any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
(OP)
hello,
Fin-tube Heat exchanger internal tube leakage problem was encountered on a large electrical motor. This problem is not easily found exact leakage position when lots of half inch tubes inside the exchanger especially tiny leakage. We use a water pump to check every tube to see if water pressure can be hold or not. However this method cost much time and patient. Therefore I wonder if there any NDT instrument (ex: Ultrasonic) can be used to find out exact tube damage location. Thank you.
Fin-tube Heat exchanger internal tube leakage problem was encountered on a large electrical motor. This problem is not easily found exact leakage position when lots of half inch tubes inside the exchanger especially tiny leakage. We use a water pump to check every tube to see if water pressure can be hold or not. However this method cost much time and patient. Therefore I wonder if there any NDT instrument (ex: Ultrasonic) can be used to find out exact tube damage location. Thank you.





RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
And you'd need to run the test at load, shut down, move the thermocouple, re-fill the coolant, re-run the test, shutdown , drain the coolant, move the thermocouple ....
Consider going the other way. Freon detectors are very sensitive to low levels of gas. Can you get to a area where all of the coolant tubes are accessible? Plug all of the outlets with the rubber stoppers you used for the hydrotest.
Put a slight Freon pressure on the other side of the tube bank. Sniff for very small traces of the leaking Freon gas, rather than for the very infrequent and necessarily large drips of leaking liquid water.
RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
http://www.uesystems.eu/our-instruments/ultraprobe...
RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
If the tubes are horizontal and the gas side is vertical, even though you may not immediately pinpoint the leak you should at least be able to localize it to one vertically oriented cone or frustrum, at which point endoscopic inspection should precisely locate the leak.
If the tubes are vertically oriented, the coolant should track down only the surface of the leaking tube due to surface tension [spray of coolant onto an adjacent tube should be unlikely if the leak is in fact 'tiny'] and form a nice glow-in-the-dark ring around the defective tube.
CR
RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad "
RE: any NDT method to find heat exchanger tube leakage?
My two cents.
Regards
StoneCold