AE Detection of Leakage Location in an Ethylene Oxide Reactor

Abstract

The imported ethylene oxide (EO) reactor in the EOEG unit of a petrochemical company has been leaking internally since it was put into operation. Before we tried to locate the leak by AE technology this time, the foreign technicians from the manufacturer had come to the company several times to find out the leak location, but they did not determine the location of the leak. Due to the limitation of its complex structure and inaccessibility, it is impossible to use other methods for leak detection. By taking some correction measures for the sound source location or other setups, we finally located two highly suspected sound sources. After partial removal of the half pipes, one of them was identified as the leakage point, and another is a very serious crack defect.