INCT Home Page

Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering and Non-Distractive Methods
zaklad1@ichtj.waw.pl

Head: Janusz Kras, M.Sc. Eng.

Links

Activities

The radiotracer method for inspection of leak tightness and localization of leakages is based on the use of gaseous or liquid radiotracers containing ⁸²Br or, in some special cases, ⁸⁵Kr. The radiotracer after being mixed with a medium in the inspected object is kept there under a working pressure of 0.2 MPa until the eventual leakage is localized. In the case of leakage, the radiotracer is getting out of the object and is adsorbed on artificial adsorbents (put prior to inspection) or on the natural ones such as soil or insulation layers. Radiometric quantity survey of the object allows to ascertain the existence of a leakage and its precise localization. The adsorbents at disposal, apparatus allowing to label proper compounds with radiotracers in field conditions, the radiotracer injection and radiometric measurements by special detectors with recorders which displace together with the medium inside the inspected pipes, and also the experience of the investigation team make it possible to adapt the method and its application under varying technical and technological conditions. Taking into account the methodics and attained sensitivities, it is possible to distinguish the following group of applications of the method:

underground pipelines (diameter 200-600 mm) to transport liquid and gases, equipped with cleanout chambers; the sensitivity being 0.5 dm³/h for liquids (the smallest recorded and localized leakage) and 5 g/h for gas,
underground pipelines of diameter greater than 600 mm, with a sensitivity not worse than 1.0 dm³/h for liquids and 10 g/h for gas,
underground and ground pipelines to transport liquids and gases without cleanout chambers with a sensitivity 1.0 dm³/h; no limits to dimensions,
gate values in pipelines to transport any media,
underground tanks and bottoms of ground tanks with a sensitivity depending on the size of a tank,
apparatus and installations of chemical and petrochemical industries with a sensitivity of 30 cm³/h. The inspection is performed without disassembly of internal and external linings; no scaffold is necessary,
other objects, after the conditions and parameters of inspection being agreed with the customer.

Technological objects submitted to inspection need no special preparation. The radiotracer method of inspection of leak tightness is recognized by the Office of Nuclear Safety as a complementary method to the hydraulic method and is applied, among others, in the Petrochemical Works “Orlen”, Płock, Gdańsk Rafinery Works, Enterprise of Petroleum Pipeline Exploitation “Przyjaźń”.