| Introduction and Overview It is critically important for workers in inspection, safety, and maintenance departments in refineries and petrochemical plants to prevent the accidents that can occur as a result of the installation of incorrect or out-of-specification metal alloy parts. Because XRF is nondestructive and provides immediate, accurate on-site test results, field portable XRF alloy analysis has become the standard industry method for material inspection for alloy verification (AV) and positive material identification (PMI). In the past three decades, a number of high-profile industrial accidents in reineries and petrochemical plants have raised awareness around the world to the potential dangers caused by alloy mix-ups. With current industrial safety regulations and an atmosphere of public scrutiny, it is absolutely essential for petroleum and petrochemical plants to discover and ix these material mix-ups. As a result, petroleum reineries and petrochemical facilities worldwide are now adopting best practices and a best technology approach to PMI for verifying the safety of operating plants. As PMI testing technology has advanced, former practices of testing only a fraction of all parts and assemblies have been replaced by 100% comprehensive materials testing in thousands of plants. Modern PMI Technology Today's inspectors have access to powerful new testing tools that change the way PMI is performed. Thanks to major advancements in handheld x-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology pioneered by NITON, now a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, inspection and maintenance personnel can test miles of pipeline, piping systems, vessels, and their associated reinery alloys during a single turnaround. The performance and ease of use of the newest generation of handheld Thermo Scientific NITON XRF analyzers enables inspection and maintenance personnel to test large numbers of samples with extremely high conidence |