PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING OF
TUBES
THIS OPERATING PROCEDURE IS CONTROLLED BY THE INSPECTORS UNION CO.
AND MAY NOT BE AMENDED, REVISED, OR ALTERED IN ANY OTHER WAY WITHOUT
THE CONSENT OF THAT COMPANY.
REVISION SUMMARY
Rev No Para No Changes
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
INSPECTION & INDUSTRIAL IU/-/-/RFT-01
SEVICES
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
Revision
INDEX
S. No. DESCRIPTIONS PAGE No.
COVER PAGE 1
INDEX 2
1.0 SCOPE 3
2.0 REFERENCE 3
3.0 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION 3
4.0 PRINCIPLE OF RFT SYSTEM 4-5
5.0 COMPONENTS OF THE RFT SYSTEM 5
6.0 TUBE CLEANLINESS 5
7.0 CALIBRATION STANDARD 5-6
8.0 PRE-INSPECTION PREPARATION 6
9.0 WORK INSTRUCTIONS 7
10.0 RFT PROCEDURE 7-8
11.0 FREQUENCY SELECTION 8
12.0 EXAMINATION TECHNIQUE 8-9
13.0 DATA ANALYSIS 9
14.0 DATA RECORDING 9
15.0 LIMITATIONS 10
16.0 ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA 10
17.0 REPORT ING 10
REPORT FORMAT 11-12
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 2
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
INSPECTION & INDUSTRIAL IU/-/-/RFT-01
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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1.0 SCOPE
This procedure is used to inspect the following units with Remote Field Testing (RFT)
of Ferromagnetic heat exchanger tubes.
In this technique use on ferromagnetic tubes with outside diameter from 12.70 to 88.9mm
(0.500 to 3.5 inch), with wall thickness in the range 1.06 to 7.2mm (0.042 to 0.284 inch).
2.0 REFERENCES
2.1 ASME Section V Article 17 Non Destructive Examination
Guidelines for Personnel Qualification &
2.2 ASNT SNT TC –1A
Certification
A written procedure for Training and
2.3 IU-
Certification of Personnel
2.4 IU- General Safety Procedures
Standard practice for the in-site examination
2.5 E 2096
of ferromagnetic heat exchanger tubes.
3.0 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION
A. The personnel who operate the RFT test equipment with the exception of the probe
positioner/puller technician shall be a minimum of 1 year and NDT Level-II in
Electromagnetic Testing Method.
B. The evaluation of the result of the RFT must be conducted by personnel qualified to at
least SNT-TC-1A Level II.
3.1 SAFETY:
All Personnel shall have a responsibility to themselves and other persons concerning safety and
shall ensure those site facilities are adequate with regard to lighting, scaffolding, and the like,
prior to commencement of Operations
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 3
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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4.0 PRINCIPLE OF RFT SYSTEM
A. The RFT is a through-wall transmission technique where the magnetic field travels
through the tube wall; at the exciter location and at the receiver’s location. The direct
field is localized around the exciter and rapidly attenuates with distance down the pipe.
B. The indirect field diffuses outward through the tube wall, moves along the tube, and re-
diffuses back through the tube wall.
C. The measurement is done to correspond to the total material thickness that the magnetic
field has gone through. For this reason, the RFT technique cannot make the difference
between ID and OD; the coils only measure the total thickness material.
D. The Remote Field Testing (RFT) probes are being used to successfully inspect
ferromagnetic tubing such as carbon steel, Alloy steel, or ferritic stainless steel. They are
very sensitive for detecting and measuring volumetric defects resulting from erosion,
corrosion, wear, and baffle cuts.
E. The remote field probe is a low-frequency variant of the driver-pickup eddy current
probe, characterized by a driver-pickup distance of at least 2.5 to 3 times the tube OD.
This distance is necessary and critical in order to have the pickup coils sense the “remote”
magnetic field rather than the “direct” field.
