Radiographic Testing on live lines

[Raymond_88]

Hi Guys,

Can someone advise if its possible to perform radiographic testing of the weld (Butt Weld) if the line is live (means in service).

We had issues of missing NDT reports (RT) on below lines:

A. boiler feed water line - medium is water
B. Plant Air line - medium is Air
C. Process line - medium is Hydrogen
D. Nitrogen line - medium is nitrogen

 

[LittleInch]

Well the answer seems to be no for water if you actually want to see anything.

https://www.ndt.net/forum/thread.php?msgID=48593

For the gases I think you need to have no flow and reduce pressure/ density as much as possible but even then you might not get the sensitivity you need for a weld test.

Your NDT company will tell you what they can try and see what happens. Be prepared to have to drain / vent the lines.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[EdStainless]

Can you do RT in the plant while operating? Are there any instruments in the plant that use radiation?
You had better double check.
I could tell a story about this.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[Raymond_88]

@ LittleInch

Thanks for your very cleared responses, appreciated a lot.

 

[kingnero]

If you have laminar flow of liquid, there is a conversion factor to calculate the (average) thickness of the water/oil/... to thickness of steel. This would affect the exposure time.
For semi-filled piping: you get what you pay for. Mostly done in two times, once for optimising the view above the water level, once for below, and then a few from above.