Apave VerTech is a company that’s constantly working to improve its own knowhow and striving for modern solutions through great dedication to learning and the development of personnel, with clientfocused objectives
As one of the leaders of the regional market for non-destructive testing (NDT), Apave VerTech was among the companies participating in the TurkStream project, a natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Turkey, starting from the Russkaya compressor station near Anapa in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, before crossing the Black Sea to the receiving terminal at Kıyıköy. The TurkStream project replaced the South Stream project, which was cancelled back in 2014. Apave Vertech fulfilled its role in this project successfully, operating from July 2019 until June 2020.
Of the total length of 403 km of pipeline in Serbia, Apave Vertech inspected 147 km, extending from Bulgarian border to Central Serbia, with more than 13,000 welding joints of varying thicknesses – from 14 to 25 mm, 48″ diameter.
Applied NDT methods are within the scope of services that Apave VerTech provides: VT (visual testing), MPI (magnetic particle testing), UT (ultrasonic testing), RT (radiographic testing) and advanced UT method – TOFD (time of flight diffraction). Testing for this project was performed by 35 to 40 multi-discipline certified inspectors. Organised in teams, the most experienced individuals among them took on the role of team leader – supervisor and holder of the certificate confirming the highest level of expertise. International welding engineers (IWE) also took part in the project, to ensure services were provided in a precise and professional manner.
Apave Vertech fulfilled its role in the TurkStream project successfully, operating from July 2019 until June 2020
Visual and radiographic testing were the only testing methods applied to each welding joint that Apave VerTech’s teams were in charge of inspecting, with all other aforementioned methods used selectively at the request of the client. Apave VerTech’s teams used modern, high-quality equipment in order to achieve better results, particularly when it comes to radiographic testing. Crawlers, devices designed to move X-ray tubes inside the pipeline with an external controller, covering up to four kilometres, are used to inspect a great number of welding joints (up to 100 a day), producing radiograms of high quality that are later processed in an automatic processing laboratory.
As a certified inspection body, the company provides services that comply with relevant standards, resulting in professionalism and efficiency. Apave VerTech’s training centre creates professionals who are welcome to become members of teams and build their careers in an international environment with a wide range of opportunities. One of the most significant training programmes was conducted in collaboration with the EU (Interreg) through its welding training programme.
Once certified by the Apave VerTech Certification body (approved by the Accreditation body of Serbia), any technician in the domain is ready to embark on the journey through a challenging and dynamic career offering constant opportunities for development.
In the period ahead, Apave VerTech will focus on participating in projects that operate on gas pipelines traversing Serbia and other countries, with the support of its branches in 45 countries worldwide.