F. RFET is a through-wall transmission technique. The basic probe is made of one driver
coil and two pickup coils. Two magnetic fields are present: the direct field, in the
vicinity of the driver coil, is rapidly attenuated with distance while the indirect field is
diffused out toward through the tube wall. The near field then propagates
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INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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Along the tube axis and is then re-diffused back through the tube wall. The zone where
the indirect field is dominant is called the remote field. Anomalies anywhere, in this
indirect field path cause changes in the magnitude and phase of the small received signal,
and can therefore be used to detect the defects
G. Single exciter RFT probes are sensitive for detecting and measuring volumetric defects
resulting from erosion, corrosion, wear, and baffle cuts.
5.0 COMPONENTS OF THE RFT SYSTEM:
5.1 EQUIPMENT
A. A Computerized MS-5800 Multi-function with RFT module and Multiview software
with voltage plane option non-destructive testing systems of M/s Olympus NDT make
was used to carry out the inspection using carto software for diagram. All results were
recorded to disk and manual analysis was conducted on-screen.
5.2 PROBES
A. Calibration tube standards of similar material with artificial defects were used to establish
and verify the system response and to act as a guide for data analysis.
B. The system shall be consist of the following two functional elements:
C. These probes shall have sufficient bandwidth for operating frequencies selected for flaw detection.
1. Required probe (Models TRS, TRX, TRT) depends
2. Laptop with RFT software Multiview
6.0 TUBE CLEANLINESS
A. All tubes' inner surface shall be adequately cleaned to remove any dust, loose foreign
particles, internal deposits, or contaminants by a suitable process such as pressurized
water jet cleaning.
B. It is also recommended to clean the outer surface of the tube if possible.
7.0 CALIBRATION STANDARD
A. Calibration standards shall be manufactured from a tubing of the same material
specification, same heat treatment, and same nominal size.
B. Calibration tube standards of similar material with artificial defects machined as per
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 5
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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Olympus Guidelines were used to establish and verify the system response. This
constitutes a guide for data analysis.
Calibration Tube Image:
8.0 PRE-INSPECTION REQUIRMENTS
8.1 BASIC INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
The following minimum information is required prior to conducting an inspection:
Tube dimensions: (Outside diameter, wall thickness, length)
Tube materials:
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INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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Tube characteristics: (Finned, ‘U’ bends, swaged, etc.)
Scope of inspection: (Number of tubes, inspection pattern)
Service: (E.g., tube side – water/shell side steam)
Types of wastage taking place: (If known)
Review of previous inspection reports (If any)
Drawing, diagrams, maps, or any other relevant information.
9.0 WORK INSTRUCTIONS
The inspection shall be performed in accordance with written Work Instructions or
Technique Sheets. Each shall include the following information:
Tube material, diameter, wall thickness, and length
Size and type of probes
Mode of operation
Inspection frequencies
Inspection and recording equipment
Probe traverse speed
Calibration tube standards
Calibration procedure
10.0 RFT PROCEDURE
A. The inspection is conducted with the probe located at the far end of the tube. The
assembly is pushed to the end of the tube by feeding the hose through the endplate of the
adaptor.
B. To start the inspection the assembly is gradually pulled along the tube towards the
operator. The rate at which the inspection head assembly is moved along the tube governs
the degree of coverage of the tube.
C. The above procedure can be repeated as many tubes are to be inspected during the
operating session. The equipment dismantling procedures are to be inspected during the
operating session. The equipment dismantling procedures are the reverse of those carried
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INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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out during the setup of the inspection.
D. The pulling speed of the probe shall be kept constant during the inspection. The pulling
speed shall be at 40-80mm/s
11.0 FREQUENCY SELECTION
The basic differential frequency shall be chosen to suit the Tube material such that it shall
provide good sensitivity to full wall defects.
