When it comes to ensuring the longevity, efficiency, and safety of commercial boiler systems, regular inspection is key. Failure to identify pitting, erosion, cracks, and other sources of leaks can lead to breakdowns that can cost thousands or millions of dollars for repairs, property damage, loss of service revenue and more. Russell NDE Systems is an industry leading manufacturer of non-destructive inspection technology, and provides several types of examination services for boiler water walls worldwide. Learn more about the importance of regular inspection, as well as our technology and inspection offerings below.
The Importance of Transparency
With hundreds, or thousands of water wall tubes concealed within a boiler, consistent examination of your equipment plays a vital role in maintaining the efficiency of your operation as a whole. Because of their constant exposure to hazardous conditions like un-even heat (flame impingement), cooling water chemistry, tube blockages or reduced flow, soot blower erosion, thermal fatigue and creep damage, boiler tubing will eventually weaken and leave your boiler vulnerable to failure. Ensuring you have a regular practice of inspection and upkeep will help your team catch and address mild issues before they have the chance to progress to severe, or even catastrophic failures. NDT inspection allows for convenient and rapid evaluation of your tubing with minimal disruption to your other shut down work by providing results in real time. Having detailed information about any significant defects allows for early treatment, and saves valuable time and finances.
The Russell VertiScan™ System
At Russell NDE, we take pride in creating technologies that not only simplify, but also enhance the inspection process. Developed to quickly detect and report several forms of degradation such as pitting, thermal fatigue cracking, under-deposit corrosion, hydrogen damage and more, the VertiScan is a robotic system that scans up to five tubes at once at speeds up to 5m (15’)/min.
Our robotic crawler can climb 100’ up and down the water walls and can handle up to 1/4” of scale between the tubes.
Extremely efficient, the VertiScan eliminates the need to scaffold boilers and presents results of the scan in real time on a colour map to clearly identify any degraded areas. All indications found during the inspection are further checked with visual and ultrasonic techniques where tubes are accessible.
E-PIT
For boiler systems where the use of a crawler is impractical, Russell NDE employs an E-PIT (External Pipe Inspection Technology) approach. If your boiler requires scaffolding or single scans, E-PIT allows for easy, hand-held, inspection on a tube-by-tube basis.
Russell NDE in Action
As a trusted source for inspection services, Russell NDE has partnered with several local Power producers including SaskPower, Trans-Alta, Alberta Power, Capital Power and more. Below are a few photos from key projects using both E-PIT and VertiScan technology.
To ensure your boiler water wall tubing is performing optimally and with minimal damage, contact Russell NDE Systems today.