Corrosion is not an abstract engineering concern — it is a daily, active threat to the structural integrity of every piece of carbon steel and alloy equipment in a process facility. Left undetected and unmanaged, corrosion causes piping failures, pressure vessel breaches, storage tank floor perforations, and structural collapses. The direct costs — repairs, product losses, regulatory fines, and liability — are enormous. The indirect costs, including unplanned downtime, production losses, and personnel injuries, can be even greater.
Precision MCS (PMCS) provides expert corrosion inspection services that give your engineering and operations teams the quantitative data they need to understand the current state of your equipment, project its future degradation trajectory, and prioritize maintenance investments intelligently. Our inspectors use industry-leading NDE tools and techniques in combination with engineering expertise to deliver corrosion assessments that are accurate, repeatable, and actionable.
Effective corrosion inspection requires an understanding of the specific damage mechanisms active in each piece of equipment. PMCS inspectors are trained to recognize and assess all common corrosion mechanisms encountered in process facilities: general (uniform) corrosion causing progressive and relatively uniform wall loss across exposed surfaces; pitting corrosion producing localized, deep cavities that can penetrate through a wall at a fraction of the rate projected from general corrosion measurements; crevice corrosion occurring in confined geometries such as flange faces, under gaskets, and beneath supports; galvanic corrosion driven by electrochemical potential differences between dissimilar metals in electrical contact; stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resulting from the combined effect of tensile stress and a corrosive environment; hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC) and sulfide stress cracking (SSC) in equipment handling hydrogen sulfide; erosion-corrosion occurring in high-velocity flow conditions particularly at elbows, tees, and reducers; and corrosion under insulation (CUI), one of the most insidious and challenging corrosion mechanisms in insulated piping and equipment.
PMCS applies a comprehensive suite of NDE methods for corrosion detection and quantification. Ultrasonic Thickness (UT) testing is the workhorse of corrosion inspection, providing direct wall thickness measurements at defined grid points for corrosion rate calculation and fitness-for-service determination. Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) provides enhanced flaw detection and sizing capability, particularly valuable for corrosion mapping, weld inspection, and crack detection in complex geometries. Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) scanning is applied for storage tank floor inspections to detect pitting and corrosion across the full floor plate area efficiently. Alternating Current Field Measurement (ACFM) allows crack detection and sizing in welds and base metal, even through coatings, without the need for surface preparation. Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) detects surface and near-surface cracks and discontinuities in ferromagnetic materials. Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) reveals surface-breaking discontinuities in both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic materials. Radiographic Testing (RT) provides volumetric examination of welds and material for internal defects. Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) testing allows thickness measurement through insulation without the need for removal, making it particularly effective for screening insulated piping and vessels for CUI. Visual Testing (VT) by experienced inspectors forms the foundation of all corrosion inspection programs and often identifies gross degradation, coating failures, and surface changes that guide NDE prioritization.
Corrosion under insulation is a particularly costly and dangerous form of corrosion because it is hidden from routine visual observation until external leakage or catastrophic failure makes it visible. PMCS specializes in CUI inspection programs that combine screening techniques — including pulsed eddy current, profile radiography, and infrared thermography — with targeted insulation removal and direct inspection at locations identified as highest risk. Our CUI inspection programs are structured using industry guidelines from API 570 and NACE SP0198 to ensure systematic, risk-informed coverage of insulated equipment in your facility.
Individual thickness readings provide a point-in-time snapshot of equipment condition. Corrosion mapping — the systematic collection of thickness data across a defined grid on a vessel, tank floor, or piping section — provides a spatial picture of degradation that reveals pitting patterns, localized attack, and areas of accelerated corrosion that isolated readings might miss. PMCS produces corrosion maps that plot wall thickness data visually across the inspection surface, enabling engineers to identify the most severely degraded areas, calculate accurate corrosion rates by location, and prioritize repair or replacement activities.
Trending corrosion rate data across multiple inspection cycles is equally important. PMCS maintains inspection history records that allow short-term and long-term corrosion rates to be calculated for each measurement location, providing the quantitative basis for remaining life projections and inspection interval justification per API 510, API 570, and API 653.
Corrosion inspection is most effective when prioritized based on risk — directing more frequent, more intensive inspection activity toward equipment where corrosion is most likely to occur and where the consequences of failure are most severe. PMCS supports the integration of corrosion inspection data into Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) frameworks per API 580 and API 581. By combining corrosion rate data, damage mechanism assessment, and consequence of failure analysis, an RBI program ensures that your inspection resources are allocated where they will deliver the greatest safety and reliability benefit.
PMCS corrosion inspection reports provide all the data your engineering team needs to make informed decisions: equipment identification and service description; NDE methods applied and calibration records; thickness data by location with statistical analysis; corrosion rate calculations (short-term and long-term); corrosion maps with visual degradation profiles; fitness-for-service determination; remaining life projections; corrective action recommendations; and next inspection recommendations. Reports are formatted for use in MI records, regulatory filings, and reliability management systems.
API 570-compliant piping inspection services covering thickness measurement, corrosion assessment, CUI evaluation, and fitness-for-service determinations for process piping systems of all types.
Certified inspections of all flame arrestor types — deflagration, detonation, in-line, and end-of-line — documented to API 2000, NFPA 67, and EN ISO 16852 standards.