Probe selection: Basis on the Frequency chosen and Fill Factor recommended is
70%
11.1.1 SYSTEM CALIBRATION
A. The Calibration Standard tube shall be used for equipment calibration as per the
following steps
B. For the Differential mode signal, the hole is calibrated at 90 deg and 1v.
C. For the Absolute signal, the support plate signal is used as a reference to calibrate the
channel in the voltage plane. The support plate signal is adjusted horizontally to 1v.
D. The test equipment response shall be checked and verified by use of the calibration
tube standard as follows:
At least once every four hours
At each change of operator
At any time that malfunctioning is suspected
E. If during any check, it is determined that the test equipment is out of calibration (as
defined by the work instruction) the equipment shall be recalibrated and a new data
file opened. The data analyst shall determine which tubes if any are to be re-examined.
F. It is the responsibility of the data capture technician to ensure that the data is of the
quality required by the relevant procedure and/or as defined by the data analyst.
12.0 EXAMINATION TECHNIQUE
A. In all techniques, measurements are taken whilst withdrawing the probe. The pushing
and withdrawing shall be done manually
B. The technician shall ensure that an even speed is maintain
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 8
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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C. For the purposes of this procedure, all test results will be recorded on a suitable data
acquisition system.
Each data storage unit shall contain the following information:
Positive identification of the item under test.
Data storage unit number.
A reference to the contents.
Date
Probe identification.
Each trace shall be identified according to zone/row/tube number as applicable.
13.0 DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis systems shall conform to the requirements of ASME Section V
Analysis of all data shall be conducted by NDT ET Level II and NDT ET Level III qualified in data
analysis.
All indications shall be evaluated. Indication types that must be reported shall be
Characterized
Using the frequencies which were qualified. Signal amplitude and phase shall be taken into
Account whenever defect indications are evaluated using the absolute or differential modes.
13.0 DATA RECORDING
Indication depth classification
The depth of indications shall be determined by the analyst.
All indications must be evaluated and defects classified into a category of wall loss as follows.
0% - 20% wall thickness loss
21% - 40% wall thickness loss
41% - 60% wall thickness loss
61% - 80% wall thickness loss
81% - 100% wall thickness loss
Reporting of indications shall be in accordance with ASTM E 2096 and shall be
recorded in the report format.
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INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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15.0 LIMITATIONS
1. Not sensitive to small defects & pinholes.
2. Defects near to tube sheet portion cannot be detected.
3. Cannot be distinguished Under the Baffle Plate indication and baffle plate signal.
4. The exact location of the defect along the tube length cannot be located.
5. Cannot differentiate between ID or OD defects.
6. Cannot detect defects within 150 mm area from tube sheet.
16.0 ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
The acceptance criteria or rejection of tubes based on wall loss is at the discretion of
the client.
17.0 REPORTING
The following minimum information shall become part of the permanent record of
the inspection:
Client
Plant site
Cooler identification
Test equipment serial number
Calibration standard serial number
Size and type of probes
Operators and analysts identification and certification level.
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 10
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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FINAL REPORT FORMAT
Final Report contains the following details:
1) Main Inspection Report
2) Tube sheet Layout
RFT INSPECTION MAIN REPORT
Client Exchanger
Site Tube material
Date Insp Tube dimension
Total tubes Tube inspected
Technique Report no
Equipment Probe details
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 11
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
INSPECTION & INDUSTRIAL IU/-/-/RFT-01
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PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
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ATTACHMENTS
Tube Sheet Diagram
SAMPLE DIAGRAM:
Inspectors Union Co. P.O. Box Number: 2404. Jubail 31951, Saudi Arabia, Phone: (013) 3628850 Fax: (013) 3628092 Page 12
INSPECTORS UNION CO. Procedure No
INSPECTION & INDUSTRIAL IU/-/-/RFT-01
SEVICES
Issue Date
PROCEDURE FOR REMOTE FIELD TESTING - RFT
Revision
Date Prepared By Reviewed By Approved By
Mr. Gowthaman P
ASNT-ET- Level-II
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