arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Acoustic End-of-Line Test Systems See All DAQ and instruments See All Electroacoustics See All Software See All Transducers See All Vibration Testing Equipment See All Academy See All Resource Center See All Applications See All Industries See All Insights See All Services See All Support See All Our Business See All Our History See All Our Sustainability Commitment See All Global Presence
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Actuators See All Combustion Engines See All Durability See All eDrive See All Production Testing Sensors See All Transmission & Gearboxes See All Turbo Charger See All DAQ Systems See All High Precision and Calibration Systems See All Industrial electronics See All Power Analyser See All S&V Hand-held devices See All S&V Signal conditioner See All Test Solutions See All DAQ Software See All Drivers & API See All nCode - Durability and Fatigue Analysis See All ReliaSoft - Reliability Analysis and Management See All Test Data Management See All Utility See All Vibration Control See All Acoustic See All Current / voltage See All Displacement See All Load Cells See All Pressure See All Strain Gauges See All Torque See All Vibration See All Accessories for Vibration Testing Equipment See All Power Amplifiers See All LDS Shaker Systems See All Vibration Controllers See All Training Courses See All Acoustics See All Asset & Process Monitoring See All Custom Sensors See All Data Acquisition & Analysis See All Durability & Fatigue See All Electric Power Testing See All NVH See All Reliability See All Smart Sensors See All Vibration See All Weighing See All Automotive & Ground Transportation See All Calibration See All Installation, Maintenance & Repair See All Support Brüel & Kjær See All Release Notes See All Compliance See All Our People
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All CANHEAD See All GenHS See All LAN-XI See All MGCplus See All Optical Interrogators See All QuantumX See All SomatXR See All BK Connect / Pulse See All API See All Microphone Sets See All Microphone Cartridges See All Acoustic Calibrators See All Special Microphones See All Microphone Pre-amplifiers See All Sound Sources See All Accessories for acoustic transducers See All Experimental testing See All Transducer Manufacturing (OEM) See All Non-rotating (calibration) See All Rotating See All CCLD (IEPE) accelerometers See All Charge Accelerometers See All Electroacoustics See All Noise Source Identification See All Environmental Noise See All Sound Power and Sound Pressure See All Noise Certification See All Industrial Process Control See All Structural Health Monitoring See All Electrical Devices Testing See All Electrical Systems Testing See All Grid Testing See All High-Voltage Testing See All Vibration Testing with Electrodynamic Shakers See All Structural Dynamics See All Machine Analysis and Diagnostics See All Dynamic Weighing See All Calibration Services for Transducers See All Calibration Services for Handheld Instruments See All Calibration Services for Instruments & DAQ See All On-Site Calibration See All Resources See All Software License Management

Technip: Permanent load monitoring in power station piping

Technip, France

Introduction

Inspecting constant hangers and rigid holders in power stations has so far involved high personnel expenses. Technip, a globally operating plant manufacturer, uses HBK measurement technology to automate permanent load monitoring and thus ensure an increased level of safety and efficiency.

chevron_left
chevron_right

Piping in power stations needs to withstand considerable loads. Extreme temperatures and high pressure are not uncommon - conditions causing huge thermal strain and likely to overload the pipes. For this reason, so-called constant hangers are used for installing the pipes; they compensate for thermally induced movements. However, force measurements on rigid holders are even more important. They permit integral evaluation of the load transfer by comparing the force differential between the cold and the hot state with preset values determined through system analyses carried out during the dimensioning of the plant.

Deviations indicate imperfect load transfer (restricted movement due to the running of pipes, inadmissible hanger friction, distortion, etc.). Furthermore, force measurements on primary rigid supports enable the piping's current relaxation state to be assessed which is considered prerequisite to the required service life calculations on high-pressure piping. Checking constant hangers and rigid holders in sensitive areas of a power station at regular intervals is already very complex and can only be carried out by well-trained specialists. Of course, the remaining risk resulting from visual inspection must not be underestimated: A false assessment might have far-reaching consequences.

Risk minimization through HBK measurement technology

It is relatively easy to eliminate the risk of a false assessment: just use HBK measurement technology. HBK offers two solutions for permanently monitoring the constant hangers and verifying the load transfer concept on the rigid supports (joint struts), i.e. for protecting the piping from overload:

  1. Load monitoring by installing type LY strain gages on the joint strut
  2. Load monitoring by installing a type U10M force transducer directly into the constant hanger's force flow.

Technip is a global leader in plant engineering for the power generation industry and uses both solutions for monitoring high-pressure piping in power stations.

The first solution: Strain gages

The first method is ideal for retrofitting, because, for measuring the load, no changes have to be made to the design and thus the hanger does not require re-certification. In addition, installing the strain gages is very easy.

The second solution: U10M force transducer

The second method provides even more accurate measurement results. The U10M is a rotationally symmetric, low-profile force transducer that guarantees high endurance strength even in the event of an extreme oscillation width of 200 percent. Due to its excellent linearity, it measures the forces acting on the constant hanger with high precision, even in the partial load range.

The force transducers stand out for their ruggedness which is required for use in power stations and they are easily installed.

Dr. Ulrich Reiners, project manager at Technip

A further advantage when using the U10M is the integrated TEDS, the Transducer Electronic Data Sheet, which, in comparison to manual setup, makes configuring the complete measurement chain very easy and ensures minimum time expenditure and increased safety.

MP30DP carrier frequency amplifier

With both solutions, the MP30 carrier-frequency amplifier transmits the 4 to 20 mA signals common in power stations to a control station - over long distances and without quality loss. The MP30 belongs to HBM'sPME product family that stands for smart signal conditioning in industrial measurement technology. Using the MP30 has proven successful with both solutions.

The MP30 amplifier stands out for easy and fast programming and high accuracy. Another advantage is the fact that measured values are visualized in physical units directly on the instrument which has proven beneficial to maintenance and configuration.

Dr. Ulrich Reiners

 

 

To sum up: Increased safety and efficiency

Automated continuous monitoring provides increased safety and eliminates the need for complex manual inspection. HBM measurement technology increases efficiency and reduces costs.

Technip

Technip is represented with 23,000 employees in 46 countries worldwide. The company with headquarters in Paris/France is a global leader in plant engineering for the oil and gas industry.

More about Technip

Dr. Ulrich Reiners (project manager at Technip)

Technology used