Proof of Market Study for Non Destructive Testing of Plastic Pipe welds

Plastic pipes offer significant advantages over other materials such a metals and concrete for
the transportation of fluids or gases (i.e., no corrosion, longer service life and less expensive
to install). However, the integrity of plastic pipelines greatly depends on the quality of the
welded joints. Typical installation and testing guidelines only cover the destructive testing of
'sample' joints to test material and procedure compliance. This obviously does not test the
actual joint in service so currently there is no route to check the quality of a welded joint. If
substandard joints are made and not picked up during subsequent pressure testing, welds can
fail in service giving sometimes catastrophic consequences or at best a discharge of fluids.
To counter this, a number of various non destructive test methods (NDT) have been
developed but they have all been very high cost involving complex and bulky equipment and
require 'expert' interpretation. This makes them unsuitable for all but the highest risk joints.
Impact Laboratories patented technology developed with the support of Strathclyde
University is a highly innovative, low cost product that is designed to be user operated which
will produce a huge advance in weld testing, opening up markets that are not available to
existing technologies. The equipment is very compact in comparison (hand held) and very
similar to NDT equipment for steel welds. This technology can give the welder a similar level
of information to the testing of steel welds and is simple and cheap enough to be used on
every electrofusion weld installed.
The project is to produce an assessment of commercial viability of the technology both in the
UK and internationally which because of utility deregulation and diverse supply chains is not
only complex but allocated through schedules. The technology will be introduced and
demonstrated in field to key decision makers in order to understand the market.