QUALITY ASSURANCE/CONTROL

Palmer Technologies is a world leader in the design of refractory structures. However, design is only one aspect to refractory lining reliability. The next most important factor is the installed quality.

Too often we see refractory structures regarded as a nonessential component of the plant, with maintenance delegated to material suppliers and installation contractors. A material supplier's business focus is selling refractory products while the installation contractor's business focus is selling repair labour with neither motivated to drive the owner's maintenance efficiency.

The approach often used by other companies to repair refractory linings or structures is based on repeating historic practice or observation. There is no doubt that refractory structures are complex and behave in unexpected ways, but they cannot be thought of as a "black box" and repairs cannot be considered as a "black art". This method is frequently prone to failure, what we call "fatal gene" transfer.

At Palmer we focus on the key elements needed to deliver a reliable solution

1. Firstly, the correct material is selected for the job (with the right properties for the service conditions) – this is what material supply companies focus on delivering to our specifications.
2. Secondly, the coordination and scheduling of resources, equipment and materials to complete the specified tasks within the allotted time. Installers achieve this by employing people of various skills. This is the installer's expertise and their focus. Their weakness is lack of process and engineering knowledge, or understanding of the reasons why refractory needs to be installed to particular design requirements.
3. Quality – Palmer focuses on the installed refractory quality, based upon our seasoned engineering knowhow. We analyse a problem, recommend a repair method and employ our engineering knowledge to ensure refractory is installed in the required fashion.

Thus Palmer concentrates on the details required to improve reliability – understanding refractory behaviour, technical knowledge and attention to detail.