Apparatus and method for inspection of tubes in a boiler

• US 9,146,215 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2012
• Issued: 09/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electric Power Research Institute Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Electric Power Research Institute Incorporated
• Inventors: Kwun, Hegeon, Capps, Matthew, Crane, James, Walker, Stanley M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Noland, Thomas P
• Application Number:
  US13/621,923
• Publication Number:
  US 20130081486A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,106 Days
• Field of Search: 735/92, 73628-629, 736/43, 736/61, 122/504
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F22B 37/00 Component parts or details of steam boilers venting devices F16K24/00; steam traps or like apparatus F16T
• CPC Class Codes: F22B 37/10 Water tubes; Accessories therefor working of metal tubes B21D; pipes in general F16L; repairing leaks in water tubes F16L55/16; F28F11/00; baffles, screens, or deflectors formed of water tubes F23M9/10; cleaning internal or external surfaces of water tubes F28G
• CPC Class Codes: F22B 37/38 Determining or indicating operating conditions in steam boilers, e.g. monitoring direction or rate of water flow through water tubes measuring or indicating instruments in general G01
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0426 Bulk waves, e.g. quartz crystal microbalance, torsional waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/2634 cylindrical from outside
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/82 for investigating the presence of flaws
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/22 Details , e.g. general constructional or apparatus details
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/2412 using the magnetostrictive properties of the material to be examined, e.g. electromagnetic acoustic transducers [EMAT]; investigating the presence of flaws using eddy currents G01N27/90, magnetostrictive transducers B06B1/08, measuring magnetostrictive properties G01R33/18

Abstract

An apparatus and method for inspection of tubes in a boiler is disclosed. The apparatus includes a sensor adapted to generate and detect guided-waves and a mechanical device adapted to reach into a tube bundle and clamp the sensor onto an interior tube selected for inspection. The mechanical device includes a housing adapted to contain the sensor and an air cylinder adapted to actuate the housing to allow the housing to clamp onto the interior tube.

Claims

1. An apparatus for inspecting a tube, comprising:

a housing comprising two sections, the housing moveable between an open position and a closed position;

a pair of semi-circular guided-wave probes, wherein each of the guided-wave probes is secured to one of the sections of the housing and arranged such that the guided-wave probes define a cylindrical passage in the closed position; and

an air cylinder coupled to the housing and configured to move the housing between the open and closed positions along a rectilinear path.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further including a spline, wherein the housing is connected to the spline, the spline provides alignment of the housing and allows the housing to only move in a linear direction when the sensor is clamped onto the interior tube.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further including a handle connected to the air cylinder.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensor operates in a torsional (T) wave mode to provide dispersion-free characteristics.