By Durgamadhaba Mishra ASNT NDT Level III ( UT,MT,RT,PT,VT, LT & ET) AWS certified Welding Inspector API 653

Authorized Tank Inspector

Leak testing is a form on nondestructive testing used in either in pressurized or evacuated systems and components for detection and location of leaks and measurement of fluid leakage.

A leak may be defined as an unintended crack, hole, or porosity in a containing wall that allows the admission or escape of liquid or gas.

Leakage refers to the flow of fluid( Liquid or gas) through a leak without regards to physical size of the hole through which flow occurs.

To prevent material leakage loss that interface with system operation To prevent fire ,explosion and environmental contamination hazards or nuisances caused by accidental leakage. To detect unreliable components whose leakage rates exceed acceptance standards.

Leaks in newly-manufactured products, Typically, these include welds, brazed joints, soldered joints, glass-to-metal seals, ceramic-to-metal seals, O-rings and other gaskets, compound- sealed joints, etc. Leaks caused by imperfect or too-thin sections of the containing wall represent another class of leaks.

Leaks consists not of holes or cracks in the usual sense but due to the molecular structure of the containing wall to permit gas due to permeation A different type of leak, known as a virtual leak, is not really a leak but is the semblance of a leak due to the evolution of gas or vapour within a part or system. Virtual leaks can be caused by improper welds, threaded connections, or press fit joints. This type of leak often causes problems in vacuum systems.

Diffusion

Permeation Real Leaks

Outgassing

Virtual Backstreaming

Leakages are caused by material defectiveness, such as cracks and defects in the barrier. Even tiny, those imperfections

Diffusion also called permeation is a natural process; induced by pressure difference, gas can migrate through solids, even without any defects in the barrier. Diffusion is generally known to occur in most plastics and rubber materials. Being a natural phenomenon, it can be limited but not fully eliminated.

Leakage

Diffusion

Leaks are measured by the rate at which a gas or fluid flows into or out of the leaks, under certain conditions of temperature and pressure. This flow rate depends on
1. The geometry of the leak 2. The nature of the leaking fluid 3. The prevailing condition of fluid pressure, temperature & type of flow

Stress leaks have a habit of growing,i.e.,vary small leaks may become very troublesome later, after repeated stressing. High temperature leaks may be vary small at test temperature but may have higher leakage rates at system operating temperature. Temperature cycling to either high or cryogenic levels usually creates stress that results in change of leakage rate.

The shapes of leaks (cracks, fissures, porosity, damages, etc. are very different, unknown and non-uniform. Most leaks involve gas flow, and the most widely used methods of leak detection depend upon observation of gas flow. Leaks are measured in units of gas flow per unit time in certain conditions of temperature and pressure difference.
Pressure (P) X Volume (V) Leak rate (Q) = Time (Sec.)

In terms of the application, such as: 1) 1 oz. of refrigerant R-12 in 2 years at 70 psi or 2) 65 cc of oil per year at 0 psig and 140F, or 3) 10 cc of C02 in 3 months at 60 psig

In terms of the leak detection method* used, such as 1) 2 bubbles/sec (" diameter) when pressurized to 40 psi 2) 1.8 x 10-7 std cc/sec of helium at 14.7 psi 3) 2 psi pressure decay in 5 minutes at 60 psi