Due to its excellent reputation for professional and reliable Pipeline Welding Inspection, SGS Industrial Services was awarded the contract to provide independent welding inspection for a new 60km pipeline project in Nigeria by SEPTA Energy Limited. To assure the integrity and reliability of the welds during the pipelines installation, SGS is conducting Radiographic Testing using X-ray crawlers.

SEPTA Energy Limited is a Nigerian subsidiary of the Seven Energy Group, an independent gas development and production company. The main focus of SEPTA is the supply of gas for the domestic market in Nigeria. For this reason, SEPTA has recently invested $420 million in the development of two main gas fields and in the construction of a 60km long gas pipeline in Nigeria for the delivery of gas to the Ibom Power Plant.

In April 2010, SEPTA Energy started the installation of this new pipeline. The project includes 60km of pipes, linking Ikot Abasi to the Eket Power Station, Nigeria.

As pipelines represent a considerable financial investment and are significant business assets it is particularly important to assure the integrity and reliability of the pipeline welds during the pipelines installation. Consequently, SEPTA was seeking a reliable and independent third-party company in order to ensure the safe function of the pipelines.

Due to its excellent reputation for professional and reliable Pipeline Welding Inspection, SGS Industrial Services was awarded the contract to provide independent inspection of 5,500 welds of the newly installed pipeline for SEPTA Energy.

SGS is the world's leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company with extensive experience in inspecting the integrity of pipeline welds. For more than 50 years, SGS has been testing pipelines from all over the world and is familiar with various mill and site inspections on pipeline projects wherever located.

In February 2010, SGS Nigeria started with the preparation work and the set up of an inspection team of ten highly experienced, skilled and well-qualified experts. The main aim of SGS's third party inspection is to verify that the welds conform to all the applicable quality standards. The inspection and testing work by SGS is carried out in accordance with governmental standards and the specific requirements of SEPTA Energy.

The SGS experts conduct precise inspections in order to identify, analyze and eliminate failed welds. Thanks to their extensive know-how and experience, the inspectors are able to indicate discontinuities in welds and to make suggestions for repairing them.

For the Non-Destructive Testing of these 5,500 pipeline welds, the SGS inspectors perform Radiographic Testing.

Radiographic Testing is one of the most applicable and reliable Non-Destructive Testing methods for the detection of imperfections in welds and involves the use of penetrating gamma or X-radiation to examine welds for imperfections. An X-ray machine or radioactive isotope is used as a source of radiation. Radiation is directed through the weld and onto a film or other media. The resulting shadowgraph shows the internal soundness of the weld. SGS experts analyze and interpret the resulting images and decide on the next actions to be taken.

For the Radiographic Testing of the circumferential welds in the pipeline, SGS inspectors use X-ray crawlers. These crawlers are remotely controlled and X-ray the inside of pipes and produce single wall, single image radiographs of the welds. SGS uses a special model which is suitable for pipelines up to 60 inches in diameter.

The inspection project is still ongoing and expected to run until December 2010. Until now, the SGS team has inspected 2,200 welds.

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