ICorr Midlands Update

ICorr Midlands Update

Institute News, Latest News

Annual General Meeting, DNV Facility Visit and AI Webinar on Corrosion Inspection.

The UK Midlands branch officially commenced its 2025 activities with the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 28th April, attended by ICorr President Dr. Yunnan Gao.

Annual General Meeting

The ICorr Midlands Chair, Dr. Prafull Sharma, introduced the new committee volunteers, who were formally approved to commence their roles. Strategic priorities for the year were set. A key focus is expanding engagement with academia to promote student membership. The committee chair also emphasised collaboration with other professional societies, aligning with ICorr’s broader strategy for mutual growth and knowledge exchange. As part of the new strategy, the branch will also host subject-specific webinars, such as the timely topic of AI application in corrosion and inspection management on 16th April.

Uzma Anjum (DNV) will oversee the branch’s online events
and webinars.

Other committee roles include:

• Ali Oskuie (Worley): Committee Secretary

•Louis Ramdall (Premtech): Coordinator for in-person events

•Ben Knight (Premtech): Social media and digital communications

The committee will also benefit from the continued support of Bill Whittaker, former Midlands Chair, whose experience will help guide strategic decisions.

DNV Facility Visit

Screenshot

Coinciding with the 2025 AGM, the committee and guests participated in a technical visit to DNV’s Loughborough facility. Attendees from both academia and industry took part in the event, gaining valuable insights into DNV’s operations in the field of failure and root cause analysis. The Midlands branch extends its appreciation to DNV for hosting both the visit and the AGM.

Attendees participated in a guided tour of the facility, where they observed firsthand the sophisticated techniques and methodologies used in root cause and failure investigations.
The lab showcased a variety of real-world case studies, including failures in gas pipelines and components from the energy sector. These samples illustrated the complexity of determining failure causes, which often involve a blend of technical, managerial, and communication-related factors.

The visit also included a series of technical presentations, highlighting DNV’s multidisciplinary approach to integrity management across the renewable, hydrocarbon, and electricity sectors. The sessions offered deeper insights into how engineering expertise, forensic analysis, and risk assessment converge to support industry resilience and safety.

The ICorr Midlands committee extends its sincere appreciation to DNV, especially Uzma Anjum and Kathryn Thomas, for their generous hospitality and for making the event a rich learning experience for all. Events like this reinforce the importance of cross-sector collaboration and knowledge sharing in the evolving field of corrosion and asset integrity.

Webinar on AI Application in Corrosion Management

The branch hosted a well-attended webinar titled “AI-Powered Digital Corrosion Inspection and Coating Survey”, presented by Kashif Salim (Abyss Solutions). This session explored Abyss Solutions’ advanced system, which integrates high-precision data collection tools—such as 3D scanning—with AI algorithms to assess and prioritise corrosion risks, particularly in offshore piping systems. The topic resonated with online attendees, generating many audience questions and highlighting the growing importance of digital tools in asset integrity management.

This was the second webinar on the application of the AI in corrosion management. The Midlands branch plans to continue offering webinars on high-interest topics and will soon release its annual webinar calendar.

Further Contacts

www.linkedin.com/posts/icorr-midlands_corrosion-materialsscience-engineering-activity-7312949751820267520-FSzp/ and see the ICorr Events Calendar at: www.icorr.org/events/

Interested members can also subscribe to the branch’s YouTube channel to access recordings of past webinars at:
www.youtube.com/@ICORRMidlands

All event slide packs are available in the Midlands Branch web page at: Midlands Branch – Institute of Corrosion under Local Technical Programme.

For all other inquiries and membership / sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Branch Chair
Dr. Prafull Sharma at: midlandschair@icorr.org

London Updates

London Updates

Institute News

The branch held a technical meeting together with TWI on 10th April, when Mr John Thomson, Director – SeaShield, Winn & Coales (Denso) Ltd., presented “An innovative approach to offshore, subsea pipeline field joint protection.”

John has worked for Winn & Coales for nearly 15 years. A mechanical engineer, he has been involved in both commercial and technical operations with the company. He oversees the technical and commercial aspects of the systems the company supplies for marine and major pipeline projects.

