On Wednesday 29th July 2015 the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) hosted its second Root Cause Failure Analysis Seminar at the Centre For Enterprise Development (CED), Innovation Avenue, Freeport. Due to the overwhelming demand for this session – the first of which was held at Cara Suites, Claxton Bay – CARIRI decided to host a follow-up seminar to accommodate the requests from corporate Trinidad and Tobago.
CARIRI has recognized the demand and importance for awareness in metallurgical failures around the country and specifically in the Industrial sector. According to the Chief Executive Officer of CARIRI, Mr Liaquat Ali Shah, the working plants today have been in operation for many years, and as a result, deterioration and corrosion is a major safety concern. Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) investigates not just the problems and issues that we face but includes the contributing factors to such dilemmas that are a starting point of corrosion and industrial upheaval.
For this reason, CARIRI has sought out Dr Devendra Deo Narain Singh of India, a metallurgical expert since 2003. He has come to Trinidad to work together with CARIRI’s Metallurgy Unit to enlighten companies through workshops, seminars and site visits. In his presentation, Dr Singh gave his expert advice on Metallurgy, stating that because of meteorological factors, Trinidad and Tobago are highly prone to corrosion of carbon steel. He also stressed choosing an effective agency that would study these corrosions and give proper recommendations to their clients. CARIRI is proud to say that it has been ISO certified for many years and guarantees prompt and effective methods of testing and reporting.
Marco Nunes, a Metallurgy expert from CARIRI explained the different stages of Failure Analysis and the principles of root cause issues. He illustrated the different equipment that CARIRI has invested in, and how they are able to perform some of the most impressive calculations and results on different types of metals. In order to test thoroughly, different machinery is used at the various stages to give the client the most accurate readings on metallurgical compounds.
Frank Byron, also a Metallurgy expert at CARIRI, displayed and explained some of the case studies CARIRI has encountered over the years. He gave examples of different scenarios and how the analysis was performed by a thorough investigation of what caused the corrosion.
The Chairman of CARIRI, Mr Hayden Ferreira, spoke about the reality of problems that companies face on a day to day basis. He suggested that the problem will never come “packaged with specific remedies, but will instead come in many complex forms”, for which the client and the agency must understand. He added that as CARIRI continues to progress, it will identify more issues taking place in the country; whether in business development or technical services, and CARIRI will be there to create positive and continuous change.
This seminar was well received by representatives of numerous companies throughout the country, all of them interested in the presentations that were given, as was seen in an intriguing question and answer session that took place at the end of the presentations.
CARIRI and CED continue to fulfil their mandate of Research, Development and Innovation, not only in scientific research but also entrepreneurial development by providing services such as the Business Hatchery programme and the newly launched IAS (Idea Advisory Service) just to name a few. As the Chairman of CARIRI said, “CARIRI is not only about general research rather it is about applied research”.