Novel Wireless NDE Sensors for Continuous Monitoring of Thermal Power Plant Components

Currently, most (85%) of the nation¿s energy requirements are met through burning fossil fuels, of which coal accounts for about 23% of current energy supplies. The ability to further exploit the nation¿s most abundant and lowest cost resource (coal) for meeting future energy needs will require that our power plants function safely and efficiently as they age. In turn, technologies are needed that can nondestructively assess the condition and remaining life of power plant components. Such technologies can optimize inspection and maintenance schedules, avoid unplanned outages, and reduce costs in the long term. This project will develop a novel, multi-mode wireless NDE technology, based on acoustic emission and guided wave sensors, for two critical components of fossil power plants: feed-water piping systems and turbine blades. The NDE technology will monitor low-cycle fatigue and erosion damage in turbine blades and feed-water pipelines, and also monitor other components (such as boiler tubes, steam lines, other turbine components, and condenser tubes in thermal power plants) with minor additional development efforts. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: A wireless NDE technology for the continuous monitoring of thermal power plant components would impact the vitality of the nation¿s economy and should find broad applications in both government and commercial markets.