The document discusses digital radiography as an alternative to conventional film radiography for non-destructive testing. Digital radiography offers benefits like reduced radiation exposure times, automatic electronic reporting and measurements, and faster report turnaround times. It can accurately detect material losses and measure wall thickness down to 50 microns or better depending on the system used.
The document discusses digital radiography as an alternative to conventional film radiography for non-destructive testing. Digital radiography offers benefits like reduced radiation exposure times, automatic electronic reporting and measurements, and faster report turnaround times. It can accurately detect material losses and measure wall thickness down to 50 microns or better depending on the system used.
The document discusses digital radiography as an alternative to conventional film radiography for non-destructive testing. Digital radiography offers benefits like reduced radiation exposure times, automatic electronic reporting and measurements, and faster report turnaround times. It can accurately detect material losses and measure wall thickness down to 50 microns or better depending on the system used.
The document discusses digital radiography as an alternative to conventional film radiography for non-destructive testing. Digital radiography offers benefits like reduced radiation exposure times, automatic electronic reporting and measurements, and faster report turnaround times. It can accurately detect material losses and measure wall thickness down to 50 microns or better depending on the system used.
Operational risks associated with oil, gas, and power
stations, petrochemical plants commence from the date the production plants are built. The wear and tear due to corrosion and erosion begins during construction under the useful life of the production plants. Like any manufactured equipment serviceability and maintenance is the only key factor to ensure safe operation. This requires routine program of managed maintenance. Statistics prove that predictive maintenance process is the only key factor that is cost effective. This predictive method requires the asset maintenance team to get on stream information on the condition of the plant for them to take appropriate action. Worldwide several methods have emerged. Each of them deploying some form of NDT from which assessments are being made. With the advent of the dedicated computing technology majority of the information captured in the form of the data sets is held on the system from which intelligent reports are processed and some form of risk based inspection decisions are taken. Further this information is globalised throughout the world with the assistance of remote access. All this is very constructive. The validity of the information is as accurate as the measuring device and the inspection method mode and its reporting standards. The accuracy of the information is dependent upon the physical area under examination and the number of dataset readings taken and objectives use of the interpretation of the datasets. Ultrasonic, Eddy currents, Magnetic particles, acoustic emission all generate point data on these details, while film radiograph and digital radiography generate a pictorial image of the region under examination. The introduction of Digital Radiography can result in economic benefits and reduced costs of NDE. This presentation describes the technology, method and regulatory acceptance. CITs technology incorporates radiographic image acquisition, image management, product traceability and audit trail. CIT Digital Radiography Systems provide high quality images with radiography unsharpness that meets with a majority of acceptance criterias. The Systems are used in NDT departments, site radiography for corrosion and condition management and weld casting inspection. Introduction Corrosion or erosion of material due to chemical reactions result in material loss. This material loss eventually results in leakage and accidents, which are expensive and thus must be avoided. Regular condition monitoring eliminates this catastrophe, as appropriate action can be taken prior to major
damage occurring. There are several methods for
accessing these losses. Conventional film radiography based upon Iridium source radiography has been used in the field for the last 20 to 30 years. As the picture tells a thousand words hence, the radiographic material is extremely powerful further added by the fact that one can look at internal composition of the material. Traditionally the technology lends its self with the following with some constraints.
Iridium Source: 5 curie to 26 curies with the maximum limit set
by the H & SE due to ionisation radiation of each.
Xray Film: AGFA/ FUJI/ KODAX and film processing
chemicals.
Radiation Safety: Containment area, which had to set up prior
to radiography being carried out.
Typical exposure Times: Timing may vary from 4 minutes up to 2 hours
and for heavy wall up to 3 hours.
Reports: Manual reports generated by Inspectors and
radiographs measured with the aid of scales.
Reports / Results throughput: Results may be generated in 2 to 12 hours
Due to the above there is a general reluctance to use
conventional film radiography, although the information and results are more comforting and the confidence factor is much higher than any other alternative methods. Measurements are more accurate with the radiography method. Digital Radiography based upon flexible imaging plates in conjunction with the flexible radiation shielding has emerged as a technology that has eliminated the short falls of conventional radiography for instance digital radiography requires: Iridium Sources/ SE75/ X-rays: -
From 2 curie to 8 curie
(It operates with higher curries up to 26 curries) but reduced dosage is actually required. This prolongs the useful lifespan of the Isotope for radiography.
Safety Assessment with NDT Digital Radiography/Radioscopy
Xray Radiographs: -
Uses reusable flexible digital
imaging plate technology and digital radiography.
Radiation Safety: -
Due to the lower radiation
activity shorter exposure time are required saving of 80 90% exposure for corrosion. Hence the controlled area protected by flexible radiation shielding can work effectively for set up and exposures.
Exposure Times: -
Usually from 30 seconds to 2
minutes heavy wall up to 100 mm will take 40 minutes as a typical case.