The presentation described the protection of the field joints for two subsea sour-rated carbon steel pipelines, an 18 km run of 254 mm (10”) diameter pipe and a 22 km run of 304.8 mm (12”) diameter, both designed to operate at a temperature of 109° C, and covered the testing and approval of the system and the application of the system during production.

John began by explaining which system is typically used, Heat Shrink Sleeves (HSS), due to their good mechanical properties (bond strength, resistance to damage  and high operating temperature) and equivalence to 3LPE and 3LPP main pipe systems, plus good installation time and a well understood system.  However, he then explained the downside of such a system, hot working needed, strict temperature and surface preparation requirements, and the time taken to repair any damage. He then described the application of FJCs offshore, and noted that the typical critical path on the lay barge is usually welding the joints, however the FJC can also be a critical path due to the need for surface preparation, heating and cooling, and repair, hence the need for an innovative system to reduce the time taken to coat a joint.

This is where viscoelastic coatings (as per ISO 21809-3, Type 13) come to the fore. These can be applied as a roll or sheet, with mechanical protection provided by a polymer mesh or similar material.

The actual system applied on this project was: one viscoelastic layer (1.8 mm), two layers of polyethylene compression wrap (0.38 mm), glass reinforced resin (0.28 mm per layer), finally, one layer of polymer mesh (6 mm).

John then showed details of application, and the results of pre-qualification tests, and described the benefits of this type
of system:

• Safety – no blasting, no hot work

• Cost effectiveness – no blasting, no heating

• Efficiency – multiple steps concurrently, no PU infill

•FJC off critical path – fast pipelay rate, low repair rate (number of repairs and time of repair

Finally, John summerised the key performance highlights from the use of the novel offshore field joint coating system on this project, including:

•Achieving a record 1,766 hours free of Lost Time Injury (LTI) during the FJC operation.

•Averaging 200 to 290 Field Joint Coating (FJC) joints per day for the 304.8mm and the 254 mm diameter pipelines respectively, with a peak of 305 joints per day.

• Production application time of less than 5 minutes per joint.

•One of the lowest industry repair rates of 0.28% and 0.07% for the 304.8 mm and 254 mm diameter pipelines respectively. Averaging 0.19% for the entire project versus the KPI of 5%.

•Realising further cost savings by eliminating the need for PU infill foam on concrete weight joints.

After an interesting Q and A, the chair, Paul Books, presented John with an ICorr pen, as thanks for his presentation.

The branch held two social events for members and their partners on 8th May, the final event of the
24/25 season.

First was a guided walk through Highgate Cemetery, London, where many well-known people are buried, including Michael Faraday, who discovered the principles behind the electric motor and the link between light and magnetism – well known to people in our industry, Karl Marx, the German political philosopher and revolutionary socialist, and the singer George Michael and his family.  The guide explained the history  of the cemetery, before the small group of members were taken on a tour, and the significance of the different grave stones were explained, and also the resting places of other notable people, eg the Mears family, who owned the Whitechapel Bell foundry which produced the “Big Ben” bell and the first Liberty Bell.  The group were also shown round the Terrace Catacombs, before visiting the resting places of Faraday and Marx.

The second event was a Blue Badge guided walk around Paddington basin, now known as Paddington Central.

Our guide, Ingrid, who we have used over many years for these walks, described the new neighbourhood, centred around the restored canal, once a major hub as the result of the industrial revolution. Now gleaming office blocks and new (expensive) apartments overlook the old quayside, with landscaped public spaces, artworks, and social venues.

The Brunel building , a 17-storey office complex, was constructed with sustainability in mind, resulting in a lowering of its carbon footprint. It has a BREEAM “Excellent” and LEED “Gold” ratings.

The area is also connected with several groundbreaking people, e.g., Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, and Roger Bannister, who was the first to break the 4-minute mile barrier; both worked at St Mary’s Hospital, which overlooks the area. There are also links to “The Paddington Bear” character author, Michael Bond, and Alan Turing, the ‘father’ of modern computer science, who cracked the Enigma code during WW2.

Finally, the walk ended at a pub in Bayswater for much needed refreshments and a meal.

ICorr London offers an extensive range of activities.

