Boiler Tube Leak Detection System

Acoustic Tube Leak Detection System

The conventional method of detecting tube leaks such as monitoring boiler make up water, mass balancing or merely depending on the human ear to recognise a sound change, are not sufficiently sensitive for large boilers. By using these methods the leak is often big enough to have already caused serious consequential damage sometimes to an entire boiler face. Research on acoustic tube leak detection for power station boilers started during the 1970's and has since become the most advanced method of tube leak detection worldwide. In 1984 we produced a computer based acoustic tube leak detection system for use on large boilers.

Operation

Up to 32 specially designed microphones are used to monitor the combustion chamber. The system uses Fast Fourier Transforms for generation of audio spectrums and computer analysis to determine the plant condition. When a leak is detected by the change in the sound signature, alarms are activated and the fault is localised. Mimic diagrams on the VDU show the plant operator where the leak is likely to be and printouts can be made of sound spectrums, alarm bargraphs and trends.

Uses

Power stations worldwide are now using this equipment for the early detection of tube leaks to reduce down time and prevent consequential damage.
Leaks less than 2mm in diameter can be detected on 600 MW boilers.
The INSPECTA FFT system consists of a self-contained hardware package, a Eurocard Central Processor Unit (CPU) with programmable memory and a standard, readily available Visual Display Unit (VDU) and serial printer.

Testing

The INSPECTA FFT system has been tested to meet world standards such as CE and is manufactured under the control of an ISO9001 system.

Reference

Reference list .PDF

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