Historical Milestone Accomplished Using Latitude™

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Structural Integrity Associates, Inc. (SI) announces LATITUDE™, a revolutionary, non-mechanized position encoding technology, is now qualified for use in examining critical welds in nuclear power plants.  For many applications, LATITUDE allows a single Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) operator to quickly and easily acquire encoded data with the convenience of a manually-applied examination, while providing results equivalent to or better than costly automated examinations.  The qualification of LATITUDE for use in nuclear power plants represents a critical milestone, as the rigorous requirements for that industry mean the technology can be applied to component examinations using an array of NDE technologies across a range of power plant and industrial facilities.

The LATITUDE-based inspection system boasts the advantages of being easily portable and quickly deployable when compared to traditional automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) systems. This is attributed to drastic reductions in the number of components, the overall size and weight of the system, and the number of personnel required to deploy and operate the system.  LATITUDE is also fully battery-powered, with hot-swappable power cells, eliminating the need for extension cords or portable power generators.  The associated savings include a substantial decrease in schedule, logistical support, and overall cost.

The development of the LATITUDE technology was financially supported in-part by Exelon Generation. "We are excited about the use of LATITUDE within the Exelon fleet along with the many advantages it will bring to our outages. In today's competitive energy market, innovation such as this will help us remain competitive," said Dave Anthony, NDE Services Manager at Exelon.

The examination procedure using LATITUDE that was initially qualified by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) applies to nuclear plant dissimilar metal welds 12-inch OD and greater and is coupled with an innovative detection-only approach for a further improvement in performance time. The full complement of LATITUDE-based examination applications is currently being quantified for development in our fossil, combined cycle, oil and gas pipeline, chemical, and nuclear markets. Initial field trials of the technology were conducted in late 2017 on a fossil plant application and SI expects to deploy the technology in the nuclear market prior to the end of the spring outage season.

"We are very excited and proud to have completed this significant milestone with LATITUDE, and to be bringing the benefits of this new technology to the industries we serve," said Laney Bisbee, President and CEO of SI. "As our nuclear clients know, EPRI PDI qualification represents the gold standard for NDE/NDT system qualification and our team worked diligently to bring another first-of-a kind innovation to fruition."

For more information and technical details on LATITUDE, please visit www.SI-LATITUDE.com. 

About Structural Integrity Associates, Inc.

Structural Integrity Associates, Inc. is an international leader in asset lifecycle and condition assessment solutions, and provides technical expertise to power plants, oil and gas pipelines, and critical facilities and infrastructure. With headquarters in San Jose, CA, Structural Integrity serves clients worldwide through branch offices located throughout the US. Additional information may be found at www.structint.com.

Contact:
Joe Agnew
Structural Integrity Associates, Inc.
704-949-8074
[email protected]

SOURCE Structural Integrity Associates, Inc.

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