Strength of upstream and downstream chambers, collectors, heat exchange tubes of gas aerial cooler apparatus, and assessment of life extension

Abstract

The gas aerial cooler apparatus (ACA) were characterized. These ACA serves for cooling the service gas. The analysis of engineering documentation was carried out in order to establish the range of amenable to control parameters of the engineering status, to carry out the recognition of failures (if ever) and damages that could led to a failure. The applied method of acoustic emission (AE) yielded total and direct information on the defect growth (hazard rate) in materials of operational facilities. The AE control might be used as a determinative procedure for the selection of criteria needed for assessing the status of diverse structures as well as for release to continued operation the production facilities (with providing a necessary level of safety during the enterprise operation) because the AE control enables to detect a fault at early stage of its growth. By applying the AE method for elaboration of a control of specific objectives, complicated problems related to generation of elastic waves from growing cracks and their transformation during propagation up to sensors were successively resolved.