[Expert Series] Apave: Optimizing Refinery Shutdowns in India with Advanced NDT Inspection

DILIP GATTY - Apave, Business Unit Manager - NDT Mumbai

Dilip leads Apave’s NDT operations across India’s most demanding sectors — from offshore platforms to nuclear facilities, combining the Apave Group’s global engineering heritage with deep, on-the-ground knowledge of the Indian industrial landscape.

In the petrochemical sector, the primary challenge of a refinery shutdown maintenance window is balancing rigorous industrial safety standards with the necessity of minimizing downtime. At a major refinery in Western India, Apave was tasked with inspecting pressure vessels, pipelines, and heat exchangers within a high-stakes maintenance window. By deploying cutting-edge expertise and innovative inspection methodologies, Apave ensured global and comprehensive safety without halting adjacent site operations.

The traditional approach to radiographic inspection often requires large exclusion zones, leading to significant ‘standstill’ costs. Apave addressed this by using SCAR Radiography (Small Controlled Area Radiography) . The Apave team created radiation zones so compact and controlled that adjacent contractor teams never had to stop their operations, inspection ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the duration of the inspection programme.

Apave also provides long-term support for capital decision-making. During this project, Apave experts utilised Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) to map corrosion profiles with extreme precision. The resulting fitness-for-purpose assessment, accepted by both statutory authorities and the client’s insurer, demonstrated that a pressure vessel previously marked for replacement was safe for continued operation with an additional surveillance. This expert intervention converted a potential capital expenditure into a significant saving, proving that rigorous inspection is a driver of shared progress.

India’s industrial growth story is unlike anything else in the world right now. The National Infrastructure Pipeline, Make in India, the energy transition, they are all converging at once, and they are all creating enormous demand for one thing: certainty. Certainty that a pipeline won’t fail. That a new bridge will carry the load. That a boiler will pass its statutory inspection.

As a global leader with over 150 years of heritage, Apave provides NDT inspection service India requires to bridge the gap between ambitious growth and international safety standards. 

Apave India provides comprehensive support across:

• Infrastructure: Metro rail, airports, and the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
• Energy transition: Thermal, wind, solar, and nuclear power sectors.
• Strategic manufacturing: Defence and aerospace programmes, including naval shipbuilding.

To provide effective asset integrity management, Apave’s teams address three defining challenges:

1. 🌡️ Extreme Climate: In 45°C+ heat and monsoon humidity, standard equipment drifts. We deploy IP67-rated instruments with humidity-compensated software to ensure calibration holds 
2. 🏗️ Legacy Assets: For infrastructure built decades ago with missing drawings, we combine TOFD and Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) to "see" through corroded surfaces and identify unknown metallurgy. 
3. 📋 Regulatory Complexity: Projects often require simultaneous compliance with ASME, IS, IBR, and other international standards. Our dual-certified Level III engineers hold both ASNT and PCN/ISNT qualifications, covering every standard with one team 

Six-challenge technical brief including data management and confined access protocols available on request

Apave focuses on digital tools that directly impact project efficiency:

1. Digital & Computed Radiography: Results are available within hours instead of days, eliminating film processing delays and enabling faster decision-making during shutdowns. It also provides a fully traceable digital record for audits. 
2. Advanced Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT): Delivers high-resolution, multi-angle imaging in a single scan. This improves defect detection in complex components—reducing uncertainty and rework. 
3. AI-assisted inspection review: Automates the screening of large inspection datasets, quickly identifying areas of concern. Engineers can then focus on critical evaluation rather than manual data sorting.
   The result: faster reporting and more consistent analysis.

Full technology capability sheet including TOFD, PMI/XRF, hot-surface measurement to 600°C, and rope access NDT available on request

As regulators such as PESO and the Indian Boilers Regulatory Authority move toward digitally documented compliance, clients increasingly require more than inspection results. They need traceable data, audit-ready documentation, and dependable engineering decisions.

Apave is investing in this future through its NDT Academy and global R&D network, developing the next generation of certified inspectors and advancing digital inspection capabilities in India. By integrating global expertise with local insight, Apave is contributing to the future of asset integrity management in India—helping clients operate safely, make better decisions, and build for the long term.