SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Brochure

Contact Us

SwRI Information

Home

	SwRI is evaluating the performance of impressed current cathodic protection anodes for use with piping systems to facilitate more robust and technically sound selection criteria.

Many needs of the natural gas industry have been served by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) for more than 30 years. During that time, we have developed many integrity, flow assurance, and monitoring systems that have been used to verify the safe operations of pipelines and natural gas distribution systems.

• Piping integrity management

• Piping and system component evaluation

• Energy and flow rate measurement

Piping Integrity Management

SwRI is an internationally recognized center with decades of combined experience for the following services for metallic and nonmetallic components:

• Material property

• Corrosion analyses and corrosion mitigation

• Failure analysis

• Direct assessment

• Damage detection (both corrosion and third party)

Our engineering staff provides integrity management technology development and services to support the natural gas distribution and transmission systems.

	Engineers developed the methodology for internal corrosion direct assessment (ICDA) of dry gas, which identifies locations most likely to experience corrosion. SwRI is currently leading the ICDA methodology development for wet gas systems.

Piping and Component Evaluation

A 6,500-square-foot structural materials laboratory provides analytical capabilities for natural gas piping and piping component evaluations. The laboratory contains instrumentation and data acquisition hardware to measure:

• Tensile and compressive properties

• Fatigue, fatigue crack growth, corrosion fatigue, and fracture toughness

• Specialized fracture behavior

	SwRI engineers have evaluated plastic distribution pipe failures associated with fusion joints as well as in-service repair sleeves.		SwRI is currently developing an on-line, real-time energy flow rate meter to provide a low-cost alternative to conventional energy flow rate measurement methods.

 

Energy and Flow Rate

The Metering Research Facility (MRF) at SwRI is the U.S. gas industry's premier test and research facility for natural gas measurement. The MRF provides gas metering and flow assurance test information used to develop and update gas industry measurement standards. The simulated field conditions available at the MRF make it an ideal test bed for gas meter development and calibration. Furthermore, SwRI leads in the development of new and novel methods to perform real-time energy flow rate measurements designed to provide significant cost savings to the gas distribution industry.

Other areas of interest:

• Fuel Cells

• Natural Gas Engines

• Natural Gas Compressors

For more information about our natural gas distribution services, or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact James Dante at jdante@swri.org or (210) 522-5458.

ldc.swri.org

| Materials Engineering Department | Mechanical Engineering Division | SwRI Home |

Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 11 technical divisions.

January 03, 2013