Acoustic pulse reflectometry (APR) has been applied extensively to tubular systems in research laboratories for purposes of measuring input impedance, bore reconstruction, and fault detection. Industrial applications have been mentioned in the literature, though they have not been widely implemented. Academic APR systems are extremely bulky, often employing source tubes of 6 m in length, which limits their industrial use severely. Furthermore, leak detection methods described in the literature are based on indirect methods, by carrying out bore reconstruction and finding discrepancies between the expected and reconstructed bore. In this paper we describe an APR system designed specifically for detecting faults commonly found in industrial tube systems: leaks, increases in internal diameter caused by wall thinning, and constrictions. The system employs extremely short source tubes, in the order of 20 cm, making it extremely portable, but creating a large degree of overlap between forward and backward propagating waves in the system. A series of algorithmic innovations enable the system to perform the wave separation mathematically, and then identify the above faults automatically with a measurement time on the order of 10 s per tube. We present several case studies of condenser tube inspection, showing how different faults are identified and reported.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
January 2010
Technical Briefs
Condenser Tube Examination Using Acoustic Pulse Reflectometry
N. Amir,
N. Amir
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
Search for other works by this author on:
O. Barzelay,
O. Barzelay
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Yefet,
A. Yefet
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
Search for other works by this author on:
T. Pechter
T. Pechter
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
Search for other works by this author on:
N. Amir
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
O. Barzelay
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
A. Yefet
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, Israel
T. Pechter
AcousticEye Ltd.
, 4 Harechev, Tel Aviv, 67771, IsraelJ. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Jan 2010, 132(1): 014501 (5 pages)
Published Online: October 1, 2009
Article history
Received:
August 13, 2008
Revised:
August 24, 2008
Published:
October 1, 2009
Citation
Amir, N., Barzelay, O., Yefet, A., and Pechter, T. (October 1, 2009). "Condenser Tube Examination Using Acoustic Pulse Reflectometry." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. January 2010; 132(1): 014501. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3125302
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Shape Optimization of an Industrial Aeroengine Combustor to reduce Thermoacoustic Instability
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Dynamic Response of A Pivot-Mounted Squeeze Film Damper: Measurements and Predictions
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Review of The Impact Of Hydrogen-Containing Fuels On Gas Turbine Hot-Section Materials
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Effects of Lattice Orientation Angle On Tpms-Based Transpiration Cooling
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
Related Articles
A Theoretical Model of Uniform Flow Distribution for the Admission of High-Energy Fluids to a Surface Steam Condenser
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (April,2001)
Deviations in Predicted Condenser Performance for Power Plants Using HEI Correction Factors: A Case Study
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (March,2008)
A Computational Model of a Power Plant Steam Condenser
J. Energy Resour. Technol (March,2001)
Last Stage Performance Considerations in Low-Pressure Turbines of Power Plants: A Case Study
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (March,2008)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Basics of Hydraulic Loops
Hydraulics, Pipe Flow, Industrial HVAC & Utility Systems: Mister Mech Mentor, Vol. 1
Threshold Functions
Closed-Cycle Gas Turbines: Operating Experience and Future Potential
Techniques to Reduce Exchanger or System Cost
Heat Exchanger Engineering Techniques