32

Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition

on Non-Destructive Evaluation
NDE 2009, December 10-12, 2009

EMAT Integrated with Vertical Climbing Robot

for Boiler Tube Inspection
D.N. Badodkar, N.K. Singh, N.S. Dalal and Manjit Singh
Division of Remote Handling & Robotics (DRHR), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai 400085

Email: [email protected]

Abstract
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has signed an MoU with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for design and development
of automated boiler tube inspection system for vertical water wall tubes. A vertical climbing robot has been developed for this purpose at
Division of Remote Handling & Robotics (DRHR), BARC. Recently, an Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) has been integrated
with the Robot and field trial tested at one of the NTPC’s power plants at Dadri, UP. The paper discusses working principle of EMAT, brings
out comparison with other methods of non-destructive testing (NDT), covering design detailing of vertical climbing robot. The typical tube
thickness measurement data acquired during plant inspection is also presented.

1. Introduction results in revenue loss. Localized wall thinning of the boiler

tube is of primary concern to boiler operators. In general,
The main emphasis during annual shutdown of any boiler tube failure occurs due to various reasons like Caustic
power plant is to minimize plant down time at the same time attack, Oxygen pitting, Hydrogen damage, Acid attack, Stress
achieving maximum plant inspection coverage. In case of corrosion cracking, Waterside corrosion fatigue, Superheater
thermal power plants, boiler tube inspection forms one of the fireside ash corrosion, High temperature oxidation, Waterwall
important activities. Presently, in thermal power plants, after fireside corrosion, Fireside corrosion fatigue, Short-term over
the plant is shutdown, scaffolding is erected and tubes are heat, Long-term over hear, Graphitization, Dissimilar metal
cleaned using high pressure water jet for removing ash weld failure, Erosion, Mechanical fatigue, etc. Apart from
deposits. Thereafter, tubes are inspected for tube thickness metallurgical aspects, internal tube damage is mainly due to
measurements using conventional ultrasonic technique (UT). water chemistry and the temperature, while external tube
This inspection method requires surface preparation and use damage is due to temperature and ash deposits.
of a couplant between UT probe and the tube. So, this
technique is limited to few localized places for tube thickness 1.2 Inspection challenges
measurements. With the advancement in non-destructive
examination, it is possible to carry out inspection of boiler Boiler tube inspection poses a unique challenge in terms
tubes, eliminating foresaid issues. EMAT (Electromagnetic of limited accessibility at inspection location as well as for
Acoustic Transducer) is one such method. In order to transporting the inspection equipments into the boiler;
automate the inspection, a vertical climbing robot has been limited available time; limited exposed external tube surface;
developed for carrying the EMAT sensor onto the boiler difficulty in X-ray / ã-ray radiography and the affordability.
tubes. Recently, EMAT integrated with the robot has been Immediately after plant shutdown, it takes about 2-3 days to
successfully trial tested at one of the upcoming NTPC’s cool down, after which scaffolding is erected. Thereafter,
plant at Dadri (UP). This development work is limited to the external tubes (heat transfer surfaces) are cleaned using water
inspection of vertical water wall tubes of the boiler. This jet. During tube inspection, main objective is to have
paper brings out comparison of EMAT with other methods increased inspection coverage in minimum possible time. This
of non-destructive testing (NDT) and gives detailed helps in reducing plant down time. Once the inspection
illustrations about vertical climbing robot, used to automate technique is selected, it is preferred to automate the
the boiler tube inspection. inspection of boiler tubes. This paper also focuses the
development of vertical climbing robot for carrying the
inspection probe onto the boiler tubes, as an attempt to
2. Boiler Tube Inspection automate the tube inspection. Due to limited access, it is
difficult to automate the inspection, covering all the areas of
1.1 Tube Failure boiler. So, tube inspection and automation is limited to
vertical water wall tubes only. Design of vertical climbing
Failure of boiler tube is of main cause of boiler forces robot for given payload and working at required linear speed
outages. This affects the plant availability, which, in turn, with desired manoeuvrability is a real challenge. Unlike other
 NDE 2009, December 10-12,2009 33

applications, inspection of boiler tubes (wall thickness Total force experienced by the charge also has electric field
mapping) requires customization. component, which is in the direction of field. Total force is
given by :
2.3 Tube inspection methods: A comparison
   
F = q/E + q.v  B
Visual examination is placed above all the inspection
  
methodologies by the experts. However, this is qualitative Where, q is electric charge, E is electric field, v is velocity of
 
and heavily depends on the individual operator’s skill.   field; q.E is electric force component
charge and B is magnetic

Various non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are available and q.v  B q.v xB is magnetic force component. With
which are: Liquid penetration tests (PT), Magnetic particle varying magnetic field, eddy currents are generated in the
testing (MP), Eddy-current testing (EC) and Ultrasonic testing electrically conductive material and the Lorentz force is given
  
