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Wall Thickness Testing

Know the remaining wall, corrosion rate and safe life of your receivers and pipework, measured while they stay in service.

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A digital caliper measuring a steel section

Service overview

How much metal is left, and how long it will last

Our inspectors carry out an ultrasonic survey of your air receivers, pressure vessels and piping on site, while the equipment stays pressurised and in service. The survey measures how much metal remains at defined locations, converts the readings into a corrosion rate, and states whether each item can keep operating safely at its working pressure, and for how long. It covers receivers, buffer vessels, separators, filter housings and dryer towers, compressor discharge lines, mains, drop legs and dead legs.

Each survey follows a written procedure based on ISO 16809 and ASTM E797, with instruments calibrated against reference blocks at the start and end. Readings are assessed against the thickness the design code requires, and the inspection practices of API 510 and API 570 give the corrosion rate, remaining life and next survey date. Your report shows a location drawing for every item, the readings, and a clear status for each: acceptable, monitor, re-rate, or repair and replace.

  • Remaining wallMeasured at marked locations
  • Corrosion rateConverted into remaining life in years
  • Safe pressureRecalculated where a vessel has thinned
  • In serviceNo production stop, no material removed

Benefits

The problems it solves

Corrosion in compressed air equipment starts on the inside, where it can't be seen. Here is what that means, and how a survey puts numbers on it.

  • Corrosion you can't see

    The problem

    Condensate saturated with oxygen drains to the lowest surfaces of receivers and pipes, and the steel corrodes from the inside.

    How it solves it

    Thinning is found while the remaining wall still exceeds the required minimum and repair options are open.

  • Stress rises as metal goes

    The problem

    A shell that thins from 6 mm to 4 mm carries 50 % more stress at the same pressure, with no change in how it looks or performs.

    How it solves it

    Each item's status rests on its measured thickness against the thickness its design code requires.

  • Stored energy

    The problem

    A 500 litre receiver at 8 bar g holds about 0.5 MJ, released in milliseconds if the shell ruptures.

    How it solves it

    Where a vessel has thinned, a recalculated safe pressure lets you re-rate it and adjust the relief valve, or replace it.

  • Nominal isn't actual

    The problem

    Seamless pipe can be up to 12.5 % below nominal wall when new, and forming thins dished heads.

    How it solves it

    The first survey sets a measured baseline, and later surveys reuse the same marked locations so each one compares directly.

  • Rates that change

    The problem

    A stuck drain, a bypassed dryer or a new dead leg can multiply corrosion at one spot.

    How it solves it

    Corrosion patterns point to the cause, such as failed drains, missing slopes, dead legs or dryer problems.

  • Replacing on age, not evidence

    The problem

    Replacing every receiver at a fixed age wastes capital, and running without data risks failure.

    How it solves it

    A measured remaining life lets you keep, re-rate or replace each item on evidence, and budget years ahead.

Where it’s used

Wherever pressure equipment ages

Any plant with receivers and pipework under pressure has a wall that's getting thinner. These are some of the places we survey.

  • Robots welding a car body on an assembly line

    General manufacturing

    Plant air receivers and mains in automotive, engineering, textile, packaging and glass plants, where untreated air corrodes.

  • Molten metal pouring from a ladle in a foundry

    Cement, steel and mining

    Large receivers, long outdoor mains and conveying lines in dusty, humid conditions, often with limited air treatment.

  • Electricity pylons and power lines at sunset

    Power generation

    Instrument, service, ash handling and control air receivers, surveyed during planned outages or on-stream.

  • Wine bottles moving along a bottling line

    Food, beverage and pharmaceuticals

    Receivers and mains feeding production areas, surveyed before regulatory and insurance audits.

  • Test tubes of coloured chemicals in a laboratory rack

    Chemicals and fertilisers

    Sites where acid gases in the air make condensate more corrosive, so internal corrosion advances faster.

  • A naval warship at sea

    Shipping, ports and offshore

    Starting air receivers and service air lines working in salt-laden air.

Also oil, gas, refining and petrochemicals, hospitals, industrial gas production, PET bottling and high-pressure air, railways and transport depots, construction and rental fleets, and equipment buyers and insurers.

Keep exploring

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Our other services, and equipment for every stage of your compressed air.

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