Stafford NDT Firm Adds In-House Stainless Steel Passivation Tanks

A five-figure investment in ultrasonic cleaning tanks has let PTS Group bring stainless steel passivation in-house for the first time, closing a service gap that the Stafford non-destructive testing firm says was costing it contracts in the nuclear, marine and defense sectors.

Passivation (a chemical treatment that restores the natural chromium oxide layer giving stainless steel its corrosion resistance) is a natural follow-on to the dye penetrant inspection PTS already performs. Until now, customers had to split the work between suppliers.

What changed at the Common Road site?

The company, based on Common Road Industrial Estate, bought the tanks and installed them in a new laboratory area developed at its headquarters last year. Quality Director Adam Bates called the investment a huge step for the family firm.

He said: "There were many companies we already work with who were asking us if we offered steel passivation."

Bates explained the commercial logic plainly: customers relied on PTS for dye penetrant testing (an inspection method where a colored dye reveals surface-breaking cracks) on stainless parts, then had to contract the passivation step elsewhere. The two processes naturally go hand in hand, since passivation restores corrosion resistance immediately after inspection reveals and records the part's condition.

"We were losing additional potential work because of it," Bates said. "We looked at subbing it out, but soon realized we could do it ourselves and had an in-house expert already too."

The firm trained additional staff in both the health and safety qualifications required for the equipment and the passivation technique itself.

The takeaway: an inspection house that also finishes what it inspects keeps the whole contract, and PTS now holds both the equipment and the certifications to do so.

Citric acid instead of nitric

Environmental specialist Leanne Thompson leads the operation, which puts PTS fully equipped to manage the chemical finishing processes safely and compliantly on site.

One process decision stands out for buyers watching chemical compliance: the tanks run on citric acid rather than nitric acid. Citric passivation avoids the handling, fume management and disposal burdens of nitric acid baths, and PTS chose it explicitly to keep the new line as environmentally friendly as possible.

That matters because passivation chemistry is a purchasing criterion in its own right for sectors with strict environmental and safety audits.

Who gets the extra capacity?

The new service serves components bound for nuclear, marine and defense applications, sectors where corrosion protection of stainless steel is often a mandatory step rather than an optional finish. PTS Group also works in oil and gas and construction, testing from its Stafford base and on customers' own sites.

Its reach already extends beyond the UK: the firm serves companies in France, Germany, Belgium and Bahrain.

Bates reports early demand from existing customers. "We have already seen the work load increase as loyal existing customers who trust our work have jumped at the chance of working with us on steel passivation too," he said, adding that PTS expects further growth once it starts advertising the added service.

The company, founded in 1995 by Technical Director Steve Baldwin's father, has doubled its workforce to cope with current demand.

What does this mean for the wider test house market?

PTS's move illustrates a broader pattern: inspection bureaus adding adjacent finishing processes so customers no longer juggle two suppliers for one component's lifecycle. For engineers specifying passivation immediately after penetrant inspection, a single vendor means one chain of custody, one quality record and one party accountable if corrosion appears in service.

The open question for buyers in regulated sectors is whether the growing crop of combined inspection-and-passivation shops can demonstrate process control and certification depth equal to dedicated finishing houses, or whether consolidated convenience trades away specialist scrutiny.