Complete furnace inspection services are available. Capabilities include:
Visual Inspection - The external surface of each element is inspected for distorion, excessive corrosion, and erosion.
Magnetic Particle Testing - All of the welded attachments and tube holes are tested with MT for fine surface and subsurface cracking.
Metallurgical Replication - The surface of the boiler component are prepared, and an exact “fingerprint” of the materials microstructure is transferred onto a piece of acetate tape, which enables the microstructure to be analyzed under a microscope.
Hardness Testing - It is common to see tensile strength decrease over time as a result of extended periods of time at service conditions. Hardness testing is used to determine if a material has been affected by it's service time at elevated temperature. The measurements taken are used to estimate the remaining tensile strength of the material.
Ultrasonic Thickness Testing - Thickness testing is used to determine if excessive corrosion has reduced the remaining wall thickness of the component to the point where repair is required. Remaining wall thickness readings can also be used, along with assumed wall thickness of new material, to estimate remaining life.
OD Creep Swell Measurements - Creep swell measurements are taken on each of the superheater headers, and at all of the accessible circumferential welds on the main steam piping. This testing is performed to determine if any of the boiler/piping components have been affected by creep swell.
Internal Video Inspection - A video borescope is used to inspect the internal surface of the superheater and waterwall headers, looking for excessive deposits and cracking in the ligament field of each header.
Flow Accelerated Corrosion Testing - Ultrasonic thickness testing is used in a grid pattern at several select locations on the feedwater piping to determine if the integrity of the piping is sufficient.
Metallurgical Tube Sample - It is critical to have an understanding of the microstructure of the tube material in the waterwalls and the superheater. Although it may be economically feasible to just replace the waterwalls and superheater, the evidence of damage in the tube samples may also indicate the same phenomena is present in that component's headers.