(UT), Radiography tests etc. Methods like PT and MP provide by B x J   B .
temporary indications, depend on operator’s experience and In case of ferromagnetic materials, the magnetization
also require surface preparation. Conventional UT, not only leads to the dimensional changes in the magnetization
requires surface preparation, it also requires use of couplant direction, which is called as ‘Magnetostriction’. The
(to be applied between test object and the probe). Similarly, magnetostrictive force makes elastic deformation which
conventional EC method is not suitable for ferromagnetic generates ultrasonic waves in the metal. The magnetostrictive
materials, moreover it is qualitative in terms of thickness EMAT consists of a magnet that produces a bias magnetic
measurements. field and a sensor coil excited by high frequency alternating
Due to aforesaid limitations of conventional NDT current that produces alternating magnetic field. The driving
methods, advanced NDT methods like electromagnetic force of ultrasonic uses a high frequency vibration of
acoustics, remote field testing, magnetic flux leakage testing magnetostriction generated by the compound magnetic field.
have received more attention in the recent past. Magnetic Magnetostariction is a non-linear effect, when the bias
flux leakage testing equipment is bulky and data analysis magnetic field is much stronger than the alternating magnetic
with defect characterization is still a topic for researchers. As field, the magnetostriction function follows:
far as boiler tube inspection is concerned, electromagnetic
acoustics and remote field testing methods are gaining  = SHT + dtH
popularity.
Where  is strain, T is stress, SH is elastic constant measured
at H = 0, d t is the inverse magnetostrictive stress constant
3. Electro Magnetic Acoustics (EMAT) and H is alternating magnetic field.

3.1 Working principle B. System description

Electro-magnetic acoustics (EMAT) utilizes combination The EMAT based non-destructive testing method for
of static and dynamic magnetic fields to convert electrical inspection of boiler tube was jointly developed for the first
energy into acoustic energy. In case of conventional time by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Babcok &
ultrasonic testing, an electric field is applied to a piezoelectric Wilcox and McDermott Technologies (Formerly known as
crystal and converted into a mechanical pulse, generating B&W Research Division). This paper is limited to custom
sound waves. The sound wave generated in the piezoelectric developed Magnetostrictive EMAT used for boiler tube
crystal is imparted to the test object through a couplant thickness mapping. The system consists of Sensor assembly,
(applied between crystal and the test object) such as water, Power Box, Data acquisition and signal processing software
oil, grease, etc. Thus, while transmitting the sound waves with data display and the associated interfacing cables/cards.
from crystal to the test object, crystal is required to have a The sensor assembly consists of the EMAT (Magnet
shoe to match with the contour of test object, surface cartridge, Compliancy foam and the RF coil), Signal
preparation and a couplant to minimize the loss of sound conditioning electronics, Encoder (wheel driven) and Status
waves. These requirements of conventional UT limit its indicators (Lamps). PowerBox is a single channel instrument
application in scanning large areas like boiler tubes. An providing necessary excitation for EMAT and carry out real-
alternate technique of introducing sound waves directly into time signal processing. This has connectivity with the data
the test object using electromagnetics was first introduced acquisition and display through dedicated PC.
more than thirty years ago. With the advancement in
electronics and computers, commercially EMAT based system C. System features
for non-destructive testing was developed for field
application during 1990. There are two methods for generating (i) EMAT based magnetostrictive non-destructive method
sound waves through electromagnetic: Lorentz Force and custom built for boiler tube thickness measurements/
Magnetostriction principle. mapping (thickness range: 3.8 mm to 12.7 mm).
When an electric charge moves through a magnetic (ii) Pitch-catch sensor configuration and tube thickness is
field, there is a force on the charge, perpendicular to the derived from time-of-flight measurements with an
direction of the charge and perpendicular to the direction of accuracy of ± 0.127 mm.
the magnetic field. This force is called the Lorentz Force. The
direction of the force is given by Fleming’s Right Hand Rule. (iii) Couplant / special surface preparation is not required.
34 Badodkar et al. : Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition on Non-Destructive Evaluation

(iv) Allows very high speed of scanning (upto 500 mm/sec).

This helps in increased inspection coverage and
reducing inspection time and hence plant down time.
(v) Portable, long cable length (upto 50 Mtrs.) giving on-
line thickness mapping with data storage facility. This,
in turn, helps in generating history of tube degradation
with time. Thickness mapping data can be used for
boiler life estimation.
(vi) Works on Single-phase, 240 Volts, 50 Hz power supply
and consumes total electric power of less than 2 KW.

In order to automate the inspection, a vertical climbing

robot has been developed at BARC. This is described in the Fig. 2: Robot manoeuvring external bend.
section to follow.

