Leakage location on water-cooling wall in power plant boiler based on acoustic array and a spherical interpolation algorithm. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Shiping; Shen, Guoqing; An, Liansuo
• Is Part Of: Applied thermal engineering. Volume 152(2019)
• Page Start: 551
• Page End: 558
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Coal-fired power plant -- Three-dimensional space location algorithm -- Acoustic array -- Time delay of arrival -- Spherical interpolation; Heat engineering -- Periodicals; Heating -- Equipment and supplies -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 621.40205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.02.073
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-4311

Abstract

Highlights: An approach to locate water-cooling wall tube leak based on acoustic array was provided. The paper used a three-dimensional space location algorithm based on spherical interpolation and SWITCH algorithm. The location precisions in different experimental environments were compared. The leak location technology was applied to a domestic 660-MW coal-fired boiler. Abstract: In a coal-fired power plant, locating the leak area during boiler hot-state operation has practical engineering value, has apart from its significance in proper shutdown procedures, repair-time reduction, and reduction of financial losses. In this study, we adopted a three-dimensional space location algorithm based on acoustic array to determine the location of water-cooling wall tube leaks in real time. We used a spherical interpolation algorithm to solve the location problem and adopted a time delay estimation based on SWITCH function to obtain the time of arrival. An acoustic location test platform was constructed for studying location accuracy in different location condition. Finally, a field study was performed to verify the spherical interpolation algorithm's feasibility and practicability in a boiler. Results show that the proposed three-dimensional, eight-element array can locate the leak area during boiler hot-state operation.