Over the past year, heating and testing contractor NDT Projects has taken on new technologies and moved to new premises to bolster its nondestructive testing (NDT) capabilities.

The larger facility not only enables the company to accommodate bigger workloads comfortably but also offers more office space for the company’s staff contingent.

The company’s plans to bolster its NDT capabilities include complementing its current testing technologies with an additional ultrasonic machine, which is used for detecting subsurface flaws in a material. The machine is programmed in accordance with acceptance criteria specifications, which promotes easier result interpretation in a shorter time.

The company also highlights that it has the technology available – through a mobile darkroom – to do radiographic testing for clients. The darkroom is a vehicle furnished with equipment to process radiographic films on site.

“If a client needs radiographic testing results immediately, the mobile darkroom will ensure speedy results,” boasts NDT Projects MD George Nieuwoudt.

Such testing can detect defects in welds and castings through a radiographic image on a film that shows the discontinuities in components.

He highlights that the company can also conduct various NDT – such as penetrant testing and magnetic particle inspection (MPI) – for various applications and industries.

Penetrant testing – also called dye penetrant inspection or liquid penetrant inspection – is used to check surface breaking discontinuities in nonporous materials, while MPI is used to detect surface discontinuities in ferromagnetic materials such as in castings, forgings and welding on new and in-service components.

Ultrasonic testing is used for the same testing specifications as MPI.

Qualifications Shortage

Nieuwoudt notes that the shortage of skilled and experienced NDT technicians is a challenge in the NDT industry.

He puts forward that NDT Projects’ technicians are trained through on-the-job experience to perform various NDT methods thoroughly and supply accurate results for clients. Testing and qualifications are conducted through the African NDT Centre, the South Africa Institute of Welding and the School of Applied Non-Destructive Examination.

Such training and certification is crucial because the apparatus used during NDT is often advanced technology, and the equipment must be operated by trained and certified personnel, he notes.

NDT Projects aims to continue improving its best practice global safety systems and processes, as well as strengthen the knowledge and skills of its team members.