Advanced ultrasound inspection of reciprocal compressors

When it comes to recips the opportunities for failure are many. Seal integrity around the piston cylinder wall reduces efficiency of compression. Dirty and worn valves do not seat properly due to corrosion and debris built up around the valve head. Wear and tear leads to broken valves and permanent component damage.
There are equal opportunities to win back uptime by applying advance ultrasound inspections. Recording dynamic signals at frequent intervals and performing simple time waveform analysis opens our senses to failures with an early enough warning to avoid a catastrophic shutdown.

Using simple UAS software, it is easy to expand 1/10th or even 1/100th of a second of data to see a valve open, exhaust and close. During that blink of an eye, we can see if there is complete sealing of the valve seat, and we can even assess the strength of the valve spring.

For more information, read "Is That A Screw Driver In Your Ear?" By Allan Rienstra

Tip provided by: 

Allan Rienstra
SDT Ultrasound Solutions