2. OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
RADIO TRACER
HEAT EXCHANGER
TYPES OF HEAT EXCHANGER
PRINCIPLE OF RADIOTRACER TECHNIQUE ON HEAT
EXCHANGER
SCOPE OF RADIOTRACER TECHNIQUE
RISK INVOVLVED
RADIATION SAFETY ASPECTS
SELECTION OF RADIOTRACER
ADVANTAGES
CONCLUSION

14. What are Heat Exchangers

18. DAMAGES IN HEAT EXCHANGERS

19. NDT TECHNIQUES INVOLVE IN
INSPECTION OF HEAT EXCHANGER
Radiotracer Technique
Acoustic Emission Test
Eddy Current Testing
Ultrasound Testing
Sampling Testing
Chemical Tracer Testing

20. PRINCIPLE OF RADIOTRACER
TECHNIQUE ON HEAT EXCHANGER
• Radioisotopes is injected as a sharp pulse into the
higher pressure process stream entering the heat
exchanger.
• The inlet detector mounted at the tube side inlet
(high pressure) monitors the injection peak and
time.
• The leak detector (output detector) mounted at the
shell outlet (low pressure) detects radiotracer
infiltrated into the lower pressure from higher
pressure side showing the presence of a leak (if
any).

22. • Any leakage throughout the high pressure tube side could
be indicated by a subsidiary peak (so called bypass peak )
preceding the main peak.
• The main peak represents the flow pattern of the fluid
flowing from inlet to outlet in normal way, while the
subsidiary peak represents the leak because it goes in
abnormal way by passing the normal flow.

23. SCOPE OF RADIOTRACER
TECHNIQUE
• The procedure shall be
applicable to the inspection
of all types of Heat Exchanger
and Pipeline systems in
industrial process plants
using radiotracer techniques.
The scope of radiotracers is
expanding because it is relatively easy and can
detect faults while the plant is still online.

24. RISK INVOVLVED USING RADIOTRACER
TECHNIQUE ON HEAT EXCHANGER
•
•
•
•
Thyroid cancer
Damages DNA
Birth defects
Bone marrow cancer

25. RADIATION SAFETY ASPECTS
All necessary radiation protection
aspects were taken into account during
all stages of the experiment (radioisotope
production, transportation, injection, etc )
Nobody except PINSTECH personnel
was allowed to stay within 10 meters
diameter around the injection port
during tracer injection till the area
was checked at the end of
experiment.

26. SELECTION OF RADIOTRACER
Selection of a suitable radiotracer is very important
for the success of the leak detection test.
Most of the radiotracers used in industral tracers
experiments are gamma emitting tracers. The energy
of the gamma radiation should be sufficiently high to
penetrate through the wall of pipes or vessels.

27. SELECTION OF RADIOTRACER
The following parameters should be considered in the
selection of a radiotracer.
The tracer should be the same as the fluid being
traced.
The half life of the radioisotope should be
comparable to the duration of the experiment .

28. ADVANTAGES
•
•
•
•
•
•
High Sensitivity
Quick Analysis
Availability of wide range of Compatible Radiotracer
Use for Leak Detection and for Blockage Detection
Corrosion Monitoring
Port Management

29. CONCLUSION
From the forgoing it is evident that radiotracer
techniques are well established and widely used for
detection of blockages and leaks in different systems,
residence lime distribution investigation, mixing
studies, corrosion measurement, efficient
management of oil wells, and management of ports.
In most of the situation they do not have any
equivalent and competing alternatives. High
economic benefits are achieved from the application
of the radiotracer techniques to leak detection and
location.

30. COMPILED BY
BILAL AHMED
REG # 2012086
Material Sciences And Engineering (Manufacturing)
GIK Institute Of Engineering And Sciences Topi,
Pakistan

31. REFERENCES
• IAEA, 1990, “Guidebook on Radioisotope Tracers in
Industry”, TECH. Report Series No 316, Vienna.
• CHARLTON, J.S; (Ed), 1986, “Radioisotope
Techniques for Problem-Solving in Industrial Process
Plants”.

32. s