Where Your Pipe Dreams Come True

Hi All,

As a follow up on my last post about the Pipeline Assessment and Certification Program I took, I am happy to announce I have passed the exam and have earned a certification to analyze pipe inspection data and catalogue defects. 

It was a very informative and interesting class, taught by John Jurgens of Trenchless Resources International.  I look forward to building on what I’ve learned and working more closely with TRI in the future.  I am also excited to help promote NASSCO here in Washington and in Canada. 

-Eric Sullivan

There is an IA Renewals Seminar on December 10, 2008 in Seattle Washington at the SeaTac Holiday Inn worth 8 FAA credit hours of IA training. Atlas Inspection Technologies will be there to demo some of the latest technology in remote visual inspection equipment, including IT Concepts videoscopes, the Atlas Custom Swing Borescope, and the Aqua SnakeEye III fiberscope/videoscope.

This is the last IA Road Show for 2008! The seminar is free to AMT Society Members ($49.00 to non members, which includes a one year membership to AMT Society) Lunch and refreshments are provided, and certificates will be presented on location.  For more information or to register visit the AMT site at http://www.amtsociety.org/roadshow.jsp

For more information on Atlas Inspection Technologies Remote Visual Inspection Equipment including rigid borescopes, fiberscopes, and videoscope equipment for aviation inspections visit our site at www.atlas-inspection.com

Rabco Roller skid wth InsightVision Push Camera

Atlas now carries Rabco Universal Rollers Skids to easily adapt your push camera for use in lines 6″ to 12″ or 4″ to 6″. 

While inside the pipe, pivoting arms on the roller skid continually adjust to keep the camera head centered in the pipeline. Nylon wheels enable the skid to easily roll through pipe. Each roller skid comes standard with a safety harness for emergency retrieval and optional 6K candlepower auxillary waterprof flashlights are also available.

This great accessory not only minimizes wear and tear on camera heads, but also extends the useability of push cameras so they can be used in areas previously requiring pipe crawlers. We’ll have these up on our new website in a couple of weeks, but you can call us anytime for more information or to have info emailed to you.

I just egistered for an upcoming PACP (Pipeline Assessment Certification Program) course in December in the Seattle area!  The course will allow me to get certification for storm and sewer inspections.  The class is taught through NASSCO (National Association of Sewer Service Companies) and lasts two days with an exam at the end.  As part of the class I will be learning about how to identify and classify pipeline defects, and the protocols for rating the severity of those defects on a scale of 1 to 5.  It sounds simple, but there’s a lot of detail involved.

This certification will enable me to accurately code any pipe inspection footage so that I can produce meaningful reports to customers that I do on-site service work for.  It will also enable me to better understand the problems that sewer and storm inspection operators face, which will help me in finding solutions for municipalities and pipe inspection contractors.   I will update everyone on what I learned in the class once it’s completed, so stay tuned!

Atlas thermal imaging cameras found a new use when Uniglo Heattech rented units for a huge marketing campaign to show the performance of their clothing line. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFwox0BmOck.  Thermal imaging works by “reading” heat emitted from an object or person,  and turning it into an image that can be viewed called a thermogram. The hottest areas show up as reds and the coolest areas as paler colors.  Thermal cameras, also known as infrared cameras or IR cameras, are available at Atlas for rent or purchase. For more information go to http://www.atlas-inspection.com/infrared_camera_rentals.html 

I’m excited to be attending the 2008 Alberta Trenchless Conference, sponsored by the Alberta chapter of the North American Society for Trenchless Technology.  The event will be held at the Mayfield Inn, November 13th, in Edmonton. 

Back in June I gave a presentation on Panoramo 3D Optical Scanning of Pipelines to some fellows at Stantec Engineering, and they were excited by this new method of pipe assesment and analysis.  I got them in touch with the first Canadian users of Panoramo, the City of Saskatoon, who will be sending Tom Dehod to give his own presentation on this technology and what led them to adopt it. 

Myself and Andy Melton, of RapidView-IBAK North America (www.rapidview.com) will have a booth at the trade show and we’ll be showing off both versions of the Panoramo technology (for pipelines and for manhole inspections).  In addition, I will have an InsightVision push camera system for small diameter pipe inspection, with an integrated “Digital Express” recording package (USB, CF card, SD card, and Ethernet). 

We’re looking forward to meeting new friends and visiting with old ones!

I am pleased to announce the opening of our California office with the addition of Curt Harke. Curt is an industry veteran who spent many year in various capacities with Everest VIT.  Curt has excellent practical knowledge of nearly all aspects of remote visual inspection in power plants, refineries, and process facilities. Curt additionally has managed applications development in a wide range of industrial facilities. Curt’s new responsibilities at Atlas will primarily be Business Development in the South West Region of the US. You can reach Curt at curt@atlas-inspection.com (760) 814-5544 or via the Seattle office at 206 -774-8704 or Toll Free at 800-281-0650.

Many of you have been installing infrared windows over the last few years to help mitigate Arc Flash dangers inherent when opening electrical panels to complete Thermographic surveys.  Many more managers of electrical systems have been sitting evaluating and trying to determine exactly how to do this and comply with NFPA70e which sets out guidlines for working more safely with low, medium and high voltage electrical equipment.  In many cases it has not been overly clear exactly how to comply with NFPA 70e and exactly how infrared windows relate.  For those who have invested the time and money to install windows they have found that overall it is quicker, easier and safer to conduct IR Surveys through an infrared window and keep the electrical cabinet sealed and closed.

Tim Rohr, IRISS Inc. has written a white paper that offers clarity to the NFPA.  Email me and I can send you a copy or you can down load it at http://www.iriss.com/PDF/NFPA%20and%20Standards%20Implications%20on%20Thermography.pdf.  I have found that this white paper helps uncomplicate a fairly confusing issue.  NFPA is publishing a revised version of 70E in 2009 which we understand will offer more specifics on the use of IR windows.  Until then please call me at 206 774 8704 or email d.billings@atlas-inspection.com and we can discuss your situation.

We are pleased to announce a new rental offering!  The NITON Hand Held XRF Analyzers for Positive Material Identification (PMI), Environmental Analysis, and Mining and Exploration is now available from Atlas!    The system is available now! 

Handheld Thermo Scientific NITON^® XRF analyzers are well suited for demands of portable, nondestructive elemental analysis in the field.  These units are well suited for Metal and Alloy Analysis, Environmental Analysis, and Mining and Exploration.  Each unit offers:

• an environmentally sealed housing for real world use – dust, dirt and moisture don’t impact reliability
• lab-quality precision (actual performance correlates with sample homogeneity and preparation)

• at least 8 hours of battery life, with a free spare – we know your day doesn’t always end after 8 hours
• complete data encryption: your data is never vulnerable to accidental or malicious tampering
• fast, secure data downloads, with the spectral fingerprinting that today’s juries have come to expect from legally defensible data

More information on these portable PMI units visit our website at http://www.atlas-inspection.com/xrf-pmi.html or for more information on the specific unit applicable to your application please call 800 281 0650 or email info@atlas-inspection.com. 

I want to call your attention to a really neat innovation from Rapidview IBAK.  They recently introduced a new product called Panoramo SI which is a 3 dimensional digital inspection system for inspecting manholes, stacks, tanks and large pressure vessels.  The system uses two digital cameras and flash digital photography to enable total inspection of the inside of the confined space.  You can see the panaramo pipe line system footage on our web site at http://www.atlas-inspection.com/panoramo_video.html or on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r1DPAV9JFI.  The Panoramo SI images will be posted shortly.  Call or email me if you want to know more.