Abstracts are welcome now for consideration for the 2025-2026 Technical Programme. Interested presenters and those wishing to be added to the mailing list can contact: londonchair@icorr.org

ICorr India Update

ICorr India Update

Institute News

ICorr India is pleased to share that the branch has an exciting year of technical engagement ahead. We have curated a list of distinguished speakers who will deliver expert talks in our upcoming technical sessions, covering a broad range of topics relevant to corrosion science
and engineering.

In addition to these sessions, we are planning to organise a focused workshop and hands-on training programmes aimed at enhancing practical skills and industry readiness among professionals and students.

The following online technical programme was conducted on 27th May, 2025.

Design and Development of Advanced Inline Inspection (ILI) Tools for Oil and Gas Pipelines.

Speaker: Mr Bhuvanesh Kumar Sharma

Mr Bhuvanesh Kumar Sharma isthe Managing Director of VDT Pipeline Integrity Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a technology-driven start-up based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
An accomplished TEDx speaker and passionate technologist, he brings expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning,
Big Data, IoT, and Data Analysis to the pipeline integrity sector. Under his leadership, VDT Pipeline Integrity Solutions has emerged as a pioneering venture, winning the prestigious Avinya Energy Startup Challenge in both 2023 and 2024. With a strong background in senior management and corporate strategy, Mr Sharma has steered the company toward innovative, data-driven solutions that enhance pipeline safety and efficiency. His vision blends cutting-edge technology with practical industry needs, positioning the company at the forefront of pipeline integrity management. Mr Sharma continues to contribute to technological advancement in the energy sector through his leadership, public speaking, and commitment to innovation.

Synopsis: The design and development of advanced Inline Inspection (ILI) tools are essential for maintaining the structural integrity and operational safety of oil and gas pipelines. These tools are engineered to travel internally through pipelines and are equipped with sensors that detect various defects such as corrosion, cracks, deformations, and weld anomalies. Modern ILI tools utilise technologies including Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL), allowing for precise and comprehensive pipeline evaluation.

Innovations focus on enhancing sensor resolution, tool miniaturisation for complex geometries, and integration with real-time data processing systems. With the increasing application of artificial intelligence and machine learning, ILI data analysis has become more efficient and predictive, supporting proactive maintenance strategies. These advancements minimise the
risk of environmental hazards, system failures, and costly downtimes, making ILI tools critical assets in the pipeline integrity management ecosystem.

The following online technical programme was conducted on 10th June, 2025:

Smart Corrosion Management: Integrating Digital Solutions for a Corrosion-Resistant Future

Speaker: Dr G. H. Thanki

Dr G. H. Thanki is a renowned expert in corrosion science with over 45 years of experience, including 15 years in senior advisory roles. He served as Head of the GSFC Research Centre and was a consultant to the World Bank, UNESCO, and global industries. He introduced innovative corrosion control strategies such as real-time monitoring, MOC life cycle analysis, and effluent quality control.

A prolific educator, Dr Thanki initiated the PG Diploma in Corrosion Technology at M.S. University of Baroda and guided several postgraduate and doctoral students. He has conducted training for over 80 corporates and led corrosion audits across sectors like power, petrochemicals, and solar energy. He has received multiple honours including the NACE Lifetime Achievement Award and the Indian Achievers Award. A founding member of the CII Corrosion Management Committee (24) CII Corrosion Management Division: Overview | https://www.linkedin.com/company/cii.in/?originalSubdomain=in, Dr Thanki remains a leading voice in advancing corrosion management practices globally.

Synopsis: Smart corrosion management harnesses cutting-edge digital technologies like IoT sensors, AI/ML, data analytics, and digital twins to predict, monitor, and control corrosion. This approach enables real-time condition assessment, proactive maintenance, and optimised asset performance. By shifting from reactive to predictive strategies, organisations can reduce downtime, extend asset life, enhance safety, and cut operational costs. Digital twins further support simulation-based decision-making for design and maintenance. Proven through industry case studies, smart corrosion management offers transformative benefits across sectors such as infrastructure, power, and process industries. Effective implementation involves strategic asset identification, data integration, and predictive modelling—positioning organisations for greater efficiency, resilience, and sustainability in asset integrity management.

