized wall loss on the inner diameter (ID) of their furnace tubing in…

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Technical resource

Corrosion Fatigue and Thermal Fatigue

Corrosion Fatigue and Thermal Fatigue Cracking Detected in Boiler Tubes With Hawkeye Problem A power plant in New Jersey experienced a failure in a slag screen tube…

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Technical resource

The Inspection of Circulating Water Lines

The Inspection of Circulating Water Lines The Xcel Energy – Harrington Station recently had a water leak where the circulating water pipe goes through the concrete basement…

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Technical resource

Superheater Pendant Crack Detection

Superheater Pendant Crack Detection Using our Hawkeye BFET System 4/27/2016 Introduction A local power plant in Cheswick, PA. had tube failures in their superheat pendants. Some of…

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Technical resource

Boiler Reliability Paper

Improving Boiler Reliability through Non Destructive Testing Shawn Gowatski TesTex, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA, USA Abstract TesTex, Inc. has worked with numerous utilities that experienced Boiler Tube Failures…

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Technical resource

Magnetite Paper

Introduction to Magnetite Exfoliation New supercritical boilers are designed with austenitic stainless steel boiler tubes in the superheat and reheat sections that operate at temperatures above 1005°F…

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Additional papers & news

Technical papers
Application papers
Case studies
    Socket Weld Inspection
  • Reduce RT/X-Ray Requirements of Socket Welds In general, socket welded joints present complications for follow…
    Hawkeye Crack Detection
  • Problem: A prominent, high volume manufacturing company in Montana was experiencing generating bank tube failures…
News
    Nuclear Storage Tank Inspection
  • In September 2017, TesTex was contracted by a southern Nuclear Facility to perform theTesTex LEFT…
  • In September 2017, TesTex was contracted by a southern Nuclear Facility to perform theTesTex LEFT (Low Frequency Electromagnetic Technique) on an above ground storage tank. The tank was a 40 foot diameter by 30 foot high tank containing filtered water. The lower ring on the tank was .232” Carbon Steel and the upper rings were .1875” Carbon Steel. The basis of the examination was to assist the utility in making a decision as to either repair the tank or replace it. This particular tank has had many leaks and repairs over the years. So the plan was to scan as much of the tank as possible with LFET and present the results to engineering so they could make a determination as to what the next step would be. As it turns out the TesTex LFET found so many indications of pitting that only ¾ of the lower ring was inspected. Needless to say the lead Engineer was very pleased with the TesTex inspection. She told the crew that she will definitely be looking to bring TesTex back in to inspect other tanks onsite.
    Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) Certification Renewal
  • TesTex is pleased to announce the renewal of our Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP)…
  • TesTex is pleased to announce the renewal of our Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) certification for above ground storage tank inspections of manufactured and field erected bulk storage tanks and terminals. TesTex has over 30 years of tank inspection experience with several inspection tools to make your tank inspection fast accurate and cost effective. Our Falcon S saturation eddy current floor scanning technology virtually eliminates the need for ultrasonic thickness prove up of indications. The automated mapping technology provides detailed X and Y coordinates of every indication reported in our findings. For weld inspections we have replaced vacuum box and magnetic particle testing by utilizing our Hawkeye crack detection tool based on a Balanced Field Electromagnetic Technique which works through coatings, rust and epoxies on your equipment. This technology identifies surface and sub-surface cracks in your welds and heat affected zone. For shell course examinations we can do away with the need for a JLG or scaffolding of the storage tank, with the Viper magnetic tank crawler that can scale the outside of the tank and record all the necessary thickness readings for your inspection. The Crawler has also been successfully applied to tank roofs for thickness readings as well. Of course all this technology is available and utilized by our staff of API 653 certified technicians.
    Nuclear Emergency Response
  • At 2:39 PM on a Wednesday afternoon TesTex was alerted by one of our nuclear…
  • At 2:39 PM on a Wednesday afternoon TesTex was alerted by one of our nuclear customers that they had an emergency inspection request when they discovered two leaks in a 20” buried service water line. The leaks occurred in an area where a repair clamp was installed a few years ago. The customer was asking if we could mobilize a crew and equipment at a moment’s notice to perform a Low Frequency Electromagnetic Technique (LFET) inspection on the adjacent areas of the pipe to determine further degradation of the system. The LFET technology permits scanning through coatings that are applied to the water line where other technologies were limited or not able to provide the information they required. Communication with the customer continued into the late evening when it was agreed that TesTex would deploy inspection personnel and LFET equipment at 6:00AM, the next morning, a mere 16 hours after the emergency call from the customer. The customer events and dynamic response that TesTex demonstrated are typical of our commitment to provide Fast, Accurate, and Cost Effective inspection solutions for our customers. See our Products page for more information on LFET.
    Multi-Year Non-Destructive Testing Service Agreement
  • TesTex signed multi-year non-destructive testing service agreement with a global leader in the coatings industry…
  • TesTex signed multi-year non-destructive testing service agreement with a global leader in the coatings industry. An American international manufacturer with nearly 11,000 employees and a company history that spans over two centuries long. They are the sixth largest paint and coating corporation in the world, delivering advanced coatings solutions with best-in-class appearance, performance, protection and sustainability to customers in more than 100 countries.
  • The scope of service will include utilizing specialized technologies of Low Frequency Electromagnetic Technique (LFET) and Balanced Field Electromagnetic Technique (BFET) to inspect boilers, heat exchangers, storage tanks, vessels and pipelines throughout the vast manufacturing network of this organization. More information on these techniques can be seen on the Products tab of our web pages.

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