TWI has supported the Oil & Gas sector since the 1960s, with testing in sour service conditions since the early 1970s. Since the redevelopment of TWI’s HQ in Cambridge in 2003, the available laboratory space increased incrementally to 460m2 . TWI is now pleased to announce that in recognition of the significant demands for our expertise, major investment has been committed to the expansion of this facility to 1000m2 (approximately 10,000 square feet) and the infrastructure is now complete.
This expansion further increases capacity for materials and full-scale testing in production environments (sour and sweet) and immersion in seawater, particularly with cathodic protection. TWI now offers unrivalled technical expertise combined with one of the largest facilities available to the industry to test metals, polymers and elastomers from small and medium scale specimens to full size pipes and flexibles. The increased space means TWI’s experts can continue to respond to industry’s demands for ever more complex testing and validation assessments of materials including supercritical conditions, static and dynamic tests, including fatigue and fracture in aggressive media, and comparative tests of small scale and full scale systems etc.
The photographs below show the expanded lab space with just some of the equipment being placed into the facility, with much more to follow. The laboratory now offers a dedicated visitor reception area for discussion and safety briefing, and safe-walk areas will be introduced removing the need for safety footwear for visitors.
More information will be provided in a future article highlighting the equipment, most having been designed and built by TWI’s expert technicians. However, to discuss your company’s needs for testing metals, polymers or elastomers through to full-scale system validation contact Stuart Bond (Technology Manager – Corrosion & Section Manager) via stuart.bond@twi.co.uk or during the ISO15156 meetings and NACE Corrosion2012 in Salt Lake City.
