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Aerial NDT · Peace Country

Pulsed Eddy Current (CUI) in Fort St. John, BC

Corrosion-under-insulation screening through cladding — pulsed eddy current by drone reads wall thickness through up to 100 mm of insulation and weather jacket. No stripping. Flown by Transport Canada-certified RPAS pilots serving Fort St. John and the Peace Country region — since 1999 as BC's leak detection and inspection specialists.

≤ 100 mm
Max lift-off (insulation)
3–18 mm
Wall range (carbon steel)
0 m²
Insulation removed to screen

Free phone consult · No pressure · Mon–Sat 8am–6pm PT

Flying Fort St. John: local context

Peace-region energy sector — camps, yards, and processing assets; cold-season flights planned around northern conditions.

Local asset profile: Energy-sector service city — industrial yards, work camps, and newer subdivisions built to northern frost specs.

Typical pulsed eddy current (cui) work around Fort St. John

  • Energy-facility thermal scans
  • Camp and yard roof surveys
  • Insulated piping and vessels (CUI)
  • Aluminum-jacketed assets
  • Tank insulation systems

How the Fort St. John survey runs

  1. 1

    CUI risk mapping

    Operating temperature bands and insulation condition identify the highest-probability CUI zones — screening starts where the odds are worst.

  2. 2

    Through-cladding scan

    The PEC sensor reads relative wall thickness through insulation and jacket — up to 100 mm of lift-off — while the asset stays fully dressed.

  3. 3

    Anomaly grading

    Wall-loss indications are graded and ranked; clean areas are cleared without a single jacket screw turned.

  4. 4

    Targeted verification

    Only graded anomalies get insulation windows opened for direct UT verification — removal budgets shrink to the spots that matter.

Fort St. John questions, answered

What is corrosion under insulation and why is it such a problem?

CUI is external corrosion on insulated piping and vessels, fed by moisture trapped against the steel — invisible until the jacket comes off or the wall fails. It is among the most expensive integrity threats in process industries precisely because finding it traditionally meant stripping and reinstating insulation on spec.

How does PEC see through insulation?

Pulsed eddy current induces a decaying electromagnetic field in the steel through the non-conductive insulation and thin jacket; the decay rate corresponds to remaining average wall thickness. It reads through up to 100 mm of lift-off on 3–18 mm carbon steel walls — screening data with zero removal.

Is PEC a replacement for UT?

No — it is the screening layer. PEC grades relative wall loss through cladding fast; direct UT then quantifies the graded spots through small inspection windows. The pairing typically cuts insulation removal budgets by an order of magnitude versus strip-and-inspect.

What jacket materials can you scan through?

Aluminum and stainless weather jackets over standard insulations are the designed use case. Thick galvanized jackets reduce sensitivity and get flagged at scoping. The aerial platform adds the part rope teams hate: elevated insulated lines and vessel tops without scaffolding.

Can you legally fly drones for inspection in Fort St. John?

Yes — our pilots hold Transport Canada RPAS certification with advanced-operations capability, and Fort St. John operations run under whatever airspace authorizations the location requires. Peace-region energy sector — camps, yards, and processing assets; cold-season flights planned around northern conditions. Flight planning, NOTAM checks, and authorizations are part of the service, not your problem.

How does Fort St. John weather affect scheduling?

Aerial inspection flies in defined weather windows — wind, precipitation, and (for thermal work) the right temperature differentials. Fort St. John sits in our standing Peace Country coverage, so we schedule against the local forecast and typically land the survey within days of booking rather than weeks. Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm Pacific.

What does pulsed eddy current (cui) cost in Fort St. John?

Province-wide pricing — no regional premium for Fort St. John. Single-asset thermal surveys typically start in the high hundreds; NDT campaigns and multi-asset programs are quoted by scope. The free phone consult (604-239-9934) produces a firm number in about five minutes.

Need pulsed eddy current (cui) in Fort St. John?

Free phone consult — asset, access, airspace, and a firm quote in five minutes. No pressure.

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