Positive Material Identification (PMI)

What Does Positive Material Identification (PMI) Mean?

Positive material identification (PMI) refers to the industrial inspection analysis method of determining the composition of a given alloy to determine the constituent elements present in the alloy.

Corrosionpedia Explains Positive Material Identification (PMI)

Positive material identification (PMI) is widely performed using two main inspection approaches:

• X-ray fluorescence (XRF)
• Optical emission spectrometry (OES)

Either approach can determine the constituent elements in a given alloy. Having this information readily available provides the following key benefits:

• Improved equipment upgrades, repairs and replacement-in-kind for chemically-sensitive functions such as pipelines or refineries
• The ability to customize facility operations to meet any temperature, heat resistance or durability requirements
• Enhance safety and efficiency in chemical plants by ensuring that the correct alloy with the required properties is selected