Analysis of Non-Destructive Tests for Inspection of Tubes from Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers: Remote Field (RFT) versus Internal Rotary Inspection System (IRIS)

Abstract:

Shell-and-tube heat exchangers are widely used in several sectors, including in the oil and gas industry, where they undergo corrosion in varied ways. Currently, the non-destructive inspection of such tubes is commonly performed by the Internal Rotating Inspection System (IRIS), an ultrasound technique recognized for the visual identification of discontinuities, but also for its high operational cost, including in terms of low testing speed. In contrast to IRIS, there is the Remote Field technique (RFT), a non-destructive test based on magnetic fields to indicate discontinuities, which is gaining momentum due to the lower operating cost, especially related to the test speed much higher than that performed by IRIS. Given the strong dependence on the interpretation on the part of the inspector and targeting at a better understanding of its variables and effects, as well as its performance against the IRIS test in different types of discontinuities, this work aims at contributing to the understanding of the RFT technique and the influence of its operating parameters, specifically the probe excitation frequency and traction speed, and effect of the support plate on the reading and interpretation of the results. For this purpose, RFT tests were carried out on carbon steel tubes used in shell-and-tube heat exchangers with different frequencies for the probe absolute and differential channels. A better adequacy was found to be with the channels set at different frequencies, and the most appropriate values must be determined at the time of the test considering variations in the tubes, especially the magnetic permeability. Probe traction speed values higher than 568 mm/s make the RFT reading of discontinuities difficult. Discontinuities less than 115 mm away from the support plate are not detected by the RFT absolute and differential channels, demanding the MIX channel, which subtracts the plate signal. In comparison with the IRIS, the RFT test, despite not intrinsically allowing the sizing of discontinuities, has been shown to be much faster in terms of scanning execution and with similar detection capacity.

Keywords:
IRIS; RFT; Remote field; Non-destructive inspection; Heat exchangers