Ultrasonic Safety & Survey Equipments

Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Find Holes and Refill Them

Leaking ships are the biggest threat to the economy as anything else. A transport ship can carry goods worth billions of dollars on a single trip. Imagine the loss that would occur if a transport ship carrying all these goods capsizes or sinks. Whatever may be the reason of the tragedy, the cause would be none other than the presence of holes in the ship’s body. Since the ship’s only medium of travel is the ocean, the highest level of humidity on the docks and when the ship is sailing can cause rusting even if a speck of its iron body is exposed.

There is no stopping to rust and holes in a ship’s body, especially a transport ship’s body. As the huge and heavy goods are loaded and unloaded in the cargo holds, the scraping and bumping causes dents and chips off the ship’s protective paint. Once the body or the paint is damaged in any way, the formation of rust becomes for sure and hence, a hole. Since there is no stopping to it, there is a way to keep a ship safe from further damage and that is filling the holes as soon as they appear. Holes can only be filled once they are found by the method of checking tightness of hatch with ultrasound.

Holes can appear in most of the unexpected places within a ship’s body. Finding them can be very difficult and it can be impossible without any helpful tools. The only tool that is truly helpful in finding the holes in the ship’s body and hatch covers is the ultrasonic device which is portable and highly accurate in its working.

The generator which creates the ultrasonic waves is kept inside the ship’s cargo holds or any other part of the body to be tested for holes and leaks. As it starts creating the pulse, the ultrasonic waves escape from the leaking areas and the holes and are caught by the receiver. Hence the location of the hole is readily found.

The only way to save the economy from being drowned in the seas and to save the maritime industry from getting a bad name is the regular hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing of every ship. As these tests are conducted on a regular basis by the ship’s staff, there is no way a leak can go undetected and cause threat to the ship’s safety as it sails out on the open seas and oceans of the world.

Thursday, 26 December 2013

Run a Tightness Test on the Go

Tightness testing is becoming a huge concern for the ship owners. As deadlines are pressing and there is a huge load to make extra voyages, the ship owners often skip the tightness testing for their ships in order to make more voyages. As the old methods which usually consist of water hose and chalk testing is time taking and costly, the ship owners prefer to delay it in order to save money on the tests and also to be able to save time that would be otherwise spent in the tests and restrict from completing a voyage. But with the checking of tightness of hatch with ultrasound this painful and expensive method becomes extremely easy and affordable.

The ultrasonic method to check the tightness of the hatch covers is extremely easy and affordable. It is important to make sure that the hatch covers are completely water tight before starting a voyage. The ship can encounter a sea storm or a bad weather on the voyage. If there are holes in the hatch covers, or it is not completely water tight, the goods in the cargo hold would surely be harmed beyond repair and a huge consignment would be wasted. If such an incident happens onboard, the ship owner would not only be liable to pay for the damages to the consignment, the business person who was to receive it would also be suffering a huge business loss.

Since a huge responsibility lies on the shoulders of the ship owner who are carrying goods of many customers on their ship, it is important to ensure that the ship would be reaching its destination safe and sound. This is only possible when the ship is able to block any kind of ingress of water completely. The ultrasonic gadget runs the test through ultrasonic waves which does not harm even in the least possibility to the surroundings. It means if the ship is carrying any kind of goods, the ultrasonic waves would never harm the goods inside the cargo holds.

This provides an opportunity to even run the hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing with a filled cargo hold. If there is any threat of holes in the hatch covers, or if the holes have been identified in the test, there is no need to delay the voyage but take the necessary precautions immediately. The holes can be filled temporarily to protect the cargo from any kind of water damage during the voyage. This would not only result in a happy voyage, but it will save the ship owner from handing out a lot of money in terms of claims and sues.

Friday, 20 December 2013

Easy Testing For Holes

Technically speaking, a ship manages to stay afloat only until it has a lower density than the water it is sailing upon. As soon as it reaches a higher density or an equal density, the ship starts submerging rapidly until it is totally sunken to the depths of the ocean. It wouldn’t be wrong to term a ship as one of the greatest marvels of science keeping in view the gigantic sizes and the variety of their uses today. We have ships today that are bigger than a blue whale and weigh more than a dozen of them, yet they are able to stay afloat and travel through the massive oceans with ease.

