Application of the TIME Brand Pressure Testing Instrument in the Inspection of Key Components in Thermal Power Plants

Taking the Pulse of Supercritical "Arteries":  TIME Pressure Testing Instrument and In-Situ High-Throughput Evaluation of In-Service Pipelines.

In the steel forest of a thermal power plant, the main steam pipeline and steam collector are like the "arteries" and "heart" of the human body, constantly carrying high-temperature, high-pressure steam, and are the core lifeline of energy conversion. After hundreds of thousands of hours of service, under the continuous action of high temperature, high pressure, and stress, the material properties of these key components will quietly degrade, resulting in creep damage, tissue aging, and performance degradation. Their health directly affects the safety and economy of the entire power plant.

Traditional inspection methods are like "blind men touching an elephant," either requiring cutting and sampling, causing equipment damage, or providing only indirect and partial information. Now, a revolutionary inspection technology—TIME brand microcomputer-controlled pressure testing instrument—is playing the role of a "holistic evaluation doctor." Through its unique "in-situ high-throughput pressure testing" technology, it can perform precise "minimally invasive biopsies" on-site for these key components without stopping production for cutting, thus diagnosing their health status. 

I. Challenges: The Century-Old Dilemma of Health Assessment for In-Service Pipelines

The core of safety evaluation and life prediction for main steam pipelines and steam collection headers lies in obtaining their current mechanical performance data, especially performance parameters related to high-temperature creep strength. Traditional methods face significant challenges:

1) The Tragedy of Destructive Action: The classic sampling tensile test requires cutting a standard specimen from the pipeline. This not only necessitates downtime but also causes irreversible damage to the component, introducing new stress concentration points—a truly devastating blow.

2) The Drawback of Indirectness: While hardness tests (such as Brinell and Leeb) can be performed on-site, their results have a weak correlation with the material's creep resistance and are greatly affected by surface condition, making them difficult to directly use for accurate life assessment.

3) The Dilemma of Representativeness: Metallographic replication technology can observe the microstructure but cannot provide quantitative mechanical performance indicators, resulting in insufficient quantitative judgment of performance degradation.

How to quickly, accurately, and quantitatively obtain the mechanical properties of materials without damaging the structure has become a critical pain point that the industry urgently needs to address.

II. Solution: TIME Indenter – The Stethoscope for "Integrity Evaluation Doctors"

The TIME brand indenter, based on continuous depth-sensitive indentation technology, brings this concept to life. It functions like a precision "mechanical probe," working as follows:

1) Minimally Invasive Palpation: The instrument applies minute forces to the surface of the material being tested at a set rate using a diamond indenter of a specific shape (such as a Berkovich indenter).

2) Full Recording: Throughout the indentation process, the system records the load-indentation depth (P-h) curve with high precision and synchronously. This curve contains all the information about the material's elastoplastic deformation behavior.

3) Intelligent Diagnosis: Through a built-in dedicated algorithm model, the P-h curve is analyzed, and key mechanical performance parameters—indentation hardness, indentation modulus, yield strength, and tensile strength—can be directly calculated without measuring the indentation area.

The core advantages of this technology are: Truly Non-Destructive: The indentation depth is typically tens to hundreds of micrometers, which is considered "minimally invasive" for the thick walls of large pipes, without affecting structural integrity.

Direct Data Acquisition: Directly acquires quantitative parameters related to material strength and stiffness, ensuring reliable results.

High-Throughput Testing: Enables rapid testing at dozens or even hundreds of points across different parts of the pipeline (base material, weld, heat-affected zone), generating performance distribution maps and accurately locating weak areas.

III. Practical Application: In-situ Health Screening for the "Arteries" and "Heart"

At the power plant site, this "integrity assessment doctor's" workflow is clear and efficient:

1) Pre-operative Preparation: Determining "Diagnostic" Points
Based on pipeline stress analysis, metallographic examination, and visual inspection, a dense test grid is planned in the highest-risk and most severely damaged areas (such as the outer arc side of bends and the heat-affected zone of welds).

2) On-site Operation: Performing "Minimally Invasive Biopsy"
Local grinding and polishing are performed at the selected test points to meet the surface finish requirements of the test.

The pressure testing instrument is securely installed on the pipeline surface.

The equipment starts up, and the indenter automatically completes the entire cycle of approaching, loading, holding, and unloading, taking only a few minutes per test point.

3) High-throughput evaluation and in-depth analysis: Array-style indentation tests are performed on the base material area and heat-affected zones on both sides of the weld in the steam manifold, quickly acquiring hundreds of data points.

The performance distribution map clearly identifies performance "lowlands"—areas with significantly lower hardness and strength than the average level, which are highly likely to be the initiation zones of creep damage.

By comparing with a material performance degradation database established in the laboratory, the measured indentation strength data can be converted into key input parameters for remaining life assessment.

4) Issuing a "diagnostic report"—integrity evaluation conclusion: Based on the combined indentation test data, metallographic structure, and wall thickness measurement results, this "doctor" can provide an authoritative "diagnostic opinion":
Health status rating: Determines whether the pipeline is currently in a safe, monitored, or restricted operating state.

Damage mechanism analysis: Clarifies whether the performance degradation stems from creep, pearlite spheroidization, or oxidation.

Remaining Life Prediction**: Based on measured performance data, it provides more realistic recommendations for the next maintenance cycle.

IV. Technological Value: A Revolution from "Post-Incident Remediation" to "Pre-Incident Warning"

The application of the TIME Pressure Gauge has elevated the safety management of critical components in thermal power plants to a new level:

Scientific Decision-Making: It transforms lifespan management from "experience-driven" to "data-driven," providing solid data support for maintenance and replacement decisions, avoiding over-maintenance or under-maintenance.

Proactive Safety: It enables early detection and precise location of potential risks, eliminating potential hazards in their infancy, truly achieving "prevention before the event."

Maximized Economic Benefits: Through precise assessment, the safe service life of in-service pipelines can be effectively extended, avoiding unnecessary replacements and saving huge costs.

In today's pursuit of efficient, safe, and clean energy, the value of refined health management of existing infrastructure is no less than that of constructing new projects. TIME Brand Injection System, this silent yet wise "integrity assessment doctor," is safeguarding the high-temperature, high-pressure steel arteries with its exquisite "minimally invasive biopsy technique" and "high-throughput screening capability," ensuring the safe and long-term operation of thermal power plants and becoming an indispensable precision force in China's industrial safety assurance system.