TPT September 2009

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40 September 2009 ›
Technology Update
THE DM5E range is the latest generation
of portable, ultrasonic, corrosion monitoring
thickness gauges from GE Sensing
& Inspection Technologies. It offers
improvement in performance over previous
corrosion thickness gauges in terms of
better thickness measurement stability and
repeatability at normal and, especially, at
elevated temperatures. It has been designed
for operation in the harshest of working
environments, performing wall thickness
measurements on pipelines, pressure
vessels and storage tanks in the oil and gas
industry, as well as the petrochemical and
power generation sectors.
The new corrosion measurement solution
is available in three versions: the DM5E
Basic, the DM5E and the DM5E DL. All
versions weigh just 223g, including their
AA batteries, which allow up to 60 hours
of operation. They feature an LCD data
display, which is backlit to be visible in
all lighting conditions, and operation can
be carried out with one hand via a user-
friendly operator interface.
The sealed, watertight and dust-proof
membrane keypad features a minimum of
function keys and arrow keys. Navigation
through the single level menu is simple and
intuitive and the keypad allows access to all
calibration, set-up and display modes.
A range of displays is available, including
normal, where thickness isdisplayeddigitally,
Min Scan and Max Scan, where either
the minimum thickness or the maximum
thickness is displayed after the ultrasonic
probe is passed over the wall surface being
monitored, and B-scan, which is generated
by measuring and recording at one point per
second to create a B-scan graph showing
thickness values graphically.
The DM5E instrument additionally offers
the dual multi-operating mode, which allows
metal thickness to be measured through
coatings.
Portable, ultrasonic corrosion monitoring
thickness gauges for improved stability
Protective coatings, including paint, contribute
significant error to thickness measurements
of underlying metal walls when using con-
ventional methods. In addition, the removal of
coatings, and their subsequent reapplication,
involves considerable cost and time.
The DM5E DL version has a built-in
datalogger, with a capacity to store 50,000
readings in grid and linear files. This
makes the measurement data available for
further processing. Using GE’s UltraMATE
software, measurement data files can
easily be transferred from the instrument
to a PC via a USB interface, for further
analysis and storage.
The Basic version can be simply upgraded
into a DM5E instrument and both DM5E
Basic and DM5E can be field-upgraded to
become DL versions.
GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies
– UK
Fax: +44 1727 795400
Email:
Website:
 The DM5E series
ultrasonic thickness gauge
Installations for the
continuous induction
heat treatment of
tubes, bars and wires
AN increasing role is being played by
continuous induction heat treatments
in the production of high quality steel
pipes, according to ATE Applicazioni
TermoElettroniche Srl, Italy.
It says the process helps achieve high pro-
duction rates with reduced installation space
requirements, lower energy consumption
and a better working environment.
The company says ATE’s production
programme offers: annealing furnaces of
steel tubes, wires, strips, round and square
section bars; annealing furnaces of non-
ferrous tubes and wires (aluminium, copper,
brass and precious alloys); hardening and
tempering equipment for steel tubes, bars
and wires; and localised heating of steel
tubes and bars.
ATE Applicazioni Termo Elettroniche
Srl – Italy
Fax: +39 0444 406434
Email:
Website: