Solid-State Sensor to Directly Replace Coils for Improved Eddy Current Testing (ECT)

Degradation of reactor components, heat exchangers, and piping systems in nuclear power plants subjected to heat, high pressure and corrosion has been estimated to cost the electric power industry $17.3 billion dollars annually. Eddy current testing (ECT) is a widely practiced, and critically important NDE method used in power plants, yet it relies on decades-old sensor technology based on coils of wire that do not have the sensitivity or uniformity needed to reproducibly detect small, deeply buried defects. Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. (RMD) proposes new, vastly superior, solid-state, eddy current sensors and monolithic sensor arrays that could directly replace the coil sensors now used in existing ECT systems. RMD proposes to develop the sensors, test them in collaboration with a major ECT equipment manufacturer, and produce sensors and sensors arrays that can directly replace the coil sensors now in use. The ability to detect incipient defects and monitor growth will provide data needed for prognostics and health monitoring. Commercial Applications and other Benefits: The sensors and sensor arrays will replace the coil sensors that have been used for decades to perform ECT and provide far higher performance at approximately the same sensor cost. They offer much higher signal-to-noise ratio and reproducibility than coil sensors, and will result in more definitive detection of defects, and the ability to detect smaller, more deeply buried defects. The sensors will be suitable for use in both existing ECT equipment and new ECT equipment making them available for all applications where ECT is used. Some of the major industries using ECT include: electricity generation, aircraft inspection, transportation vehicle maintenance, oil drilling, and pipeline inspection