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Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds
The objective of this research was to design an automated scanning and signal interpretation system for ensuring the integrity of the welds in a specific heat exchanger presently used in industry. The First Effect Steam Chest is a shell and tube, one pass type of heat exchanger used in the productio...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Mechanical Engineering
2024
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| _version_ | 1867614247799750656 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Reynard, Iain Michael |
| author_browse | Reynard, Iain Michael |
| author_facet | Reynard, Iain Michael |
| author_sort | Reynard, Iain Michael |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The objective of this research was to design an automated scanning and signal interpretation system for ensuring the integrity of the welds in a specific heat exchanger presently used in industry. The First Effect Steam Chest is a shell and tube, one pass type of heat exchanger used in the production of chlorine. A caustic soda/salt mixture is pumped through the bottom channel head through the tubes whilst steam passes through the shell. There are nine hundred and eighty tubes in the tube bundle, welded to the outer surface of the tubesheet. One such heat exchanger, approximately four years after installation, revealed severe erosion of the steam chest's tubing by the caustic soda, allowing leakage of the steam. With the high• cost of replacement, maintenance tasks were performed to prolong the life of the heat exchanger. These included improving the design of tube welds and checking the integrity of these welds before commissioning. Inspection methods available for the inspection of the welds were limite9 to manual techniques. This proved to be very labour intensive, leading to operator fatigue. Furthermore, the interpretation of the results from the inspection equipment was subjective. Lastly, no record of the inspection data was kept for future comparisons. It was thought that these problems could be overcome by an automated scanning and signal interpretation system. A survey of the automated scanning equipment commercially available revealed that most scanning systems were designed for eddie current inspection. Furthermore, most equipment was found to either be designed for a specific heat exchanger configuration, and thus was not suitable for the abovementioned application, or was designed with the nuclear industry in mind, thus being unnecessary complicated and consequently overpriced. Thus, it was concluded that a dedicated scanning system would have to be designed for the application. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40659 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:49:01.081Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/40659 Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds Reynard, Iain Michael Mechanical Engineering The objective of this research was to design an automated scanning and signal interpretation system for ensuring the integrity of the welds in a specific heat exchanger presently used in industry. The First Effect Steam Chest is a shell and tube, one pass type of heat exchanger used in the production of chlorine. A caustic soda/salt mixture is pumped through the bottom channel head through the tubes whilst steam passes through the shell. There are nine hundred and eighty tubes in the tube bundle, welded to the outer surface of the tubesheet. One such heat exchanger, approximately four years after installation, revealed severe erosion of the steam chest's tubing by the caustic soda, allowing leakage of the steam. With the high• cost of replacement, maintenance tasks were performed to prolong the life of the heat exchanger. These included improving the design of tube welds and checking the integrity of these welds before commissioning. Inspection methods available for the inspection of the welds were limite9 to manual techniques. This proved to be very labour intensive, leading to operator fatigue. Furthermore, the interpretation of the results from the inspection equipment was subjective. Lastly, no record of the inspection data was kept for future comparisons. It was thought that these problems could be overcome by an automated scanning and signal interpretation system. A survey of the automated scanning equipment commercially available revealed that most scanning systems were designed for eddie current inspection. Furthermore, most equipment was found to either be designed for a specific heat exchanger configuration, and thus was not suitable for the abovementioned application, or was designed with the nuclear industry in mind, thus being unnecessary complicated and consequently overpriced. Thus, it was concluded that a dedicated scanning system would have to be designed for the application. 2024-10-31T10:05:35Z 2024-10-31T10:05:35Z 1996 2024-07-12T06:16:02Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40659 eng application/pdf Department of Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment |
| spellingShingle | Mechanical Engineering Reynard, Iain Michael Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| title_full | Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| title_fullStr | Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| title_short | Automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| title_sort | automated ultrasonic inspection of heat exchanger tubesheets welds |
| topic | Mechanical Engineering |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/40659 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT reynardiainmichael automatedultrasonicinspectionofheatexchangertubesheetswelds |