Nondestructive Monitoring of Erosive Wear in Transfer Lines and Cyclones at Synfuels Pilot Plants

Abstract

Abstract An ultrasonic pulse-echo instrumentation system employing specially designed acoustic waveguides was developed to monitor pressure boundary thickness at high temperatures. The automatic equipment and techniques were applied for on-line assessment of erosive wear of coal conversion process equipment operating at up to ~540°C in liquefaction and gasification pilot plants. This paper describes the waveguides and transducers, electronic instruments, and computer that make up the system and discusses some of the results obtained in field tests.