10/8/13

Internal Rotary Inspection System (IRIS) Tubular Testing

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IRIS Tubular Testing

IRIS is one of the most recognizable inspection methods. It was originally developed for Air Cooler inspections. The method operates by utilizing a unique water driven rotating mirror to direct an ultrasonic beam, which is reflected 90 degrees to the internal tube wall. The ultrasonic transducer is mounted axially in the tube and the ultrasonic beam is directed toward the mirror, which is placed at a 45-degree angle to the transducer. Using special ultrasonic electronics and computer a B-scan and/or C-scan image is presented. Resources
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IRIS is an extremely accurate (plus or minus 3%) examination but is limited in the size of the discontinuity it can detect. Cracks are normally not found during the examination while pitting, general wall thinning and fretting are normally identified and measured. At TechCorr we believe in diversity and advanced technologies. Therefore we utilize the most advanced IRIS technologies for heat exchanger tubular inspection. We currently use the Olympus NDT MS 5800 ER1U, instruments for our tube testing instruments. This instrument has the capabilities of presenting a Real-Time C-Scan of the IRIS data as it is being inspected. This is a great aid in helping the Technician or Operator to visually pin point flawed areas in the tube on the fly. All of the IRIS data is stored for post analysis of the data and archived for future needs.

Applications Inspection of Ferromagnetic and Non-Ferromagnetic Tubing Provides accurate wall thickness readings. Can detect and size isolated pitting, corrosion, and gradual wall loss. Can inspect tubes from 5/8 to 3 diameter. (Larger with special probe designs). Can distinguish between ID and OD Orientations. Can inspect tubing that has been coated with nonconductive coating. Complimentary Technique to ECT, RFT, NFT & MFL. Disadvantages

Production Two-man crew can inspect roughly 200 tubes (20 in length) in an 8 hour shift. Site Preparation Tubes require exceptional cleaning (15,000-20,000 psi hydro-blasting is recommended). 110 VAC Power Source. Water source with sufficient water pressure 60 psi or greater. Scaffolding and/or cover for equipment. Pre-Job Information

Cleanliness of the tubes is a major factor and requires thorough tube cleaning (removal of all scale, deposits, chemical residue and/or oil residue prior to inspection. Slow Inspection Speeds of 15-30 tubes / hour. Cannot detect cracks (Special probe design is needed). Cannot inspect Low Fin Tubing. Limited to isolated pit detection and pit size (=> 1/8 diameter). Outside of scale, a rough ID surface can reduce the effectiveness of the examination as well.

Equipment Number Service Name Total Number of Tubes Percentage of Tubes for Inspection Tube Material Tube OD Tube Wall Thickness or Gauge Tube Length Access Requirements to Exchanger Special Safety Requirements Suspected or Predicted Damage Tube Side Service Shell Side Service

Data Interpretation.

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Tube Cleanliness is as important for the process reasons

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Data Interpretation.

Internal Rotary Inspection System (IRIS) Tubular Testing

Tube Cleanliness is as important for the process reasons (i.e. heat transfer) as it is for the IRIS inspection. Inspections that go the smoothest are ones where the tubes are adequately cleaned prior to the inspection. Not only does this save inspection time and money, but the data acquired from clean tubes VS dirty tubes make the inspection much more accurate. Any light scale or deposits creates an interface inhibiting the sound waves to penetrate the tube wall. These scale and deposits can mask ID and OD indications. So how can you tell when the tubes are cleaned enough for an IRIS inspection? We have developed a Dummy probe chart that customers can use to build probe heads to check for tube cleanliness. These probes can be made to screw on to hydro-blasters lances and used after the cleaning process is complete to make sure there is proper clearance for the IRIS probe. However for IRIS it is sometimes a trial an error technique when it comes to tube cleanliness. Final Reports - After the inspections and final data analysis is completed a formal report is generated showing a tube sheet diagram with the tubes inspected color coded to a percentage wall loss. Additional tube sheet diagrams can be generated showing the worst case scenarios for tube plugging or selective re-tubing. In addition to this information our reporting format can generate corrosion rates, and a projection based on the established corrosion rates.

OD Indications are presented on the right side of the B-Scan.

ID Indications are indicated on the left side of the B-Scan.

Tube with ID Scale & Deposits, (Too dirty for inspection).

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Internal Rotary Inspection System (IRIS) Tubular Testing

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