April 2014, Vol. 69 No. 4
Business
A2LA Renews GTI's Testing Accreditation
The Gas Technology Institute (GTI)announced that the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) has renewed the accreditation for GTI Testing Laboratories to perform mechanical and chemical testing in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2005, the highest standard for competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
GTI Testing Laboratories also received A2LA accreditation for its quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) microbial corrosion testing services.
In December 2013, GTI Testing Laboratories successfully passed an ISO 17025 audit conducted by A2LA, an accreditation organization that provides formal recognition of the competence of a laboratory to manage and perform specific tests listed in their scope of accreditation. The ISO 17025 accreditation process is based on regular audits of the facility, the Quality Management System, and the accredited test methods.
GTI Testing Laboratories has been accredited by A2LA since 2004. “Our longstanding association with A2LA confirms our commitment to meeting the highest quality standards to perform analytical testing and failure analysis, as well as chemical, microbiological, and materials research services for the natural gas and energy industries,” says Karen Crippen, GTI R&D Manager.
GTI Testing Laboratories is one of only a few laboratories in the world that offers accredited DNA testing for microbial corrosion-causing microbe populations and is the first U.S. lab to receive A2LA accreditation for microbial corrosion testing services. qPCR is a molecular biological method used to quantify the total number of microbial organisms responsible for microbial-influenced corrosion (MIC) from liquid, gas, and solid samples. Among the organisms targeted by GTI’s qPCR testing are total bacteria, total archaea, sulfate-reducing bacteria, sulfate-reducing archaea, acid-producing bacteria (acetic and butyric acid producers), iron-oxidizing bacteria, denitrifying bacteria, and methanogens.
During the recent A2LA audit, GTI also received accreditation for three new tests for liquid hydrocarbon analysis. These tests are designed to support the work being done at GTI to advance the patented IH2 technology—a catalytic thermochemical process that provides a cost-effective route to producing liquid transportation fuels from renewable sources. GTI has licensed the technology to CRI Catalyst Company for worldwide deployment.
These new test methods are: ASTM D664 (for acid number of petroleum products by potentiometric titration), ASTM D5291 (for instrumentation determination of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen in petroleum products and lubricants), and ASTM D5622 (for determination of total oxygen in gasoline and methanol fuels by reductive pyrolysis). 847.768.0500, gastechnology.org
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