Reports: -
Electronic reporting with
archiving is accomplished with electronic measurements.
Reports/Throughput: -
Results can be generated in
10 minutes to 15 minutes from the time of exposure to end result.
On the basis of the type of technology deployed and
the accuracies required the appropriate technologies might be selected. CITs opinion is to use a higher resolution system to achieve the required accuracy for this purpose. Specially for thin and medium wall material loss assessments. The accuracy of material wall loss may be dependant upon the genetical magnification of say the pipe wall to the film. CITs GammaGauge calibration devices are a significant step forward in enabling measurements that can be made with the device. This is a block, which has as magnetic grip to aid fixing to the steel pipes and has an instant grid that enables visibility of the radiograph film and the image. This is used as a calibration device for the distance measurements. The radiography below depicts the use of the block.
The calibration gauge is as follows: -
What it really means is that from the tests conducted
worldwide in various petrochemical plants and power stations, CITs digital radiography is being a serious alternative to the end customer from the asset management.
This gauge is a two material thickness to enable visibility at any one level.
Performance Material loss accuracies are dictated by the radiographic unsharpness of the system, contrast sensitivity, the type of imaging plate and what resolution it is scanned and displayed. With CITs technology the following results have been achieved: -
CIT DR1000
CIT DR1000
254 DPI 100 Microns 200 x 380 512 DPI 50 Microns 200 x 300
Correspondi ng unsharpness
Wire Dia & Spacing, mm
11th pair of duplex IE 462 wire
0.16
0.080 mm
12th pair of duplex IE 462 wire
0.13
0.063 mm
0.13
0.063 mm
0.16
0.080 mm
0.26
0.130 mm
12th Pair of duplex IE 462 wire 11th Pair of duplex IE 462 wire 9th Pair of duplex IE 462 wire
CIT DR1200
600 DPI 200 x 430
CIT DR1200
300 DPI 200 x 430
CIT DR1200
150 DPI 200 x 430
CIT DR2000
508 DPI 50 Microns 70 Microns 350 s 430
11th Pair of duplex IE 462 wire
0.16
0.080 mm
CIT DR1700 Medical i l t
165 DPI 350 x 430
8th /9th Pair of
duplex IE 462 i
0.32
0.160 mm
The BS EN latest standards are being developed also
specifying that the duplex wire IE 462 be used in all radiography so that the system performance may be assessed for every image. Digital Radiography Process The basic radiographic technique is similar to the conventional film technique apart from reduction of dosage and exposure times with the digital imaging plate. For completeness a Corrosion Assessment method Statement is generated for inspection of the various components under examination. This takes into consideration the practical set up, jigs and radiation shielding that may be required. Insp ectio n proced u re
E xpo se C o m p on en t
Isoto pe D IP
D R S ca nn ed R e a de r
A rch ived D a ta
R ad ia tion S he ild in g
B a ck up C e n tre
M e asure In fo rm ation
G e ne rate rep o rt
RBI
Safety Assessment with NDT Digital Radiography/Radioscopy
The Digital imaging plates are exposed as per the method statement and scanned in the digital Digital Radiography Process
Erased Imaging Plate is inserted into the jacket and exposed to radiation
the QA technique. The various measurements can be
measured and displayed on the computer screen and the tables. This can be printed and saved and the set up activated for future review.
Imaging plate is mounted onto the drum
Advanced Radiograph Analysis
21/05/2003
Image is displayed on the screen with product profile and techniques
Copyright CIT Ltd Version 1.0
Imaging plate is scanned using DR1000 Software
30
Radiography scanner. The scanned image is given
the title based upon the selected product profile and the radiography technique. The raw radiograph image generated is then archived and available to the inspector for interpretation and a report written on the screen and information archived along with the radiograph image and its complementary data. Digital Radioscopy /Digital Radiography Processes Complementary Data Product Profile definition
Radiography Exposure of Product under Examination Based upon Iri 192 Ytb 169 X-ray
Radiographic technique
Radiograph Display System User data/ Profiles Electronic Archives NDE Reference data
Raw Data
Densitometer
Distance Measurements
Defect sizing
Product Raw Data/ Scanning Prestine Data (Legal data)
Complmentary data
This method is accurate to the pixel level and to the
scanning resolution. Hence higher resolution provides more accurate readings then those offered by lower resolution scanning devices. This technique is used for profile radiography for material wall loss estimation. The calibration enables the wall loss at a point of the place located by the GammaGauge. The CIT system allows the supervisor to enter his notes prior to authorising the image in accordance with the image authorising process. This image and the associated data are retrieved again for future reference. Line profile Measuring Method
Automated reports
NDE Raw Product data
User Security and data protection
This completes the process of acquisition, capture
and automated storage in to the disk drive. The operator and supervisor are trained to enable the above work to be achieved in accordance with the QA requirements. The data captured may be uploaded via modem or satellite link to the central management system where the entire image and data is saved ready for the RBI to take charge over the reported details. Distance Measurement The ability to measure physical distances from within the images is the greatest virtue that has been provided by the image processing technology. The radiographic images have to be calibrated against a known size item from within the image and in this typical case this device is in the GammaGauge scale. The measurement units can be specified by
Radiographic density profile measurement of flawing
material loss is more accurate assessment than point and click distance measurement. This line profile enables the inspectors to assess the percentage of material loss at the edges and in the middle of the components. Also in areas where local material loss such as pitting has taken place.
