ultrasound testing

Finding Vacuum Leaks in a Multi Effect Evaporator

by Karl Hoffower and Allan Rienstra

So many industrial processes depend on creating a stable vacuum, but system leaks impair process efficiency and, if left unchecked, will shut it down.  Finding these leaks can be challenging in noisy plant environments and reliability engineers must weigh the balance between the costs of downtime versus the cost of continuing production with a leaky, inefficient system.

How ultrasound inspection saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Get Started with Vacuum Leaks

 by Jim Hall

Here we are in the 21st Century and some of you are still wondering if ultrasound is the only way to find in-leakage or vacuum leaks.  Well, the answer is no, because employing helium is another method widely used to locate leaks throughout a power plant.

The use of contact and airborne ultrasound as a predictive maintenance tool has grown steadily over the course of the last two decades. It has its supporters - people who admire the simplicity of the technique. It also has its detractors - people who say that the technology lacks the discipline of vibration in terms of a route-based structure and diagnostic capabilities.

In today's environment, generating revenues for any industry is important. Profit margins are shrinking and often the difference between a profit and a loss can be as simple as preventing loss and improving efficiencies. Locating sources of energy waste, identifying failure conditions in electrical and mechanical systems all contribute to helping improve the bottom line.

This is why many industries around the world have incorporated some form of condition monitoring.  As opposed to the other forms of maintenance such as reactive in which a failure condition has occurred and maintenance personnel must “react” to the problem; or preventive where maintenance activities are performed on a set schedule, condition monitoring is used to check the health or “condition” of operating equipment.  Any change in monitored fields can alert maintenance personnel of potential failure and allow the repair to be performed on a scheduled, controlled, basis.