Proceedings of the ASME 2014 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference

PVP2014
July 20-24, 2014, Anaheim, California, USA
PVP2014-29062
Advancement of Lining Inspection Technology Inside Seawater Piping

Yusuke KONO Koji OKIMURA Akio MINAMIYAMA Masaki NODA

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Nuclear Energy Systems Nuclear Energy Systems Nuclear Energy Systems Nuclear Energy Systems
Kobe, Japan Kobe, Japan Kobe, Japan Kobe, Japan

ABSTRACT

Seawater piping employed for cooling of emergency diesel Lining

generator and various components at Nuclear power plant, are
internally lined for protection against seawater corrosion. (Fig.
1)
However, the lining materials such as rubber or
polyethylene tend to incur peel-off or crack due to aged
deterioration occurred by the operation, resulting in corrosion of Base material of pipe
the piping. (Fig. 2)
Internal piping integrity of seawater piping is usually
performed by periodic visual inspection. But, for the 4B to 20B Fig.1 Lining structure
pipes it has been a challenge to detect the initial degradation Flow (seawater)
流れ（海水）
Occurrence of pinhole or damages
because the inspector cannot get into the pipes. ピンホール及び傷発生

Pinhole detection technology that enables detection of

Lining
ライニング
microscopic damages and cracks is available to use as means to Mock-up ② Vertical
Base
配管母材material of pipe
detect its initial state of degradation, which seems effective as
preventive maintenance of the lining. ■ Stage 1
Pinhole in elbow section
Such being the case, we are developing Seawater Piping Invasion of seawater
海水の侵入

Inside Inspection Equipment applicable to the 4B to 20B sizes of

pipes by evolving the conventional pinhole detection Flow (seawater)
流れ（海水）
Pinhole at straight section
technology.
Invasion of seawater
海水の侵入

INTRODUCTION

It is important to prevent aged corrosion in seawater piping ■ Stage 2

Flow流れ（海水）
(seawater)
by the operation. The mechanism of aged corrosion by seawater
Increase of invasion of seawater
海水の侵入が増加
is estimated the following steps (Fig. 2):
- Occurrence of pinhole or damages due to contact of Fig.3 Test mock-up
(2 type mock-ups: ①Horizontal, ②Vertical)
marine creatures while operation. (Stage 1)
- Lining peels off due to contact of seawater to adhesives. ■ Stage 3
Also, base material starts being corroded due to contact of
Flow (seawater)
流れ（海水）
seawater. (Stage 2)
- Invasion of seawater increases, causing further peel-off of
lining and corrosion of base material. (Stage 3)
Corrosion of
- If peel-off advances, the lining may break loose resulting 母材の腐食
base material

in loose parts. Also, base material may further be corroded ■ Stage 4

resulting in crack. (Stage 4) Fig.2 Mechanism of lining Fig.4 Set situation of small-
Peel-off diameter pipe lining inspection
equipment to mock-up piping

1 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

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 PRINCIPLE OF PINHOLE DETECTION
Table 1 Basic Performance of small-diameter pipe lining
Discharge occurs through the penetration between the high inspection equipment
voltage (several kV) electrode brush and the grounded metal Item Specification
surface. (Fig. 5) Change of current caused by this phenomenon Pipe size 6B pipe (φ138.8-203.4 mm)
Traveling Travel distance Approx. 20m
tells that there is some abnormality (peel-off or so) on the lining function Elbow 4 or so
surface. Lining travel Rubber, Polyethylene lining Both available
The detection technology employing discharge phenomenon T-junction pipe Available to pass (Straight alone)
was proved to detect any microscopic pinhole without any Visual function Available to identify black line with line-
damage to the lining surface regardless of lining material (Table pair value 3.6LP/mm on TV monitor
Pinhole detection function Straight and Elbow section, both available
2).

ブラシ（電極）
Lining (Non-conductive) Brush (Electrode) Equipment
装置
ライニング（絶縁物）
ブラシ（電極）
Brush (Electrode) ライニング（絶縁物） Operation
Lining (Non-conductive) panel
操作盤
Monitor
モニタ

Elbow
エルボ
走行距離20m
Metal surface
金属表面
金属表面
Metal surface Travel distance 20m
Fig.5 Principle of pinhole detection
Fig.8 Inspection Work image
DEVELOPMENT OF PIPE INSPECTION EQUIPMENT
VALIDATION RESULTS
When the inspector is going to perform pinhole detection,
The followings are the cases we validated in mock-up test.
just inserting the brush (electrode) into the pipe will do. But for
those pipes where the inspector can’t enter (4B to 20B), ・ The horizontal and vertical drive performance was
detection is made only within the reach of the inspector. Also, in verified by using two mock-ups. Dummy pinholes are
the case where the inspection is required for the whole range of included in elbow and straight section of 6B piping. (Fig. 3,
the piping, disassembling the piping will meet the requirement, 9)
but more labors and more inspection times are unavoidable. ・ In both mock-up cases pinhole detection function was
As such, we have come up with self-movable type purpose- duly verified by ensuring pinholes of size φ0.2 mm or
built equipment featuring pinhole detection function, taking up more both in elbow and straight section of the piping.
6B pipes as representative on 4B to 20B pipes. (Fig. 6, 7, Table (Table 3)
1) ・ Pinhole detection by camera on the equipment was also
Features: verified. (Fig. 10)
・ Autonomously travels under remote operation by 0° 0°
putting it into the pipe through the flange. (Passing elbow 0.2㎜ 0.8㎜
0.5㎜
and T-junction section) 270° 90° 270° 90° 0.8㎜
・ Detail inspection for inner lining of the pipes becomes 0.5㎜ 1.0㎜

available within 20m out of reach of the inspector. (Fig. 8) 180°

1.0㎜
180°
4 Orientations
× 4方位＝16箇所= 16 Points
・ Pinhole of diameter 0.2mm or more can be detected. Orientations viewed from forward direction
装置の前進方向から見た方位
装置の前進方向から見た方位
of the equipment 4 Orientations = 12 Points
(Table 2, 3) × 4方位＝12箇所
Fig.9 Pinholes layout in test mock-ups
・ Vehicle mounted camera makes visual detection of
pinhole available. (Fig. 10)
・ Labor and inspection period can be reduced.
Photographed pinhole
(φ0.2 mm pinhole)
Gray card visibility check Pinhole visibility check
Rear
Fig.10 Picture of camera on the equipment
Pinhole detection brush
Table 2 Pinhole detection verification Table 3 Pinhole test result
Guide wheel Poly ethy lene Rubber Elbow
Guide chassis φ0.1 ✔ - 　　　　Internal Dia.
chassis φ0.2 ✔ ✔ Mock-up
φ 0.5 φ 0.8 φ 1.0

Traveling chassis φ0.3 ✔ ✔ ① ✔ ✔ ✔

φ0.4 ✔ ✔
Camera ② ✔ ✔ ✔

Front chassis ✔: Detectable Straight

LED Light -: Untested: because it has been closed by the contraction rubber,
　　　　Internal Dia.
φ 0.2 φ 0.5 φ 0.8 φ 1.0

REFERENCES
Mock-up
Camera ① ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
chassis
LED Light ② ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Fig.6 Function configuration Fig.7 Appearance of equipment

[1] Japan Society of Maintenology, 7th Annual Conference,
of pipe lining inspection equipment
Summaries P427 “Seawater Pipe Lining Deterioration
Diagnosis Technology” 2. Mechanism of Lining
Deterioration (Japanese)
2 Copyright © 2014 by ASME

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