See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/233971057

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness

Measurement at Thermal Power Stations
ARTICLE JANUARY 2011

DOWNLOADS

VIEWS

6,824

740

Available from: Saswata Bhowmick

Retrieved on: 08 August 2015

International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology.

ISSN 0974-3154 Volume 4, Number 1 (2011), pp. 89-107
International Research Publication House
http://www.irphouse.com

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness

Measurement at Thermal Power Stations
S. Bhowmick
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

Abstract
This paper is mainly concentrated upon the various scientific technologies
involved in the ultrasonic inspections frequently conducted at the thermal
power stations. Not only in day to day industrial maintenance operations,
ultrasonic inspection which is considered as one of the most popular Non
Destructive Testing methods has immense contribution to the field of
Research & Development operations also, a branch which has its unit at
condition monitoring cell at thermal power stations & also at the most
renowned R&D organisations around the world. Now days particularly at the
Thermal Power Stations every moment new challenges are faced in the power
generation technology which necessitates the development of more advanced
Condition Monitoring Techniques. Although Condition Monitoring at Thermal
Power Stations occupy a vast region starting from Vibration Based Condition
Monitoring to Non Destructive Examinations. The Non Destructive Testing
not only includes the involvement of skilled technicians, engineers but also
highlights a vast, endless research domain with state of the art technology in
modern day industries. Further analysis of the technologies results in the
academic achievements also. This paper deals with the prospects, scope &
contributions of the state of the NDT Ultrasonic Techniques for day to day
maintenance at the Thermal Power Stations.
Keywords: Ultrasonic Inspection, Non Destructive Testing, Power Station,
Maintenance.

Introduction
Nowadays, Condition Monitoring operations at the Thermal Power Stations & various
other industries has popularized & supported the development of Non Destructive
Testing Techniques not only in India but round the globe. Although, Condition

90

S. Bhowmick

Monitoring operations include a vast domain, starting right from the maintenance
activities by the plant engineers & technicians to computerised failure analysis &
reliability engineering under proactive maintenance at the well known Research &
Development organisations & institutes. Among the chiefly practised Maintenance
operations Non Destructive Testing deserves special mention. The various types of
Non Destructive Examinations include Ultrasonic Inspection, Remote Visual
Inspection, Eddy Current Testing, Radiographic Examination, Vibration Analysis &
various other methods whose concepts are still under research studies. All these
methods are equally vital both from the Industrial as well as the research point of
view. Its industrial field includes oil & gas industries, aircraft industries, iron & steel
industries, power generation industries & various other small scale & large scale
industries.
However, in this paper we are just highlighting upon Ultrasonic Inspection &
more specifically upon its basic principles, technology behind wall thickness
measurement & scope. It is known that any engineering operation is conducted under
certain sections viz., Machinery or Technical accessories, Technology behind
operation, Results & Scope of operation. We will now categorically discuss the above
mentioned facts.

Technical accessories for Ultrasonic Inspection

Every Ultrasonic Inspection consists of certain common technical accessories whose
specification differs with their makers. However, same technical process exists behind
such accessories.
Hence, technically the components can broadly summarize under the following
categories:
Transducers/Probes: The Transducers & probes mainly act as a converter i.e. it
performs the conversion from one form of energy to another. In case of Ultrasonic
Inspection, it plays the role of interfacing between the mechanical & the electrical
energy (pulse). Depending upon the industrial needs, ultrasonic transducers of various
technical specifications & make are utilized for thickness measurements & crack
detections.
Types of Transducers based upon Modes of Operation
Ultrasonic transducers can be used in the time, attenuation, frequency, and image
domains. Time domain transducers measure the time of flight and the velocity of
longitudinal, shear, and surface waves. Time domain transducers measure density and
thickness, detect and locate defects, and measure elastic and mechanical properties of
materials. These transducers are also used for interface and dimensional analysis,
proximity detection, remote sensing, and robotics.
Attenuation domain transducers measure fluctuations of transmitted and reflected
signals
At a given frequency and beam size these transducers are used for defect
characterization and determining surface and internal microstructures. They also can
be used for interface analysis.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

