Heat exchanger flaws and fouling increase fuel usage and
maintenance costs and put operations and production at risk. New
choices in heat exchanger testing, design and materials are
alleviating these concerns. Acoustic testing: Acoustic pulse
reflectometry (APR), used in seismic studies, duct investigation
and musical instrument research, is the basis for AcousticEye’s
non-invasive testing method for heat exchanger systems. APR
measures one-dimensional acoustic-wave propagation in tubes and
then records and analyzes the reflections produced by changes in
the cross-sectional area of the tubular system to detect flaws.
AcousticEye’s Dolphin 2000 uses the technology to detect leaks,
wall loss, full or partial blockages, corrosion and fouling. The
Dolphin system emits a series of acoustic waves down the tube
and measures the resulting reflections, and its patented
software identifies each defect’s type, location and severity.
The heat exchanger’s owner might assign thresholds for each type
of flaw so that only me