Condition monitoring of pressure vessels and storage tanks by acoustic emission technique

Abstract

Acoustic Emission (AE) technique is emerging as an important non-destructive test (NDT) technique for condition monitoring of pressure vessels and storage tanks. It has the ability to monitor a tank or a vessel while in service and the ability to assess the structural integrity of the entire component rather than of a small local area. AE testing facilitates the assessment of structural integrity by detecting the presence of active (dynamic) flaws such as cracks whose growth may ultimately causefailure of the component. A point of paramount importance is the need for recognition that AET is still not totally proven in all the cases of component integrity evaluation such as storage tank bottom. Several institutes of repute in India (eg. NML, IGCAR, IISc) are engaged in R&D activities to understand the various aspects of AE signal generation and analysis. Networking and joint efforts while working on a practical problem such as storage tank and pressure vesselmonitoring are of utmost importance. At the same time, it is needed that the industry recognises that AET has a strong potential and therefore, needs chances for application in the industry.