4. Vertical Climbing Robot

A. Design objective

In order to automate the boiler tube inspection, a vertical

climbing robot has been developed at Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC). The automated inspection is aimed
at increased inspection coverage in minimum possible time to
reduce plant down time. Inspection can be done for 10 to 20
mtrs. of height without manual intervention.

B. Design challenges

The robot design to carry given payload, working at Fig. 3: Prototype robot with mock-up facility: Lab testing
desired scanning speed and operating onto the boiler tube
curved surface is a real design challenge. Various options base-plate and the arrangement is such that the belt is placed
like pneumatic and hydraulically operated vehicle were in between magnets and the boiler tube. The concept was
considered. However, these options could not be considered built through prototyping and lab trials. Fig. 1 describes
due to requirement of additional bulky peripheral equipments working of vertical climbing robot, Fig. 2 explains robot
(like compressors, etc.) and available uneven/curved tube manoeuvring external bend and Fig. 3 shows prototype robot
surface. In view of this electrically operated vehicle has been being function tested in lab using mock-up facility.
selected. In order to make simple and compact robot
assembly, rare earth permanent magnets are used for D. Technical data
adhesion of robot with the tubes.
Technical parameters of the prototype-I and II of the vertical
C. Description climbing robot are given in Table 1.

The vertical climbing robot consists of two sets of Table 1 : Technical parameters of Vertical Climbing Robot
pulleys coupled through a timer belt and driven by DC motors Prototype-I & II
through a gearbox. Permanent magnets are mounted on the
Sr. No. Parameter Prototype-I Prototype-II
1. Maximum payload
capacity 5 Kg 10 Kg
2. Maximum crawling
speed 70 mm/sec 120 mm/sec
3. Drive Motor PMDC geared PMDC geared
motor motor
4. Pulley (wheel) 22 L 100 32 L 100
5. Timer Belt 255 L 100 345 L 100

Fig. 1 : Working of Vertical FM: Magnetic Force 6. Weight of crawler ~ 5 Kg ~ 12 Kg

Climbing Robot RN : Normal Reaction 7. Overall Dimension 300 x 300 420 x 350
W : Total load (without sensor) x 90 mm x 130 mm
m : Coefficient of Friction
 NDE 2009, December 10-12, 2009 35

Fig. 4: EMAT probe during field testing

Fig. 6: A typical tube thickness mapping results

plant at Dadri (UP) for tube thickness mapping. EMAT sensor

was calibrated using standard calibrator for tube thickness
range 5 mm to 8 mm. This testing was aimed at establishing
EMAT technique for tube thickness measurements in the
actual environment and to check the effect of vertical climbing
robot on the test results, if any. Testing revealed satisfactory
results. It was also established that vertical climbing robot
has no effect on sensor output. Fig. 4 shows EMAT probe
onto the boiler tubes scanned manually and Fig. 5 shows the
EMAT probe integrated with the vertical climbing robot
during inspection of vertical water wall tubes at the plant
Fig. 5: EMAT Integrated with Robot during field testing site.
Figure 6 shows a typical tube thickness mapping results
E. Integration with EMAT sensor for set of five tubes over three meters height of vertical water
wall tubes of the boiler.
Some of the considerations while integrating the EMAT
probe assembly with the vertical climbing robot are: (Refer
Fig. 5) 6. Conclusion
(i) Probe placement away from the permanent magnets; Tube thickness gauging of the water wall tubes using
(ii) Probe placement on the tube other than the tubes on EMAT at NTPC, Dadri plant was found to be satisfactory.
which the pulleys are placed; The field trial was aimed at establishing EMAT for final use
and to check worthiness of vertical climbing robot for such
(iii) Spring loaded attachment ensuring probe in contact with automated inspection jobs. Field testing revealed fulfillment
the tube under inspection; of the objective. Further, tube inspection using EMAT
(iv) Ease of assembly; integrated with the vertical climbing robot at one of the
operating plant (during shutdown) is planned.
(v) Proper routing of the sensor cable. It is emphasized that due to ease of scanning, EMAT
allows increased inspection coverage for tube thickness
mapping. Localized critical areas like bends, near burner zone,
5. Field Testing & Results etc. can be inspected more precisely using conventional UT
method.
Since conceptual building of vertical climbing robot to
its final design, it has gone through testing in the lab using
mock-up test facility. Final design is evolved in terms of Acknowledgements
required linear speed, payload capacity and its
manoeuvrability over weld joints, external bends & soot Authors are thankful to engineers from NTPC for having
blower area. These features were also tested in the plant fruitful technical discussion and extending their support and
during shutdown. help during field trials.
Subsequently, EMAT sensor was integrated with the
robot and subjected to field trial testing at NTPC’s unfired
36 Badodkar et al. : Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition on Non-Destructive Evaluation

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