91

Frequency domain transducers measure the frequency dependence of ultrasonic

attenuation, thereby providing ultrasonic spectroscopy. These transducers are
especially used for microstructure analysis, grain boundary studies, determining
porosity and surface characterization, and phase analysis.
Image domain transducers measure the time of flight and are used for attenuation
mapping as function of discrete point analysis by raster C-scanning or synthetic
aperture techniques. These transducers can provide surface and internal imaging of
defects, microstructure, density, velocity, or mechanical properties. True 2D or 3D
imaging can be provided.
Again depending upon the geometry, make & method of contact with the test
sample, probes can be broadly divided into contact & non contact ones
Transducers

ContactTypeProbes

NormalBeam
DualProbe

AngleBeam

Non
Contact
Probes

Immersion
Type
Probes

SingleProbe

Figure 1.1: Types of Transducers Based Upon Nature of Contact.

Now we shall discuss mainly the technical set up of those Transducers frequently
utilized for operations at the Thermal Power Stations.
Contact Type Transducers
Ultrasonic testing (UT) is widely used by industry for quality controls an equipment
integrity studies. Major uses include flaw detection and wall thickness measurements.
Using ultrasonic techniques it is also possible to measure the thickness of process
pipes and vessels with ultrasonic transducers. Wall thickness measurements are
especially important in corrosion studies where corrosion can cause a uniform
reduction in wall thickness over a period of time.
When a piezoelectric crystal is driven by high-voltage electrical pulses, the crystal
rings at its resonant frequency and produces short bursts of high frequency
vibrations. These sound wave trains generated by the ultrasonic transducer or
search unit are transmitted into the material being tested. When the search unit is in
direct contact with the test material, the technique is known as contact testing.
Ultrasonic pulses are also reflected from the back surface of the material and this
signal represents the total distance travelled. The pulse received from the back surface
can also represent the width, length, or thickness of the material depending on its

92

S. Bhowmick

orientation. Ultrasonic thickness testing measures the wall thicknesses of pipes and
vessels by measuring the total distance travelled by the ultrasonic pulses, which is
represented by the distance from the initial pulse or front surface to the back reflection
from the back surface.
Ultrasonic flaw and thickness indications are frequently displayed on an
instrument or computer display screen. In ultrasonic testing, a search unit may be
thought of as an ultrasonic probe or transducer containing one or more piezoelectric
crystals. The search unit is driven for 1 to 3ms, producing a short burst of ultrasonic
waves. The ultrasonic waves are transmitted through the material where it is reflected
by the back surface. After this initial burst of pulses is transmitted, the transducer acts
as a receiver, waiting to receive the reflected wave train or echo pulse. This
transmitting receiving cycle is repeated 60 to 1000 times or more based on
transducer design and application requirements. To avoid confusion, sufficient time
must be allowed to elapse between transmitted pulses to permit return of the echo
pulse and provide for the decay of the initial pulse.

Figure 1.2: A Block diagram of an Ultrasonic Testing by a Transducer.

However depending upon the transmission & receiving of the ultrasonic beams,
contact type transducers can be again categorized into dual element transducer, single
element transducer & angle beam transducers (mainly used for flaw detection).
However in dual element transducers, two separate crystals are present for
transmission & receiving separated by acoustic barrier while in angle beam probes
one or many crystals formed in array may be utilized. The simplest in arrangement is
the single crystal probe in which only one crystal is present for the entire function.
However, details regarding the angle beam probe are beyond the scope of this paper.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

93

Figure 1.3: Various Types of Transducers based upon Geometry & Crystal
Construction.

