LONDON, UK – July 16, 2019 - Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ× (Element) has invested in growing its global coatings testing Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ× to bring new services and capacity closer to its customer base across Europe, the Middle East and North America.
Element’s recent investments have included constructing new centres of excellence in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Edinburgh, UK; and Houston, TX, which are further complemented by existing coatings facilities in Abu Dhabi and Singapore. The investments improve capacity and customer lead times and facilitate coatings testing across a range of sectors, including oil & gas, petrochemicals, marine and renewables. They also ensure a highly technical offering at a local level, combined with the strength and uniformity of a global service, led technically by Global Coatings Specialist, Marie Halliday.
For Subsea and Heavy Duty Marine protective coatings, especially for the Oil and Gas Sector, Element has increased its Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ× with qualification testing investment. Additional investment in full scale pipe reeling Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ× at the Edinburgh laboratory complements Element’s existing UK service offering, including resonance fatigue testing in Aberdeen and Simulated Service Testing in Hitchin, providing increased testing to ISO12736 for the European oil & gas industry.
The Group has also created extended capacity and capability in environmental exposure and accelerated weathering testing. This has included installation of cyclic corrosion chambers, salt spray, humidity, mechanical test equipment and UV cabinets across all of Element’s coatings laboratories, enabling testing in accordance with a wide range of global standards including ISO, ASTM and NACE.
Matt Hopkinson, EVP of Oil & Gas and Infrastructure at Element, said: “Element is committed to being at the forefront of testing technologies globally, whilst providing our customers with a highly technical local offering.
Our laboratories, situated across multiple continents, allow us to provide a more efficient service across a variety of markets. We have identified strengths in our protective coatings and marine Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ× that are increasingly beneficial to our customers.
In this way, Element can become a true testing partner and bring certainty to the coatings approvals process and development of test programs for our clients.’’
Element’s global coatings facilities can meet the requirements for key industry coating test standards including: Norsok M-501; the recently revised and updated ISO 12944 parts 6 and 9; and ISO 21809 parts 1, 2 and 3, creating a stronger, more unified global reach.
About Element
Element is one of the world’s leading independent providers of materials and product qualification testing, inspection and certification services to the global Aerospace; Transportation & Industrials; Fire & Building Products; and Oil & Gas and Infrastructure sectors, where failure in service is simply not an option. We exist to help our customers to make certain that the materials, products and systems that they make are safe, quality, compliant and ultimately fit for purpose, leveraging 200 years of testing experience and our global testing Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ×.
Media contacts:
Bora Trimcev, Communications Manager
T: +44 (0) 203 540 1820
E: bora.trimcev@element.com
Alex Glynne-Percy, Pagoda PR
T: +44 (0) 131 556 0770
E: alex.glynne-percy@pagodapr.com
“Element is committed to being at the forefront of testing technologies globally, whilst providing our customers with a highly technical local offering.”
Matt Hopkinson
EVP, OIL & GAS AND INFRASTRUCTURE