By: Inspenet, Jan 9, 2023
The key to reliable, consistent, fair and trustworthy refractory testing is a combination of having a good understanding of test methods and material properties combined with a systematic way of handling materials from start to finish, from receipt until the report.
CFS performs the work as defined in detail in the CFS Laboratory Procedures . These procedures have been developed based on ASTM standards, API-936, and product specific literature. Since the information in the form of data is the only product of the testing laboratory, carefully detailed records are kept on file; for the sake of simplicity, this detail does not appear in the final reports. As a service to our customers, the CFS test lab maintains these historical records on file; these can be quickly retrieved and further details can be provided if the need arises.
Sample testing at all stages provides a strong incentive for all interested parties to increase the quality of their workmanship or maintain the level of quality that already exists.
Not testing is very risky as it eliminates feedback that is indicative of the level of quality of the work done. The product manufacturer, the installing contractor, the third party inspection company, and even the testing laboratory all have an interest in the feedback; for this reason, testing should be encouraged. Without this feedback, quality will invariably suffer over time.
The four main control points for testing refractories are as follows:
• Material Prequalification – This is third party testing of materials manufactured by others. Every effort is made to test materials according to the manufacturer’s published literature; A recipe card is used for each material and is written to standardize the sample preparation process by excluding extraneous variables. In other words, the tests are fair. Material prequalification ensures the quality of materials to be used in a job.
• Installer qualification – This includes, but is not limited to, nozzle operator qualifications, tamper qualification, crew qualification for pouring or vibrating pouring operations, concrete spraying and pump pouring, as well as mockup qualifications . In each case, testing is performed to the extent required by applicable specifications and procedures to ensure that the contractor’s installation personnel, procedures, material handling, and equipment have been tested prior to installation at the site. team. Installer qualification ensures the quality of all phases of the contractor’s installation processes.
• Production or Installation Testing – This is periodic sampling that takes place as materials are installed in the equipment. Production tests (as installed) provide information about the work performed and the conditions in which the work was performed.
• Failure Analysis Tests – These tests are custom designed to provide the best possible information to the customer. The goal is to find a decisive answer to the question that motivated the test. CFS uses resources within the company as well as various subject matter experts outside the company to come up with a solution. CFS understands that misinformation (guessing) is generally worse than no information at all; With the abundance of resources available, the goal is to find a satisfactory solution to the problem at hand.
API-936 standards require sample testing to be performed in all phases of work; this test is one of the best tools available to increase the likelihood of quality workmanship. Conversely, without this important feedback, a “dirt in a bag” mentality prevails, with the level of quality left to the discretion of the selected installation contractor.
If you want to know all the services offered by the company Consulting and Field Services, LLC (CFS), we invite you to enter its website: https://www.cfsinspection.com/
Image : CFS
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