Heat Exchanger Inspections

Tubing can play a critical role in the overall functioning of assets, machinery and systems.

So it’s crucial that it’s inspected on a regular basis to detect damage or defects that could lead to the impaired functioning or failure.

The Lab at Brookes Bell can help with our full-lifecycle electromagnetic testing, inspection and analysis tools.

Inspection Services

The Lab’s team of tube inspection specialists are skilled in performing multiple techniques to the highest standards. This means they can manage diverse projects of all sizes and provide rapid solutions for any material - no matter how complex the job.

The Lab’s tube inspection services can be used in numerous assets, such as:

• Shell-and-tube heat exchangers
• AC chillers
• Steam generators
• Boilers
• Coolers/heaters
• Condensers/evaporators

Heat Exchangers

Heat exchangers (or tube bundles), steam generators and chiller systems are a regular sight in power plants across the power, energy and industrial sectors, and on all types of vessels in the maritime industry.

As part of an asset managers’ compliance schedule, regular inspection of the evaporators and condensers is imperative to ensure efficient heat transfer, avoid costly unscheduled maintenance and failure of equipment, such as leaking.

The Lab’s range of solutions for detecting these issues include:

• Remote field testing (RFT, Double-Driver Technology)
• Near field array (NFA, Al finned CS)
• Magnetic flux leakage (MFL)
• Internal rotary inspection system (IRIS UT)

In order to provide satisfactory inspections in all of these different applications, The Lab offers several different advanced inspection techniques depending on the tube materials and geometries involved.

These tube inspection techniques include:

• Eddy current array testing (ECA, DefHi).
• ECT - eddy current testing
• ECA - eddy current array
• IRIS - internal rotary inspection system
• RFT - remote-field testing
• NFT - near-field testing
• NFA - near-field array
• MFL - magnetic flux leakage

Our eddy current test method and the related methods of remote field-testing, near field array testing and magnetic flux leakage can be used across ferro, non-ferro and fin-fan installations and provide high-speed inspection techniques for these applications. Once tested, our expert engineers provide asset owners with a comprehensive overview of the material state of the heat exchangers, giving integrity engineers the confidence to make informed decisions about the safe and efficient operation of the assets under their control.

At a glance: selecting the best technique for the type of material and tube

The type of tubing you have (and the material it is made from), will determine the type of inspection technique that is most suitable. Below, we’ve set out the best inspection techniques per type of material and tube:

Detection capabilities according to defect type

The table below illustrates which inspection techniques are most appropriate for common types of defects:

Excellent - x

Accpetable but limited - >

Trend analysis and reporting software

Don’t just rely on periodic inspections and investigations.

Here at The Lab, we use Eddyfi’s powerful Magnifi software to evaluate electromagnetic inspection data, the most advanced data acquisition and analysis tool in the heat transfer industry.

We also use TubePro reporting and modelling software, building highly accurate digital twins of heat exchanger tube bundles enabling us to conduct effective trend analysis, monitoring defect propagation and other features impacting on the efficiency of the heat exchanger.

Ensure the integrity of your heat exchangers and condenser tube bundles today, with The Lab at Brookes Bell.