94

S. Bhowmick

Piezoelectric Crystals & Piezoelectric Effects

Along with the brief description of contact type transducers, we should also highlight
the piezoelectric crystals & their working principles since their role is vital for
understanding transducer operation & construction. A piezoelectric substance is one
that produces an electric charge when a mechanical stress is applied (the substance is
squeezed or stretched). Conversely, a mechanical deformation (the substance shrinks
or expands) is produced when an electric field is applied. When a piezoelectric crystal
is driven by high-voltage electrical pulses, the crystal rings at its resonant frequency
and produces short bursts of high frequency vibrations. These sound wave trains
generated by the ultrasonic transducer or search unit are transmitted into the
material being tested. When the search unit is in direct contact with the test material,
the technique is known as contact testing.
The piezoelectric crystal in the search unit converts the reflected sound wave or
echo back into electric pulses. Ultrasonic pulses are also reflected from the back
surface of the material and this signal represents the total distance travelled. The pulse
received from the back surface can also represent the width, length, or thickness of the
material depending on its orientation. Ultrasonic thickness testing measures the wall
thicknesses of pipes and vessels by measuring the total distance travelled by the
ultrasonic pulses, which is represented by the distance from the initial pulse or front
surface to the back reflection from the back surface.
Ultrasonic transmitters and receivers are mainly made from small plates cut from
certain crystals. If no external forces act upon such a small plates electric charges are
arranged in certain symmetry and thus compensate each other. Due to external
pressure the thickness of the small plate is changed and thus the symmetry of the
charge. An electric field develops and at the silver-coated faces of the crystal voltage
can be tapped off. This effect is called Direct Piezoelectric Effect.
Pressure fluctuations and thus also sound waves are directly converted into
electric voltage variations by this effect; the small plate serves as receiver. The direct
piezoelectric effect is reversible is reversible (reciprocal piezoelectric effect). If
voltage is applied to the contact face of the crystal the thickness of the small plate
changes, according to the polarity of the voltage the plate becomes thicker or thinner.
Due to an applied high frequency a.c. voltage the crystal oscillates at the frequency of
the a.c. voltage.
A short voltage pulse of less than 1/1000000 seconds and a voltage of 300-1000 v
excites the crystal into oscillations at its natural frequency (resonance), which depends
on the thickness and the material of small plate. The thinner the crystal, the higher its
resonance frequency. Therefore it is possible to generate an ultrasonic signal with a
definite primary frequency. The thickness of the crystal is calculated from the
required resonance frequency f0- according to the following formula:
T=V/2F
Where V= velocity of the crystal material; f= resonance frequency of the crystal;
T=thickness of the crystal.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

95

Figure 1.4: Piezoelectric Effects caused due to various Circuit Design & Charging
Processes.

Figure 1.5: Piezoelectric effect causing energy conversions

96

S. Bhowmick

Non Contact Ultrasonic Transducer

One of the mention worthy development in the NDT techniques is the introduction of
Non Contact Ultrasonic transducers with perfect air/gas impedance (Z) matching. Non
contact was made possible by the development of high-transduction piezoelectric
transducers in 1997(U.S. and international patents) and the creation of a dedicated non
contacting ultrasonic analyzer in 1998 to 2003. Although for few years the concept of
Non Contacting Ultrasound remained a dream because of mismatch of acoustic
impedance but the development of dry coupling for longitudinal and shears wave
transducers operating at frequencies up to 25MHz was the NCU transducer precursor.
Since 1983, these transducers have been used to characterize thickness, velocity,
elastic, and mechanical properties of green, porous, and dense materials. This research
was followed by the development of planar and focused air/gas propagation
transducers, which utilized a less than 1 Mrayl acoustic impedance matching layer of
a nonrubber material on the piezoelectric material. These 250kHz to 5MHz aircoupled (AC) transducers with polymer acoustic impedance matched layers depended
on high-energy or tone burst excitation, and high signal amplification, and were
somewhat application and range limited. In 1997, Mahesh C. Bhardwaj* produced
and evaluated transducers with compressed fiber as the final acoustic impedance
matching layer. These transducers produced unprecedented and phenomenal
transduction in air. This work was instrumental in the development of current
noncontacting transducers with perfect air acoustic impedance matching. As a result,
current noncontacting transducers, covering the range of a 50 kHz to >5MHz, can
now be propagated though practically any medium including very-high-acoustic
impedance materials such as steel, cermets, and dense ceramics.

(a) Operation (b) EMAT Transducer Construction

Figure 1.6: General Operation & construction block diagrams of a typical NCU unit.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

97

Working Principal
NCUTM transducer signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is determined by
SNR = 20 logVx Vn [dB]
where Vx is the received signal in volts Vn is noise voltage
The SNR is determined without signal processing and includes the noise
associated with measuring instruments, cables, etc. NCU transducer sensitivity (S) is
determined by
S = 20 logVx V0 [dB]
where Vx is the received signal in volts; V0 is the excitation voltage.
NCU transducers generate immense acoustic pressure in air over their frequency
range. Again, in some cases, magnetic field & electric fields are used to generate the
Ultrasonic Wave & thereby strengthening the acoustic pressure.
Some Industrial Advantages
1. No requirement of couplant, since NCU Transducers overcomes the drawback
of the conventional UT methods to attenuate in air medium in absence of
water, grease, glycerine & other couplants.
2. Can be used both in contact & also at distance from the surface. This feature is
very much vital particularly in cases of boiler tubes where there is surface
deposition & those areas where surface contact is not available, NCU unit is
enable to provide Wall Thickness Measurement.
3. No surface preparations prior to thickness measurement operations results in
the saving of both Time & Labour.
Couplants
Air is a poor conductor of Ultrasonic Waves at the available Transducer frequencies.
Impedance mismatch will occur if even a thin film of air is present between the
transducer & the test piece. It will directly obstruct the transmission of sound waves
between the robe and the test piece. Hence it is essential to eliminate air, air bubbles
between the transducer & the test piece in order to achieve measurement accuracy.
Even some ultrasonic thickness measuring devices which are highly sensitive shows
LOSS OF SIGNAL to indicate the presence of air. Hence the ultimate solution to
this technical complexity is the utilisation of a compound known as couplant. It fills
up the space between the contacts of the transducer & test piece and thereby
eliminating the presence of air bubbles in the path of wave transmission. However,
the couplants popular for industrial as well as R&D use are grease, oil, water,
glycerine and chemical pastes.
However, certain parameters vital for couplant selections are:
Surface nature & topography of the test piece.
Surface temperature of the test piece.
Chemical nature of the surface and the couplant to prevent any type of chemical

98

S. Bhowmick
reactions, corrosion etc.
Whether any pre surface preparation like cleaning etc. is required or not.

Theory of Operations
A typical ultrasonic instrument consists of the following components:
i.
An electronic signal generator for producing bursts of alternating voltage.
ii.
A transducer for transmission and reception of the ultrasonic waves to and
from the test piece.
iii.
A couplant to act as a medium of wave propagation between the transducer
and the test piece.
iv.
An electronic device to amplify or demodulate or modify the signal from
the transducer.
v.
A display screen or indicator to demonstrate the thickness readings or
ultrasonic waves received from the various layers of the test piece.
vi.
An electronic clock or timer to control the sequence of actions and thereby
acting as a reference point.

Ultrasonic Inspection

Figure 2.1: Types of Ultrasonic Inspection based on operation.

Since the Pulse Echo Technique is popular at Thermal Power Stations, hence this
paper is highlighting this technique only. But the major distinction between the two
methods is that the Thorough gives the measurement of the signal attenuation while
Pulse Echo Technique measures
Pulse Echo Technique
The techniques causes detection of echoes produced when an ultrasonic pulse is
reflected at an interface of test piece. In this process short bursts of ultrasonic energy
are introduced at regular intervals into the test specimen. If the pulses encounter a
reflecting surface, some or all of the Ultrasound energy is reflected back. Both the

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

99

reflected energy and timee delay between the transmission of initiall pulse and the
reception of ay response from
fr
the test piece are measured.
The Pulse Echo Techhnique is utilised both in thickness measurem
ment and crack
detection.

Figure 2.2: A Typical Scale Thickness Measuring Gaugee.

Ultrasonic Wave Propaggation and Wave Characteristics

In air sound travels by compression
c
and rarefactions of the air molecules
m
in the
directions of travel. Howeever, in solids, the molecules can support vibbrations in other
directions, so a number of
o different types of sound waves can be generated. Since
Longitudinal waves and Shear waves are mostly preferred for thicknesss measurements
in the industrial sectors, so their properties are particularly highlighhted. Ultrasonic
waves travel through soliids and liquids at relatively high speeds, buut more readily
attenuated, or die out in gases. The velocity of a specific ultrasonic wave ode is a
h
material. The velocities differ from
f
material to
constant through a given homogenous
material and these differrences are largely due to the differences in density and
elasticity of each material..

Figure 2.3: A Thickness result of a Typical Ultrasonic Instruument.

100

S. Bhowmick

Basically the Ultrasonic waves can be broadly categorized into the following
types
Longitudinal Waves
The longitudinal waves, also known as compressional wave mode, consist of alternate
compression and rarefaction zones along the direction of propagation. The
propagation of this sound is caused by elastic bond between the particles, wherein
particle as it moves from its equilibrium position, pushes or pulls the adjacent
particles, which in turn transmit energy to next particle and so on. Almost all the
energy originates as sound and may be converted into other wave modes upon
interference. This mode can propagate in all the three medium i.e.
Solids, Liquids and Gases and also has the highest velocity compared to the three
modes. This mode includes a large section of straight beam probes ranging in
frequency from.5 MHz to 25 MHz and can thus measure large test specimens.

Figure 2.4: A diagrammatic representation of longitudinal wave propagation.

Shear Waves
This wave mode, also known as Transverse Mode, is next in importance in terms of
industrial practice as compared to Longitudinal Waves. Transverse Waves are
visualised readily in terms of vibrations of a rope that is shaken rhythmically, in
which each particle vibrates up and down, rather than parallel to the direction of wave
motion. Transverse waves cannot be supported by the elastic collision of the adjacent
molecules. For the propagation of transverse waves it is necessary that each particle
exhibit strong force of attraction to its neighbour, so that as the particle moves back
and forth, it pulls the neighbours with it. This makes the sound to move through the
material with a velocity of 50% of Longitudinal for the same concerned material.
Transmission of these waves is again not supported by air and water.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

101

Particle
movement

Direction of Wave

Figure 2.5: A diagrammatic representation of shear wave propagation.

Lamb Waves
Lamb waves also called Plate Waves consist of complex vibration that occurs
throughout the thickness of the material and hence they are utilized to detect
discontinuities in thin sheets, only a few wavelengths thick. The wave propagation is
affected by material density, elastic properties and the structure of the material as well
as thickness of the test piece and the frequency. The two basic types of Lamb waves
are Symmetrical and Asymmetrical.
Surface Waves
These waves are known as Raleigh Wave mode and travel along smooth, rough and
curved surface of relatively thick solid parts. The surface waves suffer high
attenuation and travels at velocity of 90% of that of transverse waves.
Factors Affecting Wave Propagation
During transmission through the test specimen, the sound waves encounter losses in
energy due to various factors. These losses in case of Ultrasonic waves are
collectively known as Attenuation.
Factors contributing to energy losses can broadly categorized as follows:
Transmission Losses.
Interference Losses.
Beam spread Losses.
Transmission losses occur during the transmission of Ultrasonic waves due to
scattering, absorption and acoustic impedance effects.
Interference losses occur when the sound beam produced by on oscillating particle
interferes with the sound wave produced by another vibrating particle. This could be
the result of Phase shifts, wave fringes, diffraction etc.
Losses due to scattering occur mainly because of certain irregularities in the lattice
structure. There may be sections even in a flawless test specimen where the space

102

S. Bhowmick

lattice structure of the material is defective or foreign matter, which accumulates very
small quantities at the grain boundaries. The propagation of sound waves is very
strongly affected by this inhomogeneity.
Grain boundaries and foreign matter reflect very small sound portions into all
directions. This effect is called Scattering.
Near Field Effects
The crystal produces a system of waves ina limited area, which leads to a sound field
shaped in a very complecated manner. In order to explain these procedures, two point
shaped sources P1 and P2 are taken which can transmit spherical wave. It is also
assumed that both the sources produce maxima and minima of the same amplitude. In
the space sarrounding these points P and P there are certain where the path difference
between the two points is just i.e. at these points a minimum of he one wave
overlaps a maximum of the other wave. At these points the waves compensate to each
other. In order to make the sound radiation from the crystal surface simplified, the
surface is subdivided into many small points. Each point of the crystal is considered
to be the starting point of a spherical wave(Huygens principle). Due to the
interference of all these waves a complicated system of maxima and minima occurs in
the sound field. Behind the crystal a number of interference maxima and minima can
be seen. On the central beam there is the last maximum(the main maximum) and from
this point o noother maxima and minima can exist. The area of maxima and minima
upto the main maximum is called near field.
The distance between crystal and main maximum is the near field length N. The
near field length dependson the face of the crystal i.e. the square of its diameter, the
frequency of the sound waves and the sound velocity in the material in which the
waves propagate.
To a circular crystal the following formula applies:

Where N= length of the near field; D=Probe diameter; = Ultrasound wavelength.

If the wavelength is less than the Ultrasound transducer diameter, then the near
field is calculated as follows:

Near field effect may mainly cause sensitivities inconsistencies while searching for
discontinuities smaller than the probe diameter. Hence, it is not recommended to
inspect in near field. The length of the near field can be adjusted by varying delay line
thickness, probe frequency and diameter.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

103

Leading Edge of Pulse (Extent of Dead Zone)

FarZone

Transducer
Near Zone

Figure 2.6: Near Field and Far Field Zones in a specimen.

Far Field Effects & Other Losses

As from a particular distance of near field lengths the sound pressure on the central
beam is directly reduced proportionally to the distance of the crystal. This area of the
sound beam is called Far field. The area between near field and far field is called
Transition Area. It can be stated that the shape of the sound beam depends on the
sound velocity; the frequency velocity means that the material of the test object
influences the shape of the sound beam. If a certain material is concerned and thus the
sound velocity known, a larger near field and the small divergence angle are obtained
by increasing the testing frequency. The same effect can be reached by increasing the
crystal diameter. The geometry of the crystal and the wave characteristics are the
reason for the interference effects.
Again, wave propagation always leads to loss of energy. A small portion of the
oscillation energy of a mass particle involved in a wave motion is lost during the
conversion into heat; This influence is called absorption and the resulting losses are
known as absorption losses.

Calibration of Instruments
Accuracy and precision are the ultimate tools for any industrial operations. It also
appears the acceptance criteria of any technical inspection result. Ultrasonic
Inspection is no way exception to this policy. A Calibration process can briefly
defined as the checking of instrumental control and its parameters at regular intervals
in order to ensure the accuracy of its results. In order to have a comparative idea,
reference test specimens having nationally or industrially certified technical
specifications, are utilised. Since mainly normal beam probes are utilised at Thermal
Power Stations for Ultrasonic Inspection purposes, hence the techniques comprising
the calibration procedures are highlighted in the following categories:
Linearity of Time Base Check: In order to check horizontal linearity or sweep
linearity, it is necessary to adjust multiple echoes obtained from longitudinal wave

104

S. Bhowmick

transducer placed on a flat surface of standardised test block. It is should be made

clear that the distance between the initial pulse and the first back surface reflection is
always greater than the successive echoes, and hence alignment should always
commence with first echo signal and not with the initial pulse. The echoes should be
so arranged that the leading or the left hand side of each echo should always coincide
with the divisions on the horizontal scale on the CRT screen. The other types of
calibrating procedures like Linearity of amplification, Sensitivity check, Resolution
check and estimation of Dead zone etc. are considered to be vital for flaw detection
measuring units.
However, for Ultrasonic Scale measuring instruments we mainly rely upon the
relation of Sound velocity, time taken for transmission and reception and the distance
travelled. Among these, the velocity of sound varies from material to material. Hence,
the only objective is to detect the exact sound velocity through a particular type of
reference material block for accurate measurement of specimens of same material but
of varying dimensions.
Need and Contributions of Ultrasonic Inspection to R&D and Thermal Power
Stations in India
Shortage of power supply is an issue of perennial worry in India. In place of
increasing the National capacity of power generation, some power stations are even
obliged to decommission their installed unit because of unavoidable technical faults.
Among the other technical reasons, forced outage deserves special. As per the
statistical records, the generating capacity was 76,700 MW in 1997 which was
expected to be doubled in 10-15 years requiring 7,000 MW per annum which was not
possible by the National Organisations alone without the investment of private sectors
and foreign investments. Again, globally depleting coal resources has worsened the
catastrophy. The depletion of coal resources also results in the degradation of quality
of coal. Due to presence of impurities like quartz, stones etc. much of the supplied
coal is rejected in Coal Handling Plants at the Thermal Power Stations, thereby
causing a huge loss to the National Economy. Even poor quality of coal adversely
affects the plant machinery also and reduces their service life. To some extent this
equipment damage is accompanied by river water also. Even under these
circumstances, Thermal Power Station authorities under public sectors are bound to
purchase low grade quality coal at a relatively high price. Boiler Tube Leakage, which
has proved to be one of the major concerns of Thermal Power Stations, can be
considered as one of the negative effects of coal and water quality. In recent years,
boiler tube failure and the subsequent capital overhauling has caused severe forced
outage at the major Thermal Power Stations & thereby causing decommissioning of
certain dependable units at the Power Plants. Boiler Shut downs for months on virtue
of Condition Monitoring & other maintenance operations have become quiet frequent,
thereby affecting the state electricity revenue system & causing shortage of power
supply. Various factors chiefly contributing to the boiler tube failure are combustion
of low grade coal, utilisation of river water containing impurities like silt, poor tube

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

105

material, prolonged deposition of scales inside the tubes, overheating resulted from
control of parameters at the instrumentation room and various other reasons which
still attract highly intellectual long term research initiatives. Condition monitoring
operations can be considered as a fast hand remedial measure to all these long term
problems. Many reputed industrial and R&D organisations perform such operations as
outsourcing agencies at the Thermal Power Stations. However, Wall Thickness
Measurement operations have proved to be a vital tool both for condition monitoring
operations as well as R&D activities. A boiler tube with scale deposition greater than
32 microns can be declared as failed tube, but acid cleaning can be conducted for
saving the tube before this deposition occurs. Wall Thickness Measurement and
related Scale Thickness Measurements are the two effective methods which can act as
guidelines to these acid cleaning operations. An accurate measurement not only
indicates the tube which is likely to fail but it also helps in saving the tube by causing
an effective cleaning. Generally the scales found inside the tubes are mainly
composed of Fe2O3, Fe3O4, CaCO3 etc.
Every year Thermal Power Stations under public sectors spend several lacs of
rupees after the condition monitoring during periods of capital overhauling, whereas a
sincere initiative in the Wall Thickness Measurement and Scale Detection operation
with an R&D backup will help to reduce boiler tube failure, thereby preventing capital
overhauling and forced outage not only in a single Thermal Power Station but at all
the Power houses throughout the country.
Only requirement for this success is a team of dedicated scientists well
coordinated with field engineers at the Thermal Power Stations. Further Research and
Development activities are carried on to increase the operational efficiency and
mobility to minimize capital overhauling period. State Electricity Boards generate and
distribute powers, set tariffs and collect revenues. However they suffer from chronic
financial problems because of rising generating cost accompanied by eroded revenues
due to pilferage, bad debts and supply of power for agricultural sector at subsidised
rates. They operate without a guideline on how to price power. However, at the
Thermal Power Stations various boiler accessories are subjected to scale thickness
measurements. These include Platen Superheater, Pendant Reheater, Economiser and
various other type of tubes found within the boiler units during capital overhauling.

106

S. Bhowmick

Figure 3.1: Areas of Wall Thickness Measurement inside a Boiler Unit During
Capital Overhauling.

