Integrity NDT

Eddy Current Inspection is well-established and widely used in Petrochemical Refinery, Chemical Processing and Power Generation facilities, in the examination of Tubing in System Heat Exchangers, Air Coolers, Power Plant Steam Turbine Generator Condensers and Feedwater Heaters.

Systems are reliant on these critical components and hence avoidance of failure is of high importance. Heat exchangers are typically made-up of ‘bundles’ of tubes, small in diameter and thin walled, which can extend to 1000’s in number.

The Eddy Current Tube Test Method has numerous application variables, and method selection is dependent upon tube material, tube dimension and equipment/tubing type. The inspection is used to detect typical tubing associated defects such as; pitting, corrosion, longitudinal and circumferential cracking, fretting, wall thinning and erosion at tube-support plates. Early detection of these defects can prevent failure and the determination of potential failure mechanisms, providing plant engineers not only with a tool to assess condition from a digitally recorded data set, but also facilitating the estimation of remaining life. The assessment results provide valuable data, from which to plan strategic plant operational and maintenance programs and ongoing unit monitoring.

At Integrity NDT we have experienced personnel, using the latest technology for Eddy Current Tube inspection, with the following method/material type capability:

ECT – Conventional Eddy Current Inspection (Nonferrous metals)

PSEC – Partial Saturation Eddy Current Inspection (Ferrous Metals)

RFT – Remote Field Testing (Ferrous Metals and Heavy Wall Thickness)

NFT – Near Field Testing (Finned Tubes)

IRIS – Internal Rotary Ultrasonic Inspection*

*IRIS is an ultrasonic application; however, as it is used in tube inspection, it is shared here under Eddy Current section

Having secured long-term contracts to support continual refinery shutdown programs, our equipment and probe portfolio is wide ranging.

Integrity NDT also manufacture Eddy Current Tube Inspection Probes ‘in-house’, widening the inventory to suit each project workscope.

POWER PLANT CONDENSER TUBE INSPECTION

Integrity NDT provide Eddy Current Condenser Tube inspection and comprehensive reporting, and alongside the operational assessment of Power Plant Steam Turbine Generator Condensers, we work with our PP clients to utilise this data in establishing a programmed approach to Condenser Tube Inspection, essential to the prevention of unwanted tube leakage and the avoidance of forced shutdown.

Click here for a case study

Guided wave research on pipe structures is driven by the need to screen for Corrosion under Insulation (CUI) failures effectively.

Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) is a well-known and widespread corrosion phenomena and screening for CUI by Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGW) is now a widely accepted practice, overcoming many of the issues associated with convention method approach.

“Do you know where your higher risk CUI exposure is?”

“And do you have the needed resources applied to keeping your equipment that is susceptible to CUI safe and reliable?”

UGW inspection of pipeline has many advantages; from a single test location the system ‘guided ultrasonic waves’ can be directed in opposing direction along the pipe length testing up to several metres in length (dependant on pipe dimensions/condition), facilitating the inspection of long runs including (‘insulated’ and ‘buried’) pipeline, to screen for corrosion or cracking and corrosion-under-insulation (CUI). The inspections can be applied both to offline and operational systems (including ‘high temperature’).

For insulated pipes, only a local area of the pipe insulation is required to be removed, (along with any loose surface debris), following which the ultrasonic transducer ring can be simply fitted to the pipe and is ‘ready-for-test’. The UGW works ‘dry coupled’ and therefore requires no provision of couplant/water feed system as with standard ultrasonic applications.

Following data analysis UGW screening is backed by follow-up localised supplementary inspections for confirmation.

Integrity NDT have long-term client contracts supplying UGW inspection for both refinery system, refinery jetty and offsite pipeline systems.

By utilising Synthetic Focussing, data signal responses can be positioned at ‘clock-positions’ around the pipe circumference and allows for a more accurate prediction of defect type and characterisation.