Some of the biggest ships today are the transport ships which are capable to carry immense loads and sail from one country to another without a problem. But there is only one problem that keeps the ship owners on tethers and that is the holes that emerge in the wildest possible places. Emergence of holes cannot be prevented completely but they can be refilled as soon as they appear. The most prominent places of holes to appear are the ship’s deck and the ship’s cargo hatch covers.

Since the holes are so minute or are in such places where the human eye cannot see, they need to be hunted by the procedure known as checking the tightness of hatch with ultrasound. It is the most advanced and modern way to find holes in a ship’s body. By using the ultrasonic waves to escape from holes or to penetrate through the walls that have lost their thicknesses and are ready to create a hole, the maintenance staff of the shipping company can learn about the holes on a particular ship. Assessing the time of departure decided for the ship and the threat of the hole, the decision is taken and sometimes holes are repaired on emergency basis.

In the past when ship owners needed to check for holes in the ship’s body, they used to hire teams which performed the check by the water hose and chalk testing. This test although was also very much accurate, it wasted a lot of time and costed too much. The high costs kept most of the ship owners delaying the tests and their ship have got more rusted than before. But today by running the hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing the process of finding holes and damages to the body has become speedy and affordable. And since the device is portable, it can be taken on a journey to keep checking the health of the ship’s body. It has made possible for the ship owners to keep their used ships as good as new and never have a ship sunken again.

Thursday, 19 December 2013

Tightness Testing Of Gas Tanks

The use of gases is increasing in the factories around the world. As these gases are used for many different reasons such as nitrogen is used for cooling purposes and compressed gas is used in hydraulics known as pneumatics. Carbon dioxide is used for manufacturing fertilizers and even in soda pops. The increasing use of gases has forced the factories to even change their structures and many amendments and new installations have taken place lately to enhance safety and productivity. After some time it becomes necessary to check for tightness of the pipes and the tank by the popularly known method as hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing for the various reasons as below:
  • Smell of gas starts coming in the environment.
  • The pipe work is changed, it is either painted or new joints are included. Even when new covers are added it is equally important to check for tightness because screws and nails can create holes unexpectedly.
  • After alterations have been done to the pipes or assigning them to new routes.
  • Prior to starting the rework on the pipes or the tanks.
  • After the fitting work has been completed.
  • If the space or facility is rented, the owner would demand a yearly inspection to know that his place is safe from any future accidents or fires.
  • After refilling the gas because too much pressure can put a great load on the joints and weaken or loosen them.

Why gases are used in factories
The exact incident why gases started being used in factories is unknown. It is believed that the use of gases in factories began after it became clear that steam can be used to pushed heavy loads and the first locomotors came into existence. The use of steam made its way into the factories to be used in various ways and today also steam is being used in the fertilizers industry, textile industry, packaging industry and hundreds of other applications.

The commonest gas being used worldwide is the LPG which is used in homes and factories for combustion purposes. However, the gases need to be refilled sooner or later and the refilling process often turns the containers weak. It becomes necessary to for checking the health of the containers by the method known as checking tightness of hatch with ultrasound. Upon checking the tightness it becomes clear if there is anything demanding replacement or retightening. Loose joints can be vulnerable and can put the entire building at risk.

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Keeping Away Rust

One of our biggest industries is being eaten away by rust. The sea transport industry is one of the biggest industries present on this planet and the entire global economy would collapse if this particular industry is harmed in any way. Most of the countries rely on their exports for their revenues and without the sea transport industry there would be neither export nor import. A country has limited resources which are sometimes in abundance and they are in a position to export them in exchange for cash or other items of need. For instance the Middle East is in a position to export oil and petrol while it lacks many other resources such as food which is imported from the revenues they generate from the exports.

Unfortunately a factor lies within which is putting the sea transport industry at risk which is none other than rust. As the ships body is eaten away by rust, the ship becomes vulnerable to many damages and the goods on board are more often destroyed. The hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing is one method which is used to keep this problem at bay and to keep the industry working on a routine. Since the rust appears in some of the wildest places that are normally hidden from the eye, human inspections fail to detect them and they keep on destroying the goods.