Safety Assessment with NDT Digital Radiography/Radioscopy
The process requires calibration against a known step wedge or IQI (less preferable due to special nature) The density change in the area of interest can be measured and equated to establish the material to. Advanced Line profile The advanced line profile method is one step ahead of the above. As one can take a reference line profile and difference it against the line profile where say pitting, material erosion has taken place. The difference can be scaled or normalised to any production parameter, hence the inspector can set his limits to the acceptance level for estimation.
Report Page
Risk Based Inspection
Safety assessment of asset dictates that due to economic constraints certain sections of the plant assemblies are treated are more risk to failure than others. These are required to be analysed and monitored on regular basis so that accidents can be avoided. Today existing risk based inspection packages are based upon the text data only. The CIT technology offers pictorial images, radiographs, scanned documents and text. All these can be drilled down to the raw data so that future prognosis and trend setting capabilities on probability of failure can be directed. Based upon the RBI factor allocated by experts and design engineers, any remedial work can be carried out on an urgent basis. This Integrated approach improves workflow and decision taking time on the basis of factual data. The illustration below depicts the RBI report and data entry screen, which enables the administration of the RBI methodology. Customised reports may be generated which can extract and highlighted with details from the information base held. This on stream strategic monitoring method is important feedback required by the quality management. Future development trends may interface live data to be monitored. This will be the next area of the implementation.
One of the major advantages of automated
reporting is that it saves time and the workflow schedules are easy to track. Individual organisations may require specific reports, but the CIT corrosion report can consist of email transmissions of reports and images. The CIT Digital Radiography incorporates several reports with inspectors comments that can be previewed as historical data from which comparisons can be made. A brief example of a report is illustrated below: -
In this report one can trace the operator, the
radiographic technique. Supervisor, inspectors and auditors. This will also validate operators against their qualification certifications. One important feature integrated is electronic signatures as per FDA electronic CFR21 part II requirement for electronic data authorising and authentication. This raises the documentation control to the quality code assurance set up by each organisation
Safety Assessment with NDT Digital Radiography/Radioscopy
Configuration and Practice
Petrochemical, oil and gas processing can derive
benefits by adopting this technology today.
The CIT structured approach enables the archival
management as depicted below Bibliography NDE Centralised Management
Senior Board level
Senior Management Level
Field radiography Scanning
Site and remote Location
Quality manager
Prime/ sub contractor level reporting workstation 1
Prime/ sub contractor level reporting workstation 2
Remote Station 3
Site Office Digital Radiography Rooms
Site Office Digital Radiography Rooms
Site Office Digital Radiography Room
Radiography team for Exposing
Radiography team for Exposing
Radiography team for Exposing
1. U. Ewert, H. Heidt, Current Status of European Radiological Standards for NDT, ASNT spring conference and IIW micro symposium, Orlando, 03/22-03/27, 1999, proceedings p. 171-173. 2. U. Zscherpel, Internet page: Standardization of fundamental 3.
Parameters of radiography digitisers at
http://trappist.kb.bam.de/CEN-NFD/cenahg3.html
4. European Approach for Standardization of X-Ray Film Digitisers and Computed Radiography 5.
Projection radiography by U. Ewert
Multi Team
The above structure can be at one site or scalable to
Multi sites. The main objective is to enable fast access of information from the plant level to the managers level so that predictive work may be scheduled at short notice with proper notification. This in its self can have a workflow advantage of how information can disseminate. The above packages are all functional and developed by CIT and ready for implementation. This framework dependency improves evidenced based information which will result in less operational risks, which is always the target of the management for security purposes. Summaries and Conclusion The alternative radiography method based upon digital radiography and flexible digital imaging plates: Can be used in a production environment. The entire process generates results from start of set up to results in a typical cycle time of 5 to 20 minutes. The cost effective measurement tools that enable precise position and qualitative accurate assessments down to 0.08 or 0.100 mm. The corrosion material loss assessments are reported on the Risk Based Inspection management system, which allows the entire production facility to be monitored. Multiple users can access the details from local and remote sites. The on stream information significant cost and timesavings.
provided
Acknowledgement The author would like to acknowledge Carole Colclough and Jayshree Sood for their assistance in compiling and proof reading this publication.
