2013 Marked an important milestone – our 20th anniversary – as Analytical Services, Inc. was founded in 1993 by John B. Sardisco, Ph.D.

The Journey so far...

The beginning

During a 38-year career with Pennzoil, Dr. Sardisco directed the analytical department of the company’s technology division. Among other achievements, he oversaw the development of Pennzoil’s standards for lube plants and the installation of the X-ray fluorescence spectrometers used to assay products.

Although he was thinking about retirement in the early 1990s, his expertise was still very much in demand. New laws and regulations driven by environmental concerns about pollution were driving significant change in the formulation of petroleum products.

In the U.S., new EPA regulations limited the amount of sulfur in crude oil and diesel fuel as well as sulfur, chlorine and metals in discarded or recycled motor oils.

Additional changes were on the horizon internationally. By 2006, the European Union would pass laws governing the disposal of electrical and plastic materials, goods dependent on polymers produced by the petroleum industry.

A major X-ray spectrometer manufacturer saw a market developing standards for petroleum industry instruments. They had the technology necessary to assay products but very few, if any, sulfur calibration standards existed; and there were none for the elements in oil.

Dr. Sardisco was asked to develop standards for this manufacturer, which in turn established the roots of the Analytical Services, Inc.

Dr. Sardisco started ASI modestly, developing his first standards from a small laboratory in Spring, Texas. His first products were sulfur standards that insured matrix uniformity, including synthetic diesel fuel, residual oil and crude oils. During this period he also formulated non-volatile diesel standards that did not have to be shipped as hazardous substances; plus non-sulfur and non-phosphorous reagents.

The Middle

Very quickly, ASI developed a reputation as a pioneering company – the only supplier of a number of complex multi-element and lube oil standards.

It grew even more rapidly after the mid-2000s with the demand for polymer standards. ASI developed powder and disc standards for the calibration of XRF instruments for the analysis of polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride that meet the European Union’s RoHS/WEEE International requirements.

Today

Today ASI produces more than 50 types of standard sets, all ISO-9001 certified. Exponentially more complex than the first ones the company developed, they sometimes involve as many as 23 elements.

Since 2003, the company has been based in a 5,000-square foot space in Spring, with additional offices in Baton Rouge, La. ASI broke ground to it’s new, much bigger, state-of-the-art research & manufacturing facility in The Woodlands in 2014.

If you are interested in more of what we our up to now, including our newest and greatest offerings, check out our services by clicking below.