Automatic UT inspection of economizer at TVA`s Paradise plant
- Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
- Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN (United States)
In March 1995, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRi) conducted testing of a multi-element ultrasonic probe designed to inspect economizer tubing in the Paradise power plant during the spring outage. This evaluation was to determine general loss of wall thickness due to erosion/corrosion and preferential inside diameter (ID) corrosion at butt welds in straight sections of the tube. The erosion/corrosion wall loss occurs during service while the butt weld corrosion occurs out-of-service when water collects in the weld groove during outages and results in localized pitting in the weld groove. The ultrasonic (UT) probe was designed to acquire thickness measurements from the ID of the economizer tubes and to be accurate, very rapid UT inspection. To attain a high rate of speed inside the tubes, an eight-element circular array of transducers were designed into the probe head. Thickness data and location data are collected automatically by a portable computer.
- OSTI ID:
- 405475
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951208-; TRN: 96:004301-0023
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Power-Gen America `95: power generation conference, Anaheim, CA (United States), 5-7 Dec 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Power-Gen `95. Book V: Operating plants. Volume 1 - performance enhancement. Volume 2 - operation & maintenance cost reduction; PB: 364 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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