The UK-headquartered company’s UT5000 instrinsically safe thickness gauge is a hand-held device that can be used for non-destructive testing to establish the extent of corrosion.

The device, which is ATEX and IECEx-certified for Ex ib IIC T4 Gb and Ex ibD IIIB T200C DB hazardous areas, also achieved its dust certification. This means it can be used in dust environments that have been assessed as having an explosion risk.

The UT5000 boasts several updates, including intelligent measuring technology that can record multiple readings at specific locations.

A total of nine multi-point readings can be saved against each radio frequency identification tag on the asset or pipeline.

It greatly reduces time spent in the field and increases the effectiveness and efficiency of corrosion monitoring.

The UT5000 provides accurate thickness to the nearest thousandth of an inch (0.0254mm) and also uses the latest Echo-Echo technology, which has the ability to read metal thickness levels even through a painted surface.

CorDEX Instruments chief executive Tony Holliday said integrity and corrosion testing was becoming increasingly important for the energy industry as a number of assets were approaching the end of their designed life spans.

“Failures on ageing assets and pipelines are often attributed to corrosion and defective welds so effective inspection and maintenance is increasingly vital,” he said.

“The latest updates to the UT5000 have been made in direct response to feedback received from industry and makes the monitoring process more efficient and saves valuable time in the field.”

To effectively manage and assess the information gathered by the UT5000, CorDEX offers its Connect software program that can be downloaded to any PC.

The software uses RFID to tag every thickness measurement with a specific location, date and time, which enables trend analysis of the asset or pipeline.

Engineers can use the data to easily identify trouble spots and create predictive maintenance programs.