LEAK DETECTION IN HIGHT PREESURE HEAT EXCHANGERS USING RADIOTRACER

Resumo

Leak detection in industrial systems is one of the most common radiotracer applications executed in industries, and the great advantage of this technique is the possibility of carrying out non-invasive interventions without influencing the normal operation of the installation. This characteristic demonstrates the great potential for using this methodology in the oil and natural gas plants, to identify and to locate leaks in heat exchangers. Its use is based on the injection of a radiotracer inside the high-pressure phase of the heat exchanger and monitor the presence of the radiotracer both in the high and low-pressure phases and using radiation detectors positioned externally downstream of the exchanger. Despite being a known methodology, the technological innovation of this work is related to its application in equipment operating at high pressure (up to 200 bar) and in a space-restricted space, such as compact heat exchangers on offshore gas-producing platforms