Acknowledgement
I convey my deep respect, honour and gratitude to the following intellectual
personalities, industrial and R&D organisations for their whole hearted and precious
contributions to the field of Condition Monitoring and Non Destructive Testing. This
paper is dedicated to the devoted activities of NDT professionals, field engineers,
scientists, research and industrial personalities for upgradation of Power Generation
Systems in India.
Prof. Mihir Sarangi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, Dr. Hassan Shaaban, Professor of Metallurgy, AEA, all the
Thermal Power Stations in India for their patronage and supports to Condition
Monitoring Operations, American Society of Non Destructive Testing, Central
Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, A Constituent Establishment of CSIR,
Central Power Research Institute, An Autonomous Society under Ministry of Power,
Krautkamer NDT Ultrasonic Systems, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York
13699 U.S.A., SIS Institute of Non Destructive Testing, Chennai, Donald N. Bugden,
Vice President-Marketing, Magnetic Analysis Corporation, Olympus NDT & GE
Inspection Technologies.

References
[1] Berke, Michael, Nondestructive Material Testing with Ultrasonics
Introduction to the Basic Principles, Krautkramer GmbH, 19901992.
[2] Betti, F., Guidi, A., Raffarta, B. et al., TOFDThe Emerging Ultrasonic
Computerized Technique for Heavy Wall Pressure Vessel Welds
Examination, 2002.
[3] Bhardwaj, M.C., High Efficiency Non-Contact Transducers and a Very High
Coupling Piezoelectric Composite,WCNDT, 2004.

Ultrasonic Inspection for Wall Thickness Measurement

107

[4] Bhardwaj, M. C., Evolution of Piezoelectric Transducers to Full Scale NonContact Ultrasonic Analysis Mode,WCNDT, 2004.
[5] Bhardwaj, Mahesh C., Non-Contact Ultrasound: The Final Frontier in
Nondestructive Analysis, Publication #SW302, March 2002.
[6] Frielinghaus, Rainer, Examples of Ultrasonic Application Examples of
Ultrasonic Application for Nondestructive Testing of Plastics, Krautkramer
GmbH, 1990.
[7] Hoover, Kelli et al., Destruction of Bacterial Spore by Phenomenally High
Efficiency Noncontact Ultrasonic Transducers, November 2002.
[8] Krautkramer, The Krautkramer Ultrasonic Book, Krautkramer GmbH & Co.,
1998.
[9] Kobe Steel, Ltd., New Non-destructive Examination (TOFD System), date
and author unknown.
[10] NDT.net, Nondestructive Testing EncyclopediaUltrasonic TestingTOFD
Principles,date unknown.
[11] Rao, B. P. C., Jayakumar, T., Kalyansundaram, P., et al., TOFD for Sizing of
Defects Using Shear Horizontal Waves Generated by Electromagnetic Acoustic
Transducers (EMATs), Proceedings of NDE-98, Trivendrum, 1998.
[12] Sommer, Jrg,The Possibilities of Mobil Hardness Testing, Krautkramer,
GmbH date unknown.
[13] Splitt, G., Ultrasonic Probes for Special TasksThe Optimum Probe for Each
Application, Krautkramer GmbH, date unknown.
[14] Splitt, G., Piezocomposite TransducersA Milestone for Ultrasonic Testing,
Krautkramer GmbH, date unknown.
[15] Paul E. Mix, INTRODUCTION TO NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING, A
Training Guide, Second Edition.

Biography
Saswata Bhowmick is a Mechanical Engineer with professional specialisation in
Machine Operations. He has obtained a BTech Degree in mechanical engineering
from West Bengal University of Technology but has started his career by joining as
Junior Supervisor in a Chain Industry under private concern even before pursuing
engineering degree. During, his engineering career, he received acknowledgement
certificates for remaining associated with academic as well as research projects in
various Reputed Industrial and R&D Organisations and is attached as executive
delegate with reputed industrial associations. His area of research is R&D operations
i.e. Operation & Utilization of any machines related to mechanical engineering in
R&D and modern industrial sectors. He joined Indian Institute of Technology for
Technical Assistance in Power Plant based project & is presently working as a Project
Scientist, NDT and Tribology under the department of mechanical engineering in the
same project.