Recently, T-ALL Inspection’s Indonesia Project Department successfully completed full-coverage NDT for the long-distance nickel-cobalt slurry pipeline and supporting facilities in an industrial park. The project achieved “zero missed defects and zero misjudgments” and passed both international NDT standards and Indonesian local standards in a single acceptance, delivering a strong result for the successful commissioning of the project through professionalism and perseverance.

This project is a key new-energy battery materials project in Indonesia with deep participation from Chinese enterprises. It is jointly operated by a leading Chinese company and a major Indonesian lithium battery enterprise, and is one of the region’s important large-scale nickel-cobalt hydrometallurgical bases. The project includes a 60-kilometer long-distance slurry pipeline connecting a large-scale mine with the smelting plant and continuously transporting high-pressure corrosive slurry. The pipeline is subject to long-term media erosion, internal pressure, and external geological disturbance. Microcracks in welds or wall thinning in buried pipeline sections may cause pipeline rupture and corrosive slurry leakage, which could not only result in production shutdowns and major economic losses, but also cause soil and water pollution and trigger environmental liabilities. According to mandatory requirements of Indonesian safety regulators, a complete and compliant NDT report is a prerequisite for the legal commissioning and operation of the pipeline. Therefore, full-coverage, high-precision, and traceable NDT is a key part of ensuring the safe implementation of this major overseas project involving Chinese enterprises.

For this long-distance, cross-regional pipeline inspection task, the T-ALL Inspection site team faced multiple challenges related to environment, technology, and compliance, mainly in the following four areas:

Long pipeline distance and scattered work sites: The 60-kilometer pipeline extends through mountainous areas, forests, and industrial zones, with inspection points widely distributed. Poor mountain road conditions make the transportation of personnel and equipment time-consuming and difficult, significantly reducing effective daily inspection hours.

Tropical rainforest climate and harsh working conditions: The tropical rainforest climate is hot and humid throughout the year, with frequent rainfall that often interrupts outdoor work. Humidity and transportation vibration can also affect the stability of precision equipment such as radiographic and ultrasonic testing instruments, greatly increasing the difficulty of equipment protection and continuous field operations.

Complex pipeline conditions and zero tolerance for missed defects: The pipeline includes numerous elbows, flange connections, and buried or obstructed sections with poor visibility for inspection. Under long-term high-pressure and corrosive operating conditions, even very small defects may create major safety risks. Therefore, inspection accuracy requirements are extremely strict, with no tolerance for missed defects or misjudgments.

Dual acceptance standards and complex multi-party coordination: The inspection results must comply with both internationally recognized NDT standards and Indonesian local industrial safety acceptance requirements. The site team also needs to coordinate with the owner, industrial park management, local safety authorities, and other parties, resulting in lengthy cross-border communication and document approval procedures.

Four Key Measures for Efficient Solutions

Facing these challenges, T-ALL Inspection relied on years of experience in overseas NDT projects and successfully completed the task through four key measures:

1. Local Professional Team for Rapid Response

The company maintains a full-time NDT team permanently based in Indonesia. All team members hold internationally recognized NDT qualifications and are familiar with defect characteristics of overseas corrosive pipelines as well as local safety regulations. After the project started, the team quickly mobilized to the site and adopted staggered two-shift operations to make full use of favorable weather windows. Dedicated Chinese, English, and Indonesian coordinators were also assigned to respond to the needs of all parties and eliminate delays in cross-border communication.

2. Customized Inspection Equipment for Complex Field Conditions

The project was equipped with a complete set of phased array and radiographic testing equipment optimized for moisture resistance and shock resistance. Sufficient consumables were also stored locally in the industrial park, allowing inspection work to continue despite rough mountain roads, rainy weather, and humid conditions.

3. Layered Combined Inspection Methods with Full Traceability

Customized inspection solutions were developed for different pipeline sections. Phased array testing was used to inspect weld quality in densely populated areas, while radiographic testing combined with ultrasonic testing was applied to concealed and buried pipeline sections to detect minor welding defects. All inspection points were uniformly numbered according to pipeline mileage, while images and inspection data were electronically archived to ensure that defects along the entire pipeline could be queried and traced.

4. One-Stop Trilingual Documentation for Dual Acceptance

After all inspection work was completed, complete inspection records, defect analysis reports, radiographic films, and certificates were prepared in Chinese, English, and Indonesian. One complete set of documents was designed to meet both international NDT industry standards and Indonesian local engineering acceptance requirements, helping the owner avoid repeated document submissions and multiple rounds of rectification.

The project completed full-coverage inspection of thousands of welds, pipeline sections, and facility points along the entire line. The technical team accurately identified multiple cases of wall thinning and internal welding defects and provided professional rectification recommendations. All repaired points passed re-inspection. The complete set of compliant inspection documents successfully passed dual acceptance by the owner and Indonesian safety authorities, ensuring that the 60-kilometer core transportation pipeline met the conditions for commissioning on schedule.

The successful implementation of this 60-kilometer long-distance pipeline benchmark project fully demonstrated T-ALL Inspection’s integrated NDT capabilities in the mining, hydrometallurgy, and chemical industries in Southeast Asia. The company can provide a full range of testing services, including ultrasonic testing, radiographic testing, and phased array testing, covering the inspection needs of pressure equipment and long-distance pipelines in industrial parks across Indonesia and neighboring countries.

In the future, T-ALL Inspection will continue to expand its presence across the Southeast Asian industrial value chain and strengthen its localized service network. With a stable local professional team, mature technologies, and one-stop closed-loop delivery, the company will continue to provide efficient and reliable inspection services for more Chinese owners, EPC contractors, and Indonesian local enterprises.