Thanks for tuning in again! I am sorry for the delay in posting, but things do pile up a bit when I am out traveling... yeah, it's just a lame excuse, but I'm sticking to it!
NACE was a great experience, and not only for seeing the new offerings of other vendors and service organizations. It's also great see friends and colleagues I haven't seen in a while, and to meet new people and make new connections. We talked to a lot of people and I was surprised at how many different industries were involved in preventing, detecting, arresting and remediating corrosion!
As one of the Verichek BoothBoys, I was there with my friend and colleague, Tom Lambert. He is an awesome guy to work with, and if you are lucky enough to meet him, you will quickly see what I mean.
We had several instruments there for demonstration which drew a lot of attention. Of course the handheld XRF analyzer is popular wherever we take it, but the handheld arc instruments were the real attention grabbers. The one we brought for detecting the risk of FAC (flow accelerated corrosion) was of particular interest.
At a corrosion conference. Imagine that. Duh.
Well, since this is "Know Your Metals!" (and since I've brought it up) the instrument is a handheld spectrometer with specific sensitivity to chrome in the iron grades used for piping systems. Just like chrome on a bumper or faucet, the chrome in the pipe protects it against various types of corrosion. If there isn't enough chrome... well, unlike in your bathroom, where you risk staining the tile (Gads!) in a nuclear plant, you are gambling with safety... and lives... and the environment. It is surprising how much uncertainty there is out there! Gives me the willies sometimes...
I digress...
The handheld spectrometer operates by drawing an arc to the metal, which evaporates a small amount of the metal into the plasma of the arc. The elements from the pipe, now suspended in this energetic plasma, glow brightly. The spectrometer separates the different colors of light with a diffraction grating; kind of like a prism. Each element shines a different set of colors, which the instrument detects and reports as the relative concentration of different elements... TA-DA! Now you know if there is the proper amount of chrome in the pipe to protect it from the corrosion I spoke of. Yeah! SCIENCE WINS AGAIN!
Well, that was what we took to appeal to the corrosion engineers who were participating in the conference. And you know, it was a good success too! Now... not to put too fine a point on it, but there were a lot of guys there, and a gun that shoots an arc to metal and figures out what it's made of, well I can't help it, that is just damn cool to guys like me... Yes ladies, I am confirming that (as those of you who were attending with your guys already know) we are fascinated by bright lights and shiny objects.
The Salt Palace Convention Center was a nice place to have the event and the event and exhibit was well organized! There weren't long lines to battle with and the Freeman event labor was friendly, courteous and helpful. By the way, if you attend exhibition events, please take a moment next time to thank the guard or the janitor or other staff that makes these events possible, they work very hard and receive little recognition. Tell them you appreciate them. It matters.
All in all I was pretty impressed with the event! I have to say though, I was a little disappointed with the catering. As exhibitors, we put in long hours there and have little chance to get away. The meals should be good and there should be enough food for everyone. While the food at NACE was edible, it ran out WAY before all the exhibitors were fed, and I wouldn't order it from a menu.
Well, we made a lot of contacts, enjoyed the company of our fellow boothies and I learned a few things from the other folks I talked to. I wish that I had been able to spend more time talking to individuals (as opposed to talking to people, if you can understand what I mean) because I would be able to LEARN SO MUCH.
Well, next is a local AFS conference in my back-yard (Seattle), then a while in in Los Angeles, and then ISRI in Las Vegas... wow... looking at it, I am going to be running for a while!
Well I tell you, starting a blog is like anything else, the more you do it the better you get. I'll try to be a little more regular with my postings.
I hope you find what I bring here at least interesting. If you want to leave a comment, I would appreciate the feedback! I want to make this something you like to read, so let me know what kinds of things you want to understand better. I can't promise I'll have all the facts, but I'll do my darnedest to explore it with you so we will all know more!
Until next time!
Walter
www.verichek.net
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