Challenges

CLOSED ON: 15 APR 2019
Closed

Short Description:

Chimney inspection and maintenance poses challenges because of the temperature and heights. We are looking for non-invasive method for inspection of chimneys in a quantitative manner and its maintenance

Challenge Details

Chimney inspection is a standard problem in the steel industry as the chimney is hot and difficult to inspect unless it is shut down. In addition, the chimneys are very tall (>150+ feet) and difficult to deploy people at those heights even during the shutdown period. The main purpose is to measure the wall thickness of chimneys and ensure that the structure is not weak. Maintenance is then initiated to strengthen the weaker portions of the chimneys.

Chimney inspection and maintenance poses challenges because of the temperature and heights. It requires preparation of scaffoldings to climb to the locations for inspecting these chimneys. It is also very difficult to reach all the areas of the chimney as the ladder or scaffolding can provide access to only limited portions of the chimney. High temperature and the height does not make it easy for inspection of these structures.

A non-invasive method for inspection of chimneys in a quantitative manner – wall thickness along with location information needs to be provided. This method should not ideally ask for a shutdown of the area/equipment.

No manual intervention is desired.

Maintenance plan which includes detailed information on the wall thickness, location of corrosion, needs to be also generated.

Success Criteria

The solution should

  1. Provide wall thickness along with location information (Z location)
  2. Map the condition to the chimney and represent the data in a digital form for a better visualization
  3. Inputs to maintenance – wall thickness at ‘Z location’. Joint welding condition, the verticality of the chimney, deformation in shape can also be checked.

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