When goods are destroyed or they are harmed in any way during the voyage, the shipping company is liable to pay for the damages. Although the shipping company takes shelter by having the goods insured, but there is a limit to how much the insurance company is willing to pay. If the ship is continuously destroying goods due to leaks, the insurance company marks it and does not handle its insurance further. If a ship is marked off the list, the entire reimbursement of damages falls on the ship’s owners who will have to pay for the damages from their own pockets. The amounts given away in terms of damages are far greater than the amount that would incur on repairing the leaks and saving the ship from troubles.

The best method is checking the tightness of hatch with ultrasound which saves time and money. As it does not take much time to complete the test, it can be completed within a day and mark all the damaged areas. The ship can then be sent for repairs and after all the leaks have been refilled, the ship is safe to sail for no less than a year or more.

Monday, 16 December 2013

Protecting the Catch

Whale hunting is known to be the oldest sport or trade for sailors because of the huge amount of meat they get from a single catch. Although it is now banned due to the rapidly decreasing population of the whales it is feared they would soon be extinct if it is not stopped hunting now. But catching the other kinds of fish is still on the rise because a fish caught directly from the ocean can never be matched with the fish that is bred in a fish farm. Since this fishing type involves spending a lot of time out in the ocean, it is very dangerous and has taken a huge count of precious lives.

The ships that are often out in the ocean for hunting huge shoals of fish are of a special design. They have a fairly huge compartment which can hold all the fish they catch and can make it to the shore without rotting the fish. The biggest reason a huge catch may go unprofitable is the leaks in the ship’s body. When the ocean’s water enters the holds where the catch is stored, the fish starts rotting and it can quickly build up a huge stench clearly indicates that the fish wouldn’t pt purchased by the customers and it would all be wasted.

To make sure that the hard work and risk taking isn’t wasted, the ship owners need to ensure that their ship’s hatch covers are completely leak free and air tight. It is extremely necessary to check tightness of hatch with ultrasound after arriving from a voyage. The harsh conditions that a ship faces at the hands of the cruel ocean clearly creates many gaps in the ship’s body which although cannot be analyzed by the human eye, but they are present and are enough to cause a great harm. In many cases the loose hatch covers have burst open revealing the entire hold to the lashing waves and the heavily pouring rain. This case has caused thousands of tons of fish to be wasted every year.

The hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing is not lengthy task and it can be preformed even in a hurry. But performing in a hurry wouldn’t be a good idea because there wouldn’t be time for repairs when you are already in a hurry. When the ship returns from a voyage there is time for a day or two or even more until the next voyage begins. When there is enough time available it is best to perform the test and mark all the areas that have been opened up. Have all the necessary repairs done and you’ll have a less hectic time protecting the catch.

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Oil Tankers Should Never Leak

As the world relies on petroleum products to fuel their vehicles, the increase in population has increased the demand for cars, motor bikes and public transports. This increase of demand has inadvertently increased the demand for petroleum products and there is now more need for refineries and oil digging. When the crude oil is pumped up, it is sent to the refineries where the crude oil is filtered and the components are removed and placed in their rightful storage tanks. After the oil components are completely separated and they are ready to be transported to the public, they are filled in the tankers which carry them all the way to the cities. As the refineries are situated many miles outside the cities and towns, the snail’s pace of the tankers takes many days to complete the journey.

Since we all know that petrol is very reactive to the air and it creates fumes, it starts evaporating in the form of fumes and the level can get very low. The tankers that are carrying the petrol need to be completely air tight so that the petrol would not react and not evaporate. To ensure that the tanker is always airtight, the testing process known as the hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing is run in a scheduled routine to find if any leaks have emerged. Due to the testing any leak minor or major is identified quickly and the repair is applied.

The process begins when the tanker arrives from a journey and is completely empty. The ultrasonic generator is turned on and placed inside the tanker. After closing the lid of the tanker the scanner is run all over the body of the tanker. If there is a leak in any part of the body, as soon as the scanner comes over the leak the ultrasonic waves that are escaping through it are picked up. The area is marked and the person proceeds to the other areas until all the holes have been located and marked. After the markings have been applied the tanker is sent to the workshop where the holes are filled and the leaking is stopped.

Before proclaiming the tanker as leak free, the process of checking tightness of hatch with ultrasound is run inside the workshop. If there is still sound detected on the scanner the matter is investigated and the leak is removed. Only after complete satisfaction of the staff and with no leak detected on the device the tanker is sent back to make another journey. Since it is carrying inflammable material, there is no chance authorities are willing to take the risk of letting a leaking tanker cross its compound.