(Invited) Wireless Mechatronic Sensing Device for Long Tube Internal Deformation Inspection

Chemical and process industry has high demand on inspection and measurement systems especially the sensing devices for thin and long tubes working under high temperature, high pressure and corrosive environment to encourage rapid chemical reactions. Such tubes are often high cost critical equipment in chemical production. The service life of these tube components is primarily ended when Creeps Shear damage is detected. Due to the complex combination of the multiple factors influencing the generation of Creep damage under the aggressive working condition during service, it is of significant benefit for process companies using condition-based assessment to judge the retirement of such components. To improve the reliability of the service life of the tubes, the use of non-destructive examination techniques on a regular basis during production turnarounds is essential. Different approaches have been presented in literature, some involved high-tech and expensive modern technologies. This research aims to explore the possibility of a sensing device that has potential to be a cost effective solution for a particular tube that plays a critical role in a chemical production process and is heavily used in a chemical process industry. The novel sensing device developed by this research is a wireless sensing system for checking internal geometric deformation for hundreds of these tubes within a required set time. The sensing device is designed with a mechatronic sensing mechanism to capture the geometric information of tube cross sections and wirelessly transfer the information to a data collection unit in real time. The sensing device consists of four major subsystems, which are sensing, communication, driving, and control systems. The driving and control systems are placed at one end of the tube. The sensing unit is sent into the tube and wirelessly communicates with the control system. Field testing was conducted on the prototype model in a chemical process company using an industrial testing platform to evaluate the functionality and performance of the sensing device. The field testing made on the prototype confirmed the sensing device was able to carry out tube inspection within the set time and reliably capture tube internal information and transfer the data wirelessly. Field testing data analysis also proved the data collected by the sensing device met the company’s requirements on measurement precision and data size.