As industries increase use and demand for traceable and accurate measurements, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) continues to build capacity to offer reliable calibration services to meet their needs.
Calibration is known to be a complex scientific process, which allows traceability in measurements. It compares the accuracy of instruments or equipment with a known and proven measurement standard.
Companies and Laboratories are increasingly submitting their measuring instruments to the GNBS for regular comparisons with traceable standards in the areas of Mass, Dimension, Volume, Pressure, and Temperature. GNBS, under its Industrial Metrology Programme, calibrates instruments that include balances, masses, measuring cylinders, liquid in glass thermometers, gauge blocks, pressure gauges, measuring tapes, micrometers and calipers.
Last year, calibration services were provided to manufacturing companies, medical and testing laboratories, the aviation industry and contractors within the oil and gas sector.
As a result, twelve hundred and fifty-four (1254) devices were calibrated for the year 2019, which represents a 21% increase above the previous year. The GNBS anticipates a greater increase in the number of devices calibrated in 2020.
To maintain the traceability and accuracy of its verification services, which are offered to stakeholders in trade, the GNBS also calibrated its working standards, i.e. masses, electronic balances and provers (volumetric containers). Hence, these vendors, shopkeepers, and other users of scales verified by the GNBS can have confidence in the verification process.
Meanwhile, in industry operations, calibration is very important. Consistently knowing the accuracy of measuring instruments gives companies the confidence that they are putting the right amounts of ingredients in their products. This maintains consistency in product quality. The use of calibrated instruments also ensures that key parameters such as temperature conditions are maintained to preserve raw materials. Inaccurate pressure gauges can result in major unwanted incidents such as explosions, which can be dangerous to life and limbs and can cause major spillage of products and damages to the equipment.
Companies that are certified to international standards such as the ISO 9001 Quality Management System Standard are required to have their measurement instruments calibrated. More of these companies are submitting their instruments to the Laboratory Services Department for calibration at costs competitive to overseas calibration providers.
As companies and laboratories demand calibration in higher ranges and areas, the GNBS will continue to develop the competency of its Laboratory Technicians through training and acquire the necessary equipment to ensure their measurement and calibration needs are met.
The GNBS provides calibration (Industrial Metrology) Services in the following areas:
| Calibration | Range | |
| 1 | Weight and weight sets | 1 mg to 1000 kg |
| 2 | Balances | 1 mg to 500 kg |
| 3 | Temperature
Liquid–in-glass thermometers Digital (probe) |
– 30ºC to 90ºC – 30ºC to 400ºC |
| 4 | Pressure | 0 to 700 bars
0 – 70,000 kPa |
| 5 | Dimensional | 1 mm to 300 mm |
| 6 | Volume | 5ml to 2,000L; glassware and provers |
| 7 | Force | 0-2200 kN |
For further information, please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0064 – 66.