India Branch – Additional Information: For continuing professional development (CPD) or to join our mailing list, please email: INDIAchair@icorr.org

ICorr Central Scotland Updates

ICorr Central Scotland Updates

Institute News, Uncategorized

The Central Scotland Branch had two excellent events in March and April which extended its technical reach and attracted attendees from outside its catchment. Both events were very well attended and covered fascinating and somewhat enigmatic topics – Passive Fire Protection and Internal Linings. The Branch Committee also held a steering meeting on 24th April 2025
to plan for future events, chief among which is an exhibition in June 2025.

On 26th March 2025, Carboline’s Srijith Nair captivated the audience by delving deep into the world of Passive Fire Protection. Leveraging over 20 years’ technical experience in the domain, Srijith gave a detailed presentation on the topic “PFP – The Benefits of Blending Organic and Inorganic Technology”. He provided insights on the state of the art regarding PFP and explained how new technologies are providing fire protection on assets.

April’s technical meeting further deepened attendees’ knowledge of coatings and linings. Simon Daly, a Coatings Consultant at Safinah Ltd. with 35 years’ industry experience, delivered a seminal presentation on “Selection of internal coatings for pressure vessels” on 30th April 2025. Simon’s presentation covered the chemistry of internal linings, discussed testing protocols and provided a preview on the publication of a new standard on internal linings.

Simon Daly explaining challenges in Applying International Linings to Process Vessels

Aberdeen Branch Updates

Aberdeen Branch Updates

Institute News, Latest News

In the past 2 months, the Aberdeen Branch has provided 2 excellent presentations showcasing the changing world of Inspection. On Tuesday 25th March they welcomed a well-attended talk on Digital Approaches to Enhance Integrity Management by Kevin McDonald (Sonomatic).

About the Speaker

Kevin is a principal integrity engineer within Sonomatic’s integrity team. He is a mathematician with a PhD in computing science. He has extensive experience in data analytics and inspection planning, co-authoring the non-intrusive inspection (NII) recommended practice. As well as integrity consultancy, he is involved in technical capability development for the integrity team. Developments focus on novel applications of statistics to the analysis of inspection data implemented following both topside and subsea inspection campaigns.

Kevin McDonald

Digital Approaches to Enhance Integrity Management

Integrity management of equipment relies heavily on inspection to ensure the asset remains fit for service. Inspection can take several forms, each requiring planning to ensure the inspection is efficient and effective, plus post-inspection analysis to ensure the most informed integrity management decisions are reached.

Sonomatic have developed and regularly deploy a suite of software tools to enhance each stage of the integrity management process.

In the pre-inspection planning phase, digital tools – such as a digital twin or similar component model – can be used to better visualise inspection plans and to keep an accurate record of requested inspection locations.

This model can then be deployed during an inspection campaign, allowing data to be populated to facilitate easy visualisation for multiple stakeholders. Data would remain within the model for evaluation and analysis, which, again, allows easy explanation and presentation to stakeholders.

Integrity management relies heavily on inspection to ensure the asset remains fit for service.

Inspection can take several forms for identifying internal degradation risks: corrosion mapping (CM), internal visual inspection (IVI), non-intrusive inspection (NII), remote internal inspection (RII) and spot-point readings (Manual UT/Radiography).

A digital twin is a virtual representation of real-world entities and processes, synchronised at a specified frequency and fidelity, using real-time and historical data to represent the past and present and simulate predicted futures.

Sonomatic have developed digital twins specifically geared to inspection use.

Non-Intrusive Inspection

Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) is a 4-stage process applied to pressure vessels in which inspection is aimed at replacement or deferment of internal visual inspection (IVI). NII involves assessing if the vessel is suitable for NII, developing a work scope to ensure the inspection meets a specific set of criteria, inspecting the vessel according to the work scope, then evaluating and analysing the inspection results to ensure the inspection met the requirements.

Figure 1 Non- Intrusive Inspection (N1) Process Overview

Figure 2 Ni Evaluation and Conformance

Coating Correction

Algorithms can account for varying coating thickness between repeat inspections. They can calculate the most accurate growth rates for input into integrity management decisions. Kevin illustrated this with an example. Repeat inspection, by a third party, on a critical item with significant internal corrosion.

