Recently, Tianhua Institute’s Pipeline Anticorrosion and Insulation Testing Laboratory was put into use. With a total area of 468m2, the lab can perform 130-plus testing items in 44 categories of non-metallic pipeline products for anticorrosion and insulation to cover the entire inspection range from raw materials to product quality.
A corner of the laboratory
Tianhua Institute Pipeline Anticorrosion and Insulation Testing Laboratory is an institution with a complete range of testing items. Its application areas are inspection and testing of products and their raw materials in the construction of long-distance oil and gas pipelines, municipal heating and water supply pipelines. The main testing items include all performance indicators for raw materials and finished products such as 3PE anticorrosion pipeline, epoxy powder internal and external anticorrosion pipeline, liquid epoxy internal and external anticorrosion pipeline, gas outdoor weather-resistance anticorrosion pipeline, TPEP internal and external anticorrosion pipeline, polyurethane thermal insulation pipeline, plastic thermal insulation pipeline and flexible preformed thermal insulation pipeline. They cover 40-odd standards including GB/T23257-2017, SY/T0315-2013, GB/T29047-2012 and GB/T50538-2020.
According to the person-in-charge, the laboratory currently has a highly competent team of R&D, design, manufacturing and market development, involving anti-corrosion and insulation technologies, polymer materials, chemical engineering and technology, and electrical and automation instruments. The laboratory consists of multiple testing and experimental rooms concerning samples, sampling, coating analysis, coating tests, chemical analysis, high-temperature experiments. It is also equipped with advanced precision instruments and equipment from across the world such as differential scanning calorimeter, thermal conductivity tester, closed porosity tester, constant temperature and humidity chamber, potentiometric titrator, and Karl Fischer moisture tester, which provide a strong underpinning for enhancing the testing capability and efficiency.
Up to now, the laboratory had undertaken the inspection and testing of anti-corrosive and insulated raw materials and products of oil and gas pipeline projects in Qinghai province and Changqing oilfield, ground-based gathering & transportation projects in Qinghai oilfield, and some related raw material manufacturers in China.
The laboratory has been established to enable Tianhua Institute to better serve the western region in constructing its systems for industrial and long-range oil pipelines as well as urban water supply and heating pipelines by offering testing services for gas, oil and water transmission infrastructure and chemical enterprises. The services can meet the needs of local chemical and pipeline manufacturers and users to inspect and test anticorrosion and insulation pipelines, avoiding wasting human and materials resources in the long-distance delivery of inspected objects. Also, the laboratory will rely on Tianhua Institute’s existing anti-corrosion and insulation projects and the national planning to provide technical support and services for the majority of chemical and pipeline enterprises across China.