Positive Material Identification(PMI)

SPECTRO conducts identification of metallic materials, also referred to as Alloy Verification (positive material identification - PMI) all over India. The aim of the identification of material is to ensure that the nominal material composition that is as supplied and complies with purchase order and / or design requirements. SPECTRO can perform PMI on the following items:

• Alloy Steel Pipes including clad pipes
• Alloy Steel Flanges and Forgings
• Alloy Steel Fittings including clad fittings
• Alloy Steel Fasteners
• Alloy cast and forged steel valves
• Alloy Steel instrumentation items (control valves, safety valves, etc.)
• Longitudinal vales and fitting welds
• Gaskets (for ring type joints)

Codes and Standards

• ASTM A 751, Method practices and terminology for chemical analysis of steel products API Recommended Practice 578, Material Verification program for new and existing alloy piping systems.
• ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section II, Material specification.
• ASTM E 353, Chemical analysis of stainless, heat resisting, maraging and other similar chromium, nickel and iron alloys.
• ASTM E 354, Chemical analysis of high-temperature, electrical, magnetic and other similar, nickel and cobalt alloys.

Pre-requisites

The metallic surface to be tested shall be free from all extraneous materials such as scale, grease, rust, dirt, etc. which may interfere with the testing. If necessary, light filing shall be done to ensure good surface contact of the electrode of the PMI equipment.

Equipment at SPECTRO

SPECTRO’s Positive Material Identification service includes experienced on-site inspection and testing team with multiple highly sophisticated handheld / portable X-Ray Florescence (XRF) and portable Optical Emission Spectrometer (OES) spectrometer which can measure the complete chemical composition of the materials, non-destructively and accurately.

XRF Portable Alloy Analyzer

Our XRF based PMI instruments include Oxford Instruments X-Met 3000TSR and/or Arc Met 3000, XRF- WD Rigaku. These analyzers can analyze alloying elements in Carbon Steel, Alloy Steel or Stainless Steel, Tool Steels, Ni Alloys, Cobalt Alloys and Copper Alloys. The elements that can be analyzed are Cr, Ni, Mo, Mn, Fe, Ti, Nb, Zn, Cu, Co, W, V, Sn, Pb, Ta, etc. The identification is done on basis of major alloying elements only and grade of material is reported by our inspection engineer..

ARC-MET 8000 Mobile Lab Portable Spectrometer

This portable spectrometer is ideal for PMI and can determine all elements in C arbon Steel, Alloy Steel & Stainless Steel. It can be used to analyze Ferrous and Non Ferrous materials including Nickel, Cobalt Aluminum and Copper base alloys along with Carbon. Low Alloy and Stainless Steels. Separate calibration will be provided for each matrix. Thus this is a very precise instrument and is used in lab as well as field operations. It uses Argon Gas for Ferrous samples where determination of elements like C, S, P and Si is essential to determine exact grade. The test surface requirement however is a flat surface of about 20mm dia. It can analyze elements including Fe, C, Si, Mn, Cr, Mo, Ni, Al, Co, Cu, Nb, Ti, V, W, Pb, and Zr.

PMI Inspection and Services Team

SPECTRO PMI division has expert engineering and inspection personnel to undertake incoming material inspection and provide on-site alloy verification for Quality control and Stock control purposes. SPECTRO can analyze Melt and Weld and provide a comprehensive Maintenance assessment.

Completed Projects and Customers

Our PMI service client list includes customers in the refining and petrochemical industry, a number of Metal producers, Foundries, Metal fabricators, Scrap yards, Scrap traders, Electric utility companies, Power plants, Construction engineering, and the Chemical process industry.
We have a large list of successful completion of Positive Material Identification (PMI test) projects in India. SPECTRO completed lot of PMI assignments and projects for EIL, NHPC, IOCL, Hitachi, and Bridge & Roof, L&T, Toyo Engineering Panipat.