Shell and tube heat exchangers utilize bundles of tubes within a closed shell structure to cool liquids for a number of industrial processes. Often, leakage between the fluids in the tubes and the fluids in the shell can lead to system damage and contamination, so regular inspection of the heat exchanger tubes for corrosion and erosion is critical. Typical heat exchanger tube inspection methods require running a sensor through the length of the tube, which may be dozens of feet long. However, guided waves can propagate long distances in both straight tubes and Twisted Tube™ configurations. Using a Guidedwave heat exchanger tubing NDT system, rapid inspection of the entire length of a tube can be performed by simply inserting a sensor at one end of the tube sheet. Inspection of the heat exchanger shell can also be performed with plate and shell inspection technology such as the MRUT scanner or guided wave phased array.