Figure 3 Coating Correction for UT Measurement

Post-Inspection Evaluation

Post-inspection evaluation using digital tools can extract maximal value from inspection data, providing significant enhancements to most current processes. Crucial to the integrity management process are calculations on corrosion rates and remaining life estimates. However, when there is a large catalogue of previous inspection data, there is often little consideration given beyond the two most recent results. A digital approach, where all inspection history can be housed in an easily accessible platform, allows the use of corrosion rate calculation using a longer-term statistical trend. This makes use of all previous data and provides the most representative corrosion rate possible. In addition, when calculating corrosion rates, emphasis is generally placed solely on changes to the minimum values. When more expansive inspection data has been recorded, such as a corrosion map, it is rare that growth of other corrosion features of a shallower depth than the minimum is considered, but this is often where corrosion growth is most pronounced. To assess such trends, an accurate like-for-like comparison is essential, looking at areas common to both inspection campaigns; digital tools are crucial in assisting with
this analysis.

Crucial to this topic is quality data that is representative of the current state of the inspected component. Sonomatic’s deploy propriety algorithms that can differentiate between internal corrosion, external corrosion and inclusions as well as providing insights into potential coating breakdown.

Summary

Digital tools improve consistency, accuracy, understanding, repeatability and decision outcomes.

Digital tools facilitate detailed analysis of inspection data critical to reliable integrity decision-making. Growing need for data analytics capability in integrity teams.

Digital solutions include 3D mini-digital twins, digitised flowcharts and calculations, and batched and automated reporting. Digitisation allows integration of simple and complex tools.

On Tuesday, 29th April 2025, the Aberdeen Branch were kindly hosted by Bilfinger for a most interesting industrial visit to their workshops at the Bridge of Don.

Bilfinger is an international industrial services provider serving many areas of manufacturing. The aim of the group’s activities is to increase the efficiency and sustainability of customers in the process industries and to establish itself as the number one partner in the market for this purpose. Bilfinger’s comprehensive portfolio covers the entire value chain from consulting, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, maintenance and plant expansion to turnarounds and digital applications.

Process industry customers come from sectors that include energy, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharma and biopharma, and oil and gas. With its ~30,000 employees, Bilfinger upholds the highest standards of safety and quality and generated revenue of €4.5 billion in financial year 2023. To achieve its goals, Bilfinger has identified two strategic thrusts: repositioning itself as a leader in increasing efficiency and sustainability and driving operational excellence to improve organisational performance.

Introductory Presentation by Ross Anderson and Matthew Daniel Hale

The company delivers its services in two key service lines: Engineering and Maintenance and Technologies. Bilfinger are primarily active in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Its new Bridge of Don facility houses extensive offices and workshops. Bilfinger is a leading provider of maintenance, modification and operations services to clients in the offshore oil, gas and wind markets in northwest Europe. Through integrated service offerings, innovative products and multi-skilled teams, the company aims to enhance the efficiency of assets, ensuring a high level of availability and reduced maintenance costs. Bilfinger has over 40 years’ experience in all phases of operations, including inspection, repair, maintenance and decommissioning. Following an overview presentation, ICorr Aberdeen guests were treated to a full facility tour, including demonstrations of PA-CAT, Creaform, Eddy Current Array and Advance NDT technologies. This department is under the overall management of Scott Westwater, a long-standing Bilfinger employee. 

Advanced NDT Demonstrations by Matthew Hale, NDT Engineer

With the recent shift from conventional NDT methods to advanced (ANDT), Bilfinger NDT services can now accurately detect, size, and locate defects with remarkable precision.

Special thanks are due to the staff of Bilfinger who stayed late to make our visit possible. The Aberdeen branch was very proud to facilitate these informative presentations, for which there were extensive question-and-answer sessions. Feedback to date has been extremely favourable for its 2024-2025 technical season.

Branch Information

Please contact the Aberdeen Branch Chair at ABZchair@icorr.org
if you wish to present or for any further information on upcoming events and check www.icorr.org/events/

Our online event recordings are uploaded to the ABZ ICorr YouTube Channel at ICorr YouTube Channel