Tube Sheet Diagram

Inspection Results

Natural Gas Liquefaction & Fractionation Plant (Saudi Arabia)

Twisted (U type) - Depropanizer Reboiler Tube Inspection

About AcousticEye Non-Invasive Inspection

With AcousticEye’s breakthrough capabilities for inspecting today’s most challenging tube sizes and configurations
up to 4”, it is possible to inspect boilers, Fin Fans and other heat exchangers in any shape or material. Ultra-fast,
accurate testing can be performed at a fraction of typical inspection cycle times and without extra inventories of
consumable probes and standards. Utilizing Acoustic Pulse Reflectometry (APR) technology, Dolphin G3™ is a
very advanced yet easy-to-use tool. With its simple operation, automated analysis and report generation, there are
minimal training requirements and far less dependency on operator expertise.

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Job Overview Defect Examples

Rutledge conducted an Acoustic Eye non-invasive inspection on a twisted U type heat exchanger tubes at a world’s
Dolphin G3™ Defect Identification
largest gas fractionating plant in Saudi Arabia. No inspection was performed for 15 years from the date of
commissioning due to its peculiar configuration, which is twisted in nature. The end users intention is to know the
current status of such significant equipment which works in stringent environment. The primary reasons for selecting
an Acoustic Eye inspection were based on the strengths of the system including:
>> Non Invasive: Since sound waves propagates in any configuration with irrespective of material properties.
>> Inspection Time: Speed was a major factor due to an extremely short inspection window.
>> Flaw Morphology: Leakages & Corrosion (especially in U bend) was being initiated on the tube ID
>> Blockage
The entire inspection of this twisted tube bundle was completed within a short span because it takes only 10
seconds to inspect the tube, irrespective of the length. The report was furnished on the following day. The
verification of our findings provided higher level of confidence on technology and people working on it.

>> Erosion

Summary of Inspection Results

Tube Size 0.75” (19.05 mm) outer diameter | 14 BWG (2.1082mm) wall thickness

Material Carbon Steel

Tube Length 38.88ft (11.85m)-Average Exposed Length

Tube Shape Twisted-U type

>>Pitting
Duration in operation 15 years

Erosion 20-40%:28 tubes, Erosion 40-60%:06 Tubes; Erosion >60%: 03

Defects Found tubes
Blockages 40%-60%: 1, Blockages >60%: 3
Pits 20-40%:03

Erosions were observed especially in the bend area and happened at non
Remarks uniform rate due to pressure and flow velocity of liquid inside the tube.

Outcome - All tubes with erosion >60% were plugged.

- This inspection provided a base line for this equipment and its health is
decided to monitor periodically via subsequent inspections